Description
Book SynopsisTable of ContentsPreface vii
Acknowledgements ix
1 Biominerals and the Fossil Record 1
Why Study Old Biominerals? 1
What are Biominerals? 4
How and Why are Biominerals Formed? 5
‘Biomineralization Toolkit’: From Proteins to Proteomes 8
Fossil Biominerals, Fossil Proteomes 12
References 16
2 Mechanisms of Degradation and Survival 23
Introduction 23
Hydrolysis 27
Racemization 31
Decomposition and Other Diagenesis-induced Modifications 35
References 38
3 Proteins in Fossil Biominerals 43
Bone and Other Collagen-based Hard Tissues 43
Tooth 45
Eggshell 47
Mollusc Shell 51
Other Substrates 57
References 63
4 Chiral Amino Acids: Geochronology and Other Applications 71
Dating the Quaternary (Pleistocene and Holocene) 71
Principles of AAR Dating 76
Measuring D/L Values 78
Factors Affecting D/L Values 82
Aminostratigraphy 87
Aminochronology 92
Palaeothermometry 97
Testing the Suitability of Biominerals for Geochemical Analyses 98
Taxonomic Identification 99
Appendix: Practical Tips on How to Plan and Conduct an AAR Study 100
References 104
5 Ancient Protein Sequences 113
Ancient Protein Analysis by Mass Spectrometry 113
Ancient Proteins: Past and Future 120
References 122
Index 127
