An artistic impression of the vulture. Image: Dawid A Iurino
Died 30,000 years ago, discovered 136 years ago and disrupting the field of palaeontology just this week – the surprising afterlife of a vulture.
When an Italian landowner stumbled across a fossilised vulture in 1889, little did they know that 136 years later the discovery would be heralded as the first example of fossil preservation in volcanic rock.
Luckily, the landowner recognised the remarkable preservation of the vulture, which was discovered near Rome, and now more than a century later, scientists at University College Cork (UCC), along with colleagues in Italy, have been able to uncover the secrets of the 30,000-year-old fossil.
A fossilised feather preserved in the volcanic rock. Image: Edoardo Terranova
Led by UCC’s Dr Valentina Rossi, the researchers have theorised that a new mode of preservation of soft tissue can occur when animals are buried in ash-rich volcanic sediment.
And the preservation is so detailed that even the eyelids and wing feathers of the vulture have left a 3D impression in the rock, and microscopic feather pigment structures are present.
“The fossil record is continually surprising us, be it new fossil species, strange new body shapes, or in this case, new styles of fossil preservation,” said UCC’s Prof Maria McNamara.
“We never expected to find delicate tissues such as feathers preserved in a volcanic rock.”
Using electron microscopes and chemical tests, the researchers analysed samples of the fossil feathers and found that they are preserved in the mineral zeolite, a mode of preservation of soft tissue never reported before.
Dr Valentina Rossi preparing a fossil sample to analyse in the lab. Image: Dirleane Ottonelli
“Fossil feathers are usually preserved in ancient mudrocks laid down in lakes or lagoons,” explained Rossi.
“The fossil vulture is preserved in ash deposits, which is extremely unusual.
“When analysing the fossil vulture plumage, we found ourselves in uncharted territory. These feathers are nothing like what we usually see in other fossils.”
Zeolites are rich in silicon and aluminium and are common in volcanic and hydrothermal geological settings.
“We are used to thinking that volcanic deposits are associated with hot, fast-moving pyroclastic currents that will destroy soft tissues,” said Prof Dawid A Iurino from the University of Milan, who coordinated the study. “However, these geological settings are complex and can include low-temperature deposits that can preserve soft tissues at the cellular level.”
“Fossils preserving evidence of soft tissues are essential for our understanding of the evolution of life and ancient biodiversity,” the researchers wrote in their new paper just published in Geology journal.
Their finding opens up whole new areas of potential discovery in the world’s volcanic rock deposits and should be the focus of new research, the researchers said.
McNamara and her team at UCC have made major discoveries in the areas of melanin and feather evolution, which have prompted a rethink on what dinosaurs looked like. In 2023, they released research claiming to have found the first molecular evidence of the ginger pigment in the fossil record – in frog fossils that are 10m years old.
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