In recent years, several papers have claimed that soft tissue can preserve within bone matrix of extinct vertebrates, some dating back over 100 million years. Work conducted on specimens from Montana suggested sediment type may influence preservation of original tissues and proteins. An alternative hypothesis is that soft tissue preservation may be linked to the time that a specimen is exposed to the environment prior to burial. The time of exposure can be estimated by the degree of disarticulation of a skeleton. A study was conducted to determine if these factors truly contribute to the preservation of soft tissue-like structures in the geological record. This study is not intended to verify the presence of proteins but is simply to determine how common are macrostructures that look like soft tissue preservation. Samples were placed into a 0.5 Msolution of (ethylenedinitrilo)tetraacetic acid, disodium salt, dihydrate (EDTA) for two months to dissolve mineral components. All specimens studied were collected from the Dinosaur Park Formation (upper Campanian) to minimize stratigraphic variation that may influence preservation. Dissolution of vertebrate remains sampled indicate an unexpectedly high rate of structural preservation. Fifteen dinosaur, two crocodilian, one fish, and one turtle were sampled for a total of nineteen specimens. Specimens were chosen based on sediment type and degree of articulation. Approximately half of the samples were recovered from sandstones, and the other half originated in mudstones. Additionally, approximately half of the samples were collected from articulated or closely associated skeletons, and the other half were taken from isolated bones or specimens from micro vertebrate sites. Of the nineteen specimens tested, eighteen spec imens produced 'vessel' structures, eighteen had extracellular organic- like matter, and seven revealed 'osteocyte' structures. Although 'vessel' and extracellular organic-like structures are not associated to a specific matrix type or degree of association, 'osteocyte' structures appear to be associated more often with articulated/associated specimens, especially if they are preserved in sandstones.

van Mourik, L.M., Lava, R., O'Brien, J., Leonards, P.E.G., de Boer, J., Ricci, M., 2020. The underlying challenges that arise when analysing short-chain chlorinated paraffins in environmental matrices. Journal of Chromatography A 1610, 460550.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021967319309446 As short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) are listed on several monitoring programs, validated methods are essential. However, their complexity and the lack of commercially available certified reference materials (RMs) hinder a proper validation of meth ods. Instead, one method is usually 'validated' by evaluating performances and results of spiked materials with that of one other method, which could easily lead to unreliable results. This study evaluated four analytical methods with different principles (i.e. comprehensive two dimensional GC coupled to a micro electron capture detector, developed for this study, chloride enhanced atmospheric pressure chemical ionization triple quadrupole time of flight MS (APCI-QToF-HRMS), GC coupled to an electron capture negative ion low resolution MS (GC - ECNI - LRMS) and carbon skeleton GC - MS), investigated the comparability in SCCP determination in spiked and naturally contaminated samples and determined SCCP amounts in candidate RMs for possible certification. The results cast doubt on the use of the most commonly applied method (i.e. GC - ECNI - LRMS), as well as using spiked materials for method validation. The APCI-QToF-HRMS method was found most promising as it achieves the required MS resolution (>21,000), is relatively fast and can detect also other CPs. The suitable identified SCCP levels in the candidate RMs and the agreement in results between the methods bring the first certification of a RM for SCCPs within reach.

Vance, S.D., Melwani Daswani, M., 2020. Serpentinite and the search for life beyond Earth. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 378, 20180421.

https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2018.0421 Hydrogen from serpentinization is a source of chemical energy for some life forms on Earth. It is a potential fuel for life in the subsurface of Mars and in the icy ocean worlds in the outer solar system. Serpentinization is also implicated in life's origi n. Planetary exploration offers a way to investigate such theories by characterizing and ultimately searching for life in geochemical settings that no longer exist on Earth. At present, much of the