Biodeterioration of Antarctic fossil penguin bones caused by lichens from the Eocene La Meseta Formation

GARCÍA RENATO; ACOSTA HOSPITALECHE, CAROLINA; MARQUEZ, GONZALO

POLAR BIOLOGY

SPRINGER

Año: 2021 vol. 44 p. 2243 - 2254

0722-4060

A large part of the Antarctic surface is covered by lichens since they can withstand extreme environmental conditions. Lichens are primary colonizers and contribute to soil formation by deteriorating rocks through a combination of chemical and physical mechanisms. Therefore, fossil remains found exposed on the surface are usually colonized by epilithic and endolithic lichens. The objective of this work was to determine the biodeterioration generated by lichens on the fossil remains and its taphonomic implications. As a result, we identified the presence of the euendolithic lichens Lecidea andersonii and Athallia holocarpa growing into fossil penguin bones from Antarctica. The bioerosive damage was evaluated under light and electron microscopic techniques. Pits corresponding to apothecium and sinuous thin fissures remodelled, or in some cases produced, by hyphae were distinguished from the cracks originated by physical weathering. The maximum depth that hyphae extend inside the bone, probably constrained by the light supply, was established at 2.5 mm. We provided a tool for the reconstruction of the chronology of the taphonomic events, describing the kind and magnitude of the damage into the bones.