Biomineralization

Biomineralization, also written biomineralisation, is the process by which living organisms produce or retain inorganic minerals, often resulting in hardened or stiffened mineralized tissues. It is extremely widespread: all major lineages of the Earth's biosphere contain members that can form minerals, and over sixty different minerals have been identified in organisms. Examples include silicates in algae, diatoms and sponges, carbonates in invertebrates, and calcium phosphates and carbonates in vertebrates, building structures such as sea shells and the bone of mammals and birds. Organisms have been producing mineralized skeletons for the past 550 million years, and biomineralization plays global roles in biogeochemical cycles and as a carbon sink.