color in the natural populace can come in just about every possible shade , from the bright blues of apeacock ’s tail feathersto the glow of an animate being underultraviolet light . Now researchers have found some of the earliest traces of the pigments that help bring on the pretty colors in snail shell and they are around 12 million long time honest-to-goodness .
The snail shell – which belong to the family Cerithioidea – were found on the border between Austria and Hungary and date back to the Middle Miocene , when the field was at the border of a tropical sea . While the shell did exhibit some red coloration , the squad was n’t trusted what had caused it .
“ It was unclear whether the patterns of crimson coloring were from the original shell or were take shape by late appendage in the deposit , ” explained Professor Mathias Harzhauser at the Natural History Museum Vienna , who was involved in the discovery , in astatement .
Polyenepigmentsare found in copiousness across the creature world and are involved in most ruddy , chickenhearted , and orangish colors . However , they are especially vulnerable to oxidation and because of this , do not keep well in the fossil criminal record .
The squad decided to test whether these dodo shells incorporate such polyene pigments , particularly in four species , includingPithocerithium rubiginosum , several specimen of which have decided scarlet colour .
To find out more about the pigments present in the shells , the team used a technique known as Raman spectroscopy , which involves irradiating sample from the shells with laser visible radiation . The light can then be used to identify chemical compounds .
The psychoanalysis revealed the front of entire polyene pigments , which represents the first clip this has been find in the fossil phonograph recording .
“ Normally , after such a long period of sentence , the beneficial we can hope for is that there are trace of abjection products of these chemicals . If degraded , however , these compounds would be destitute of color . So , it was really surprising to discover these pigment , bear on almost intact , in fogy that are twelve million years old , ” said written report lead Dr Klaus Wolkenstein .
The team highlighted that this technique is especially non - destructive to the samples and might be utile for further screening to look for these pigment in otherfossil specimen .
The study is publish inPalaeontology .
