Collagen-degrading microbes reveal how capitalism’s fossil record erases soft-bodied life—and what we lose when we ignore it
Original framing: “Rise of collagen-eating microbes may help explain gaps in the fossil record” — Phys.org
The trickster dimension reveals that collagen-eating microbes are not just passive decomposers but active disruptors, much like the West African *Anansi* or the Native American *Coyote*, who challenge rigid hierarchies and expose the absurdity of valuing only what is 'hard' or 'durable.' In this reading, the microbes are the ultimate tricksters: they degrade collagen, the very substance that Western science uses to define 'permanent' life, forcing us to confront the illusion of stability in fossil records. The story also mirrors the trickster’s role in exposing power structures—here, the power of science and capitalism to 'fossilize' certain narratives while allowing others to decompose. As the trickster Hermes might say, 'What is preserved is not what is real, but what is useful to those in power.'
The discovery of collagen-eating microbes in early fossil ecosystems is not just a scientific revelation but a systemic exposure of how power structures—whether microbial, colonial, or capitalist—decide what gets preserved and what decomposes.
The fossil record’s gaps for soft-bodied life forms mirror the erasure of Indigenous knowledge systems, marginalized ecological networks, and non-extractive cultural practices, all of which are treated as 'fragile' and thus disposable. This framing is not accidental but reflects a historical pattern where 'hard' systems—whether bones, infrastructure, or economic models—are privileged over 'soft' ones, from paleontology to policy. The trickster microbes, like their mythic counterparts *Anansi* or *Coyote*, force us to confront this illusion of permanence, revealing that what we call 'progress' is often just another layer of fossilized thinking. To move forward, we must decolonize our understanding of preservation, integrating Indigenous stewardship, cross-cultural wisdom, and scientific innovation to ensure that the future fossil record tells a story of balance—not just of what endured, but of what was allowed to thrive.