New insights into the chemical composition of chitinozoans

The chemical structure of isolated chitinozoan specimens extracted from early Silurian marine rocks has been investigated by micro-FTIR, laser micro-Raman spectroscopy and laser micropyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (LmPy-GC-MS). The samples were subjected to relatively low thermal stress as attested by several indices. LmPy-GC-MS and micro-FTIR indicate that chitinozoans consist mostly of a kerogen network dominated by aromatic groups with a low contribution of aliphatics and oxygen- or nitrogen-bearing compounds. No chitin-related product was found in the pyrolysate of the chitinozoans, confirming previous findings on the occurrence of this biopolymer in the fossil record.