Abstract: Since the discovery of original biomaterials in ancient bone by Schweitzer in 1993, published reports have grown markedly. Between 1993 and 2019, there were 85 reports of original biomolecules in ancient bone in refereed journals. Today, there are over 150. MS techniques have allowed quantifiable data to be collected, specific proteins to be identified, and correlation of ancient collagen peptide sequences to modern counterparts using protein databases, such as Swissprot. This aids protein decomposition studies, as well as building a picture of how these biomolecules persisted to the present day. However, in all such studies, there remains a need to distinguish endogenous biomaterials from contamination. This is because it was generally assumed that fossilisation destroys all organic components. This study uses a previously successful combination of techniques to identify and sequence collagen from a Jurassic crocodilian bone, providing evidence for endogeneity.
Keywords: crocodile, Jurassic, collagen, proteins, soft-tissue, biomaterials, contamination