Christina O'Malley, PhD

Research in Crinoid Biomarkers

Dr. O’Malley was the first paleontologist to confirm it was possible to isolate and describe biomarker molecules preserved in Paleozoic crinoids.

Crinoids are echinoderms related to sea urchins and starfish. These are specimens collected in LeGrand, IA, USA and in the collection at Beloit College.

Notably, these fossils are preserved with species-specific coloration. That is, different species of crinoids have their own unique colors. In fact, when Dr. O’Malley extracted organic biomarker molecules from these fossils, they had difference characteristic fluorescent excitation emission matrices (EEMs). This information could further be used as information in phylogenetic analysis, and is a new way to approach understanding relationships between clades of echinoderms.

Click the images to download peer-reviewed publications

Both articles published by O’Malley in Geology had imaged selected for the cover of the journal! Click on the image of the cover to view the publication.

O’Malley, C. E., Ausich, W. I., & Chin, Y. P. (2013). Isolation and characterization of the earliest taxon- specific organic molecules (Mississippian, Crinoidea). Geology, 41(3), 347-350.
O’Malley, C.E., W.I. Ausich, and Y.-P. Chin. (2016). Deep echinoderm phylogeny preserved in organic molecules from Paleozoic fossils. Geology, 44(5), 379-382.

One of the images was used as a coloring page on a flyer to advertise publishing articles in the journal Geology at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting.

Click the buttons below to read news stories about Dr. O’Malley’s research

Oldest organic molecules found in ancient fossils
Ancient sea creatures yield oldest biomolecules isolated directly from a fossil