Coleoptera and microbe biomass in Antarctic Dry Valley paleosols adjacent to the Inland Ice: Implications for Mars

► Paleosols of Early to Middle Miocene age, Dry Valleys, Antarctica. ► New ecological model for Antarctic Cryosols based on bacteria and Coleoptera skeletons. ► Till emplaced by warm-based, temperate ice, possibly older then Early Miocene. ► Microenvironments in Antarctic Cryosols point to potential of life on Mars. ► Skeletons may predate the oldest preserved chitin (Oligocene) yet discovered on Earth.