Researchers Reveal Internal Secrets of Earliest Animals

Home>>Sci-Edu

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, October 26, 2002

Researchers Reveal Internal Secrets of Earliest Animals

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Researchers have revealed the shapes and internal structures of individual cells within some of the earliest multicellular animals for the first time using technology normally associated with hospitals, the Geological Society of America said Friday in a press release.

Paleontologists Whitey Hagadorn of Amherst College and Shuhai Xiao of Tulane University got the internal structure of 600-million-year-old fossilized embryos using specialized microscopic three-dimensional x-ray computer tomography (microCT), according to the news release.

The microfossils they studied came from Doushantuo phosphorite in the Weng'an region of South China.

The phosphorite formation dates from 555 to 600 million years ago, which makes the fossil embryos good candidates for beating out the current oldest animal fossils: 555-million-year-old soft-bodied mollusks from the White Sea in Russia.

And more important is what the fossils might tell us about the early evolution of animals and the kind of environment they lived in. For instance, it might be possible to look at series of 600-million-year-old animal embryos that represent various stages of embryological development and compare them to the various development patterns of animal embryos today. "It speaks to the issue of where we come from," said Hagadorn.

To get their internal structure, Hagadorn and Xiao employed the latest microCT technology to generate tantalizing preliminary images of nine animal embryos, three algal forms, and two still-undetermined fossils.

The 3-D images catch embryos in mid-development and make it possible to count cells in the embryos, discern the shapes and arrangements of the cells and even discern what might be structures within the cells.

Hagadorn stressed it is not clear what kind of animals these fossil embryos might be. The animals they could represent include jellyfish, anemones, or other organisms.

Hagadorn will present the findings at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America on October 28, in Denver.

Questions?Comments? Click here

China Outlines Future Plans for Expansion of Road Network ( 9 Messages)

PBOC Forecast Faster Money Growth ( 8 Messages)

China May Have More PhDs Than the US in 2010 ( 50 Messages)

China May Outstrip US as World's Largest FDI Recipient: UNCTAD ( 3 Messages)

China Opposes US Weapon Sales to Taiwan ( 3 Messages)

( Messages)