Coordination Funds

• Applicant: Privatdozentin Dr. Carole T. Gee, since 4/2023
• Subject Area: Geology ; Analytical Chemistry ; Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry ; Parasitology and Biology of Tropical Infectious Disease Pathogens ; Pharmacy
• Term: since 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 348043586

The history of life on Earth is documented primarily by the fossil record. This unique archive is understood and investigated through the science of paleontology. But does the fossil record truly reflect the history of life? This is still without doubt one of the most fundamental questions. Almost all research fields in paleontology, from the micro- to macro-evolutionary level, are affected in a complex manner by the loss of information during the process of fossilization. The limits of fossilization seemingly conceal data on animal behavior and physiology, and the almost ubiquitous lack of preserved soft parts leaves us only with a subset of the anatomical evidence once present in the living organism, not to mention the vast amount of biological information lost at the molecular level. The fossil record places distinct restrictions on our understanding of the evolution of organisms and the history of life on Earth, and we thus must find new ways to transcend those limits.Traditionally, paleontology has been limited to studying the morphology of mineralized, sclerotinized, or lignified parts and tissues of organisms, such as wood, shells, bones, and teeth. Only in rare and famous instances of “soft tissue preservation” have we gained a glimpse into the other aspects of the biology of ancient organisms. Hence, the material nature of fossils has remained poorly understood. We feel that for much too long, paleontology has neglected potential information at histological, cytological, geochemical, and bio-molecular levels. Rapid development of diverse analytical technologies that were not originally designed for studying the fossil record now offer the exciting perspective that this is about to change and greatly expand the horizons of paleontological research and the limits of the fossil record.Recognition of this situation and the inherent great potential for scientific advances led us, a transdisciplinary group of scientist almost entirely from the University of Bonn to apply to the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft under its Research Unit scheme of coordinated projects in 2017. The total application contained nine research proposals with both, an experimental and an analytical approach, and a coordination proposal. Funding was granted for three years, and the Unit took up work on January 1, 2018, and many exciting results were generated, many of which are already published. In addition, state-of-the-art instrumentation available to the Research Unit increased greatly during its first funding period. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, submission of our proposals for the second three-year funding period was delayed, but we again have included nine research proposals and this coordination proposal.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• Subproject of: FOR 2685: The Limits of the Fossil Record: Analytical and Experimental Approaches to Fossilization
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Professor Dr. Martin Sander, until 4/2023