Technique of Palynomorphs Extraction from Dental Calculi of South American Gomphotheres

Authors

  • Shana Yuri Misumi Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Geociências, Departamento de Geologia, Laboratório de Palinologia
  • Lidiane Asevedo Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de Biologia, Laboratório de Mastozoologia
  • Leonardo dos Santos Avilla Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de Biologia, Laboratório de Mastozoologia
  • Ortrud Monika Barth Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Geociências, Departamento de Geologia, Laboratório de Palinologia
  • Marcia Barros Aguiar de Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Geociências, Departamento de Geologia, Laboratório de Palinologia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11137/2016_1_127_132

Keywords:

Dental calculus, South American gomphotheres, Palynomorphs, Extraction technique

Abstract

A laboratory technique was developed to extract palynomorphs from dental calculi of South American gomphotere Notiomastodon platensis individuals. The samples were obtained from molar specimens from Northeastern and Southern Brazil. The laboratory procedure consists in steps of maceration, addition of Lycopodium clavatum exotic spores, reaction with concentrated hydrochloric acid, washing with distilled water and sonication. Glycerin gelatin was used to prepare the microscope slides containing the microfossils. Pollen grains, pteridophyte spores and fragments of plant tissues were recovered. This methodology allows the extraction and observation of other microfossils, such as phytoliths, that might also be present in dental calculi of herbivorous mammals.

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Published

2017-02-15

Issue

Vol. 39 No. 1 (2016)

Section

Article

License

This journal is licensed under a Creative Commons — Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.