Chemical composition of paleozoic and mesozoic fossil inverteb4rate cuticles as revealed by pyrolysis-Gas

摘要

The cuticles of 15 fossil invertebrates ranging in age from Silurian to Cretaceous, and including both marine and terrestrial organisms, have been analyzed using pyrolysis-gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry (py-GC/MS). Modern invertebrate cuticles were analyzed in the same way as a basis for comparison. The modern cuticles yielded pyrolysis products derived from chitin and proteins, but none of these components was detected in the pyrolysates of the fossil cuticles.