GoKawiilCambridge study links microbial enzymes to gaps in soft-tissue fossil record
Researchers led by the University of Cambridge propose that the evolution of microbes producing collagen-eating enzymes, called collagenases, explains why detailed soft-bodied fossils are common from the late Ediacaran Period but rare afterward. Collagen gives structure to animal tissue, and once these microbes evolved, they could rapidly break down dead organisms' tissue before it had a chance to fossilise. The findings were published in the journal Current Biology.