The preservational mode of the Doushantuo formation involves very early phosphatisation on a cellular level - with cells being replaced by phosphate before they degrade.^[1]

Contents 1 Occurrence 2 What is preserved 3 Bias 4 References

[edit] Occurrence

The mode of preservation is typically found in shallow, high energy waters, as lenses of phosphate in carbonate rocks.^[1] Its occurrence is assisted by high concentrations of phosphate, which are presumably led to precipitate around the degradation products of cells and cell walls.^[1]

[edit] What is preserved

Cells are preserved at a cellular level, with arguments that sub-cellular structures may even represent cell nucleii.

[edit] Bias

Although the preservational window is open pretty continually from about 580 million years ago^{[verification needed]} through most of the Cambrian, it tends to preserve microscopic things, such as embryos and bacteria.^[1]

[edit] References

v • d • e Modes of preservation in the Cambrian Exceptional Phosphate Orsten type · Doushantuo type Silica Bitter Springs type Carbonaceous film Burgess Shale type Pyrite Beecher's Trilobite Bed type Casts and moulds Ediacaran type Legged trilobite fossil Conventional Shelly Small shelly fossils · Conventional fossils Organic Acritarchs · Organic-walled microfossils Traces Microbialites · Trace fossils

This geology article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e