Data from: Chemical preservation of tail feathers from Anchiornis huxleyi, a theropod dinosaur from the Tiaojishan Formation (Upper Jurassic, China)

A panel of geochemical techniques is used here to investigate the
taphonomy of fossil feathers preserved in association with the skeleton of
the Jurassic theropod Anchiornis huxleyi. Extant buzzard feathers were
analysed in parallel to test whether the soft tissues morphologically
preserved in the fossil also exhibit a high degree of chemical
preservation. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive
spectroscopy (EDS) indicate that clays and iron oxide pseudomorphs occur
in the surrounding sediment and also reveal the preservation of
melanosome-like microbodies in the fossil. Carbon gradient along a depth
profile and co-occurrence of carbon and sulphur was shown in the fossil by
elastic backscattering (EBS) and particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE).
The molecular composition of modern and fossil soft tissues was assessed
from micro-Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared
spectroscopy (micro-ATR FTIR), solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance
(13C CP-MAS NMR) and pyrolysis- gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in
the presence of TMAH (TMAH-Py-GC-MS). Results show that the proteinaceous
material that comprises the modern feathers is not present in the fossil
feathers. The latter and the embedding sediment exhibit a highly aliphatic
character. However, substantial differences could be evidenced between
these samples, revealing that the organic matter of the fossil feathers
is, at least partially, derived from original constituents of the
feathers. The preservation of the fossil feathers, primarily expressed by
the preservation of their morphology, seems to be associated with in situ
polymerization of endogenous lipids. Sulphur probably played a role in the
fossil preservation although no natural sulphurization took place.