Abstract
Abstract The Lontras Shale is a fossil site located in Mafra, Santa Catarina, south of Brazil. This Late Paleozoic (Pennsilvanian - Cisularian) stratum holds an important place with great potential for the synthesis of knowledge about paradigmatic events that happened on Gondwana. This marine fossil site, preserved into a 1.1 m black shale, comprises a combination of different kinds of preservation, in broad taphonomical spectra, including hard and/or soft-tissues of aquatic (e.g., fishes, poriferans and ammonoids) and terrestrial biotas (e.g., insect and woods), among other organisms that were well preserved under still unrevealed process and conditions. Considering the prevailing depositional settings and aiming to present fossil diagenetic aspects that led to some special preservation modes, we performed chemical analyses of sponges and insects by means of energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), synchrotron micro-X-ray fluorescence (micro-XRF) and Raman spectroscopy. To date, we have identified the majority of fossils preserved as carbonaceous compressions or phosphatized forms. The well-preserved fossils have so far permitted new insights into metazoan evolution, especially regarding Insecta, Porifera, and Conodonta. Our findings not only allow suggestions regarding the chemical remains of soft tissues on these specimens but also can provide background data for future analyses of these groups in similar depositional settings.
Published Version
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