Abstract
In 1673, Martin Lister explored the preservation of ‘St Cuthbert's beads’ plus other fossil crinoid remains from approximately 350 Ma Carboniferous limestone in northern England. He used taphonomic evidence (transport, disarticulation, burial and cementation) to infer an origin as petrified plant remains, in contrast with his views expressed elsewhere that fossil mollusc shells could have formed abiogenically, by ‘plastic forces’ within rock. Lister also observed pentagonal symmetry, now seen as characteristic of living echinoderm skeletons. A postscript from John Ray supports Lister's ‘taphonomic’ observations and accepts the biogenicity of these fossil ‘vegetables’. Ray then concluded with a prophecy, predicting the discovery of comparable living fossils in remote ocean waters. These early discussions compare with current debates about the character of candidate microfossils from the early Earth and Mars. Interesting biomorphs are now tested against the abiogenic null hypotheses, making use of features such as those pioneered by Lister, including evidence for geological context, rules for growth and taphonomy. Advanced techniques now allow us to extend this list of criteria to include the nanoscale mapping of biology-like behaviour patterns plus metabolic pathways. Whereas the science of palaeobiology once began with tests for biogenicity, the same is now true for geobiology and astrobiology. This commentary was written to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.
Highlights
In this earliest known journal article on the science of palaeontology [1], we observe a great seventeenth century naturalist—Martin Lister—grappling with the nature of fossils
Martin Lister [1] was seemingly the first to explore the ways in which direct observation could help to show whether fossil remains had grown abiogenically within the limestone or whether they had once formed part of a formerly living biological population
He achieved this by using the earliest known example of taphonomic reasoning in a scientific paper: that fossils of biological origin should show various lines of evidence, including those for life posture, growth, death, transport, breakage, burial, decomposition and subsequent mineral replacement and infilling
Summary
In this earliest known journal article on the science of palaeontology [1], we observe a great seventeenth century naturalist—Martin Lister—grappling with the nature of fossils Are these the remains of formerly living organisms ( extinct) or could they have been produced without the need for biology? The puzzle concerns the existence within limestone rock of surprisingly complex disc-shaped ‘fossils’, called St Cuthbert’s beads (figure 1c–g). This name reflects the presence of a central hole in each disc and their occurrence around sacred Northumbrian sites. The puzzle, was to ascertain how they were formed
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