Paleometry: A brand new area in Brazilian science

Paleometry is a promising research field that brings together different areas, such as physics and chemistry, applied to paleobiological issues. In spite of being recognized abroad, it is a new research field in Brazil. The most important characteristic is the application of mostly non-destructive techniques to the study of fossils. This work compiles some paleometrical applications to different geological contexts, such as the synthesis of hard skeleton in Corumbella werneri, geochemical aspects about fresh water bivalves from the Bauru Group and the exceptional preservation of arthropods from the Crato Member. Diffuse Reflectance Infrared (DRIFT) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX) were complementary to elucidate the types of skeletogenesys in Corumbella. In the case of the bivalves, DRIFT revealed to be important to elucidate aspects about death and fossilization. Among arthropods, morphological analysis with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) associated with EDX was more profitable to understand fossilization process and paleoenvironmental implications.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Univ Fed Sao Carlos, Ctr Ciencias &Tecnol Sustentabilidade, BR-18052780 Sorocaba, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Carlos, Ctr Ciencias Humanas &Biol, BR-18052780 Sorocaba, SP, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Inst Geociencias, BR-05508080 Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Estadual Paulista Julio Mesquita Filho UNESP, Fac Ciencias, BR-17033360 Bauru, SP, BrazilUniv Estadual Paulista Julio Mesquita Filho UNESP, BR-18087180 Sorocaba, SP, BrazilUniv Estadual Paulista Julio Mesquita Filho UNESP, Fac Ciencias, BR-17033360 Bauru, SP, BrazilUniv Estadual Paulista Julio Mesquita Filho UNESP, BR-18087180 Sorocaba, SP, BrazilFAPESP: 2009/02312-4FAPESP: 2013/16545-6FAPESP: 2013/06719-7FAPESP: 2013/06718-

From Cytoplasm to Environment: The Inorganic Ingredients for the Origin of Life

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Early in its history, Earth's surface developed from an uninhabitable magma ocean to a place where life could emerge. The first organisms, lacking ion transporters, fixed the composition of their cradle environment in their intracellular fluid. Later, though life adapted and spread, it preserved some qualities of its initial environment within. Modern prokaryotes could thus provide insights into the conditions of early Earth and the requirements for the emergence of life. In this work, we constrain Earth's life-forming environment through detailed analysis of prokaryotic intracellular fluid. Rigorous assessment of the constraints placed on the early Earth environment by intracellular liquid will provide insight into the conditions of abiogenesis, with implications not only for our understanding of early Earth but also the formation of life elsewhere in the Universe.o TEXTO COMPLETO DESTE ARTIGO, ESTARÁ DISPONÍVEL À PARTIR DE AGOSTO DE 2015.133294302Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Universidade de Sao PauloFundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Ichnological evidence for meiofaunal bilaterians from the terminal Ediacaran and earliest Cambrian of Brazil

The evolutionary events during the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition (~541 Myr ago) are unparalleled in Earth history. The fossil record suggests that most extant animal phyla appeared in a geologically brief interval, with the oldest unequivocal bilaterian body fossils found in the Early Cambrian. Molecular clocks and biomarkers provide independent estimates for the timing of animal origins, and both suggest a cryptic Neoproterozoic history for Metazoa that extends considerably beyond the Cambrian fossil record. We report an assemblage of ichnofossils from Ediacaran–Cambrian siltstones in Brazil, alongside U–Pb radioisotopic dates that constrain the age of the oldest specimens to 555–542 Myr. X-ray microtomography reveals three-dimensionally preserved traces ranging from 50 to 600 μm in diameter, indicative of small-bodied, meiofaunal tracemakers. Burrow morphologies suggest they were created by a nematoid-like organism that used undulating locomotion to move through the sediment. This assemblage demonstrates animal–sediment interactions in the latest Ediacaran period, and provides the oldest known fossil evidence for meiofaunal bilaterians. Our discovery highlights meiofaunal ichnofossils as a hitherto unexplored window for tracking animal evolution in deep time, and reveals that both meiofaunal and macrofaunal bilaterians began to explore infaunal niches during the late Ediacaran