The 3D submicron-scale skeletal reconstruction of <i>Nannoconus</i> (Cretaceous calcareous nannofossil) – Insights into biomineralization

Chowdhury, Rajkumar; Boudjehem, Redhouane; Suchéras-Marx, Baptiste; Dupraz, Maxime; Kulow, Anico; da Silva, Julio Cesar; Hazemann, Jean Louis; Aubry, Marie-Pierre; Pérez, Javier; Fernandez-Martinez, Alejandro; Giraud, Fabienne

doi:10.5194/bg-23-2023-2026

Articles | Volume 23, issue 5

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-2023-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-2023-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 23, issue 5

Research article

|

18 Mar 2026

Research article |

| 18 Mar 2026

The 3D submicron-scale skeletal reconstruction of Nannoconus (Cretaceous calcareous nannofossil) – Insights into biomineralization

Rajkumar Chowdhury, Redhouane Boudjehem, Baptiste Suchéras-Marx, Maxime Dupraz, Anico Kulow, Julio Cesar da Silva, Jean Louis Hazemann, Marie-Pierre Aubry, Javier Pérez, Alejandro Fernandez-Martinez, and Fabienne Giraud

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Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 23 Jun 2025)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Jun 2025	120	34	10	164
Jul 2025	188	66	16	270
Aug 2025	304	44	8	356
Sep 2025	984	26	16	1,026
Oct 2025	104	22	4	130
Nov 2025	104	26	8	138
Dec 2025	86	26	14	126
Jan 2026	126	78	14	218
Feb 2026	70	30	12	112
Mar 2026	362	82	14	458
Apr 2026	271	69	20	360
May 2026	80	34	9	123
Jun 2026	21	18	9	48
Jul 2026	54	35	11	100
Aug 2026	42	30	26	98
Sep 2026	213	184	110	507
Oct 2026	185	99	89	373
Nov 2026	80	37	19	136

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Short summary

Nannoconus, a major marine planktonic biocarbonate producer of the Early Cretaceous (150–120 Ma), biomineralized heavy (200–1400 picogram) skeletons (5–20 μm) of interlocking lamellae spanned around a central canal, by an unknown process. With the first-ever application of synchrotron-based ptychographic X-ray computed tomography (PXCT) of nanometric resolution, we reconstructed the 3D skeleton by combining segments of lamellae and inferred its possible biomolecule(s)-“templated” calcification.