Researchers Thrilled to Create ‘Easy-Bake Fossils’ That Mimic Million-Year Study Process in Just 24 Hours

Fossils are important objects when it comes to the study of evolution. They preserve ancient remains, which help researchers in tracing the trajectory of particular animals. The process of fossilization is also a valuable subject to study, as it provides important details regarding the original environment in which the preserved creature lived, stated Smithsonian Magazine. A team of researchers had an opportunity to analyze fossilization in detail due to a laboratory exercise. The activity has been noted in the journal Palaeontology.

In this exercise, researchers facilitate fossilization, which typically takes centuries, in just 24 hours. Past attempts at fossilization in labs involved experts wrapping the specimens in foils or sealed containers and then subjecting them to heat as well as pressure. For this study, though, the experts put the specimens in clay tablets. These tablets were around the size of a dime. The objective of this change was to stimulate natural fossilization. Fossils typically form when organisms decay in sediment, followed by heat and pressure, which cause creatures to form an impression in the sedimentary rock. The change gave researchers the most similar conditions they could have had to natural fossilization.

A hydraulic press was used to put various samples, like bird feathers and lizard limbs, inside the clay tablets. Thereafter, the clay tablets were baked at over 410 degrees Fahrenheit and 3500 psi pressure in a laboratory. The whole process continued for 24 hours. Researchers were ecstatic with the result. "We were absolutely thrilled," Lead author Dr Evan Saitta, who worked on the project as part of his PhD at the University of Bristol, said in a statement. "We kept arguing over who would get to split open the tablets to reveal the specimens. They looked like real fossils—there were dark films of skin and scales, the bones became browned."

The 'Easy-Bake fossils' showcased similarities to natural fossils even after examination. Just like in natural fossils, no proteins or fatty tissues were noted in the baked ones under the microscope. Melanosomes were a common factor in both baked and natural fossils. "We could see exposed melanosomes, the structures that contain the biomolecule melanin that gives feathers and skin their color, and scientists have found melanosomes in real fossils too. Less stable materials, like proteins and fatty tissues, don’t show up in real fossils, and they weren’t present in ours either. Our experimental method is like a cheat sheet," Dr Saitta added, stated The London Economic.

Saitta was excited because now this method could be used in the study of "exceptional fossils." Such fossils preserve biomolecules, skin, and feathers. As the name suggests, these fossils are rare to find, and therefore, the process of preservation of these items is unclear. However, with this process, the pursuit to gain insight into the preservation process becomes easier. "With the ideas we have now, we could do ten years’ worth of research. We’re beginning to get into a gold rush – there are lots of claims of fossilized biomolecules. We’re always looking for them and trying to find out what they’ll tell us about life in the past," Dr. Saitta said.