Toward creation of Chemical paleontology

对于结构非常普遍或没有现代同类的化石，很难根据形态来调查其起源。最近，关于埃迪卡拉纪的球状化石是来自最古老的动物胚胎还是大型细菌的定植存在争议。我们对最古老的动物胚胎化石进行了原位FT-IR分析，发现了真核生物（即后生动物）的有机分子证据。我们对最古老的刺胞动物水螅化石进行同步x射线显微ct分析，观察其内部结构。我们发现了明显的五辐体结构，表明早期刺胞菌没有径向结构，而是双侧结构。

It is difficult to investigate the origins of fossils whose structures are very common or have no modern equivalents based on the morphology. Recently, it is controversial whether globular fossils in the Ediacaran originate from the oldest animal embryos or colonized large bacteria. We carried out in-situ FT-IR analyses of the oldest animal embryo fossils and found organic molecular evidence for the eukaryotes, namely metazoans. We conducted synchrotron X-ray Micro-CT analyses of the oldest cnidarian polyp fossils to observe the internal structures. We found clear pentaradial structures inside, suggesting the early Cnidaria did not have radial structures but bilateral structures.