Minute bodies (less than 80 microns) of isotropic silica, originally precipitated by terrestrial plants, are found together with freshwater diatoms in falls of dust over the ocean. Eolian transport from Africa can explain the occurrence of similar plant remains in deep-sea sediments of the equatorial Atlantic as far west as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
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Inter- and intra-observer variation in phytolith morphometry.
Ann Bot
July 2024
Kiel University, Variationsstatistik, Kiel, Germany.
Article Synopsis
- Archaeobotanists utilize geometric morphometrics for identifying plant opal phytoliths, but observer variation in measurement can lead to misidentification.
- A study involving eight researchers measured 50 samples of three phytolith types to explore inter- and intra-observer variation, which revealed differences ranging from 0 to 23% among observers and 0 to 9% within individual observers.
- The findings underscored that inexperienced researchers showed greater variation and highlighted the importance of training and clear instructions to minimize errors in phytolith morphometry.
Miocene phytolith and diatom dataset from 10.3Myo diatomite formation, Fernley, Nevada, USA.
Data Brief
October 2023
Department of Biology, Loyola University Chicago, 1050 W. Sheridan Rd., Chicago, IL 60626, USA.
Phytoliths are opal silica particles formed within plant tissues. Diatoms are aquatic, single-celled photosynthetic algae with silica skeletons. Phytolith and diatom morphotypes vary depending on local environmental and climatic conditions and because their silicate structures preserve well, the study of phytolith and diatom morphotypes can be used to better understand paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental dynamics and changes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChemical status of zinc in plant phytoliths: Impact of burning and (paleo)environmental implications.
Sci Total Environ
December 2022
Géosciences Environnement Toulouse (GET), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, IRD 14 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France; BIO-GEO-CLIM Laboratory, Tomsk State University, Tomsk 634050, Russia.
Phytoliths are microscopic structures made of amorphous opal (opal-A), an amorphous hydrated silica, dispersed within plant tissues and persisting after the decay of the plant. Silicon is known to alleviate metal toxicity in plants, but the role of phytoliths in metal sequestration and detoxification is unclear. Dry ashing, the most common protocol for phytolith extraction, was previously shown to lead to sequestration of metals by the phytoliths; however, the mechanisms of this process remained elusive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Opal phytoliths (microscopic silica bodies produced in and between the cells of many plants) are a very resilient, often preserved type of plant microfossil. With the exponentially growing number of phytolith studies, standardization of phytolith morphotype names and description is essential. As a first effort in standardization, the International Code for Phytolith Nomenclature 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNew model to explain tooth wear with implications for microwear formation and diet reconstruction.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
August 2015
Tribology Research Institute, Key Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials, Ministry of Education of China, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, People's Republic of China;
Paleoanthropologists and vertebrate paleontologists have for decades debated the etiology of tooth wear and its implications for understanding the diets of human ancestors and other extinct mammals. The debate has recently taken a twist, calling into question the efficacy of dental microwear to reveal diet. Some argue that endogenous abrasives in plants (opal phytoliths) are too soft to abrade enamel, and that tooth wear is caused principally by exogenous quartz grit on food.
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