OLDEST FINDS OF EARTH'S HISTORY

"The Way of Life — PaleoChemistry Examples": Exploring the PaleoChemistry of Prof. Timothy D. Huang! 🥰🥰🥰


My friend, Paleontologist Uwe M. Troppenz, a member of the World Archives of Sciences (WAS) since May 30, 2018, brought to our attention a significant publication: "The Way of Life – PaleoChemistry Examples," authored in both Chinese and English languages by the late Taiwanese paleontologist, Prof. Dr. Timothy Huang. Unfortunately, following his passing, Huang's manuscript remained unpublished. Consequently, with explicit consent from his spouse, we have facilitated the free download of this exceptional work in the WAS Archives. This outstanding book encapsulates Huang's vast and remarkable technical contributions in PaleoChemistry. Notably, it provides precise descriptions of the oldest multicellular organisms in Earth's history, dating back 2.2 billion years, which Huang discovered and named 'Yimenionta'. I want to emphasize here the importance of this work in contemporary paleontology, particularly in enhancing our understanding of the world through Huang's application of PaleoChemistry and his examination of the origins of life on Earth.
First and foremost, I'd like to express my admiration for Professor Huang:
Professor Timothy D. Huang, occupying the Tang AoQing Chair at Jilin University and holding an honorary visiting professorship at ChongHsing University, stands out as a prominent figure within the scientific community. Revered for his interdisciplinary approach as a Paleochemist, he has made significant contributions to the realm of paleontology. His pioneering research in dinosaur embryology and parental care, conducted in collaboration with researcher Robert Reisz, gained global recognition with a featured article in Nature in 2013. Professor Huang's exploration transcends traditional paleontology by integrating chemistry, employing a diverse range of spectroscopic, laser, synchrotron, and nuclear radiation sources to delve into Paleochemistry. This innovative multidisciplinary approach amalgamates paleontology, paleobiology, and chemistry to elucidate the chemical composition and transformations occurring within ancient organisms and their surrounding matrices across time. Through meticulous analysis of minute changes in chemical composition from living states to fossilization, Professor Huang has dedicated his career to advancing our comprehension of evolution. In essence, Paleochemistry represents a transformative shift in paleontological inquiry, focusing on the intricate changes within ancient organisms from their inception to the present day. His contributions not only elevate the study of ancient life to unprecedented levels but also pave the way for groundbreaking advancements in both chemistry and paleontology. Huang has donated more than 3,000 fossils and mineral specimens sourced from various global locations to the National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung. In order to honor his wishes, we are pleased to fulfill Huang's desire to distribute his book beyond Taiwan.
About Huang's book:
From the excavation site to the geological context of formation, comprehensive morphological analyses encompassing physical and chemical dimensions were conducted employing sophisticated scientific instrumentation. Subsequent chemical assays substantiated the retention of 18 distinct amino acids within the Daqian biota, establishing its status as the earliest known multicellular eukaryote based on sterane signatures (*). Huang presented compelling evidence supporting the proposition that this phenomenon likely represents one of the earliest instances of biological metamorphosis. Notably, Huang elucidated valuable insights into chemical morphology, elucidating the presence of preserved compounds in fossils originating from condensed matter chemical reactions. Building upon this robust dataset, he subsequently engaged in discussions regarding the origin and evolutionary trajectory of the Daqian biota, synthesizing organic and inorganic analytical findings to derive informed conclusions. Finally, the text examines the evolution of ancient life through the prism of environmental shifts during antiquity.
(*) Sterane signatures in paleobiology refer to specific organic compounds known as steranes, which serve as molecular biomarkers utilized for identifying particular organisms or groups of organisms within fossils or geological sediments. Steranes are derivatives of steroids, chemical compounds found in the cell membranes of eukaryotes, including plants, animals, and fungi.
In the preface of his work, Professor Timothy D. Huang stated: 'Looking back over the past four years of my life, from a simple oral promise that I thought was nothing at first, through twists and turns, to now, I can sort out these things. Among them are sour, sweet, bitter, hot, cheering with tears, so many expectations and disappointments and excitements turned lonely. If this is not personally experienced, it is challenging to appreciate. My own life has to have some little summaries from time to time, and this book is one of them. A few years ago, I started to promote PaleoChemistry and published "An Introduction to PaleoChemistry" in July of 2021. In that book, I tried to describe what I thought Paleochemistry should be more on the theoretical side. The examples used were broad and mainly focused on dinosaur embryology. This book is based on the 2.2 billion years ago fossils from Daqian, Tongchang in Yimen County of Yunnan. I describe all the advanced scientific instruments we used and do our best to show "paleontology + chemistry." It is a testament to the power of PaleoChemistry. This can be seen as the preacher (me) actually practicing his own words, not just speaking on the podium.'
Here is a brief description of each chapter:
Chapter 1, Overview: The discovery of Daqian fossils, the significant conclusions so far, and namings of fossils.
Chapter 2, Geology: Discussions of the geology of the Daqian-fossil site, present opinions on several related papers, and discuss the possibility of a black submarine chimney.
Chapter 3, Multiple Harmonic Generation Microscopy: Failure in Jilin University, back to Professor Sun's lab, using MHGM to see 2.2 billion years ago cells!
Chapter 4, Morphology: Two types of morphologies; systematic description of Daqian fossils, higher resolution computed tomography, and synchrotron radiation transmission X-ray microscopy revealed cells and organelles.
Chapter 5, Neutron scanning: Three neutron scans lead to new weight topics, neutron cannon shooting Shrimpy and X-ray fluorescence.
Chapter 6, Explorations on organics: 18 Amino acids were discovered inside fossils, metal amino acid binding was discussed, sterane/hopane proved to be the earliest eukaryotes.
Chapter 7, Eukaryotes: Discussion on the emergence of eukaryotes, talk about the fundamental problems of life science, and the essence of life.
Chapter 8, Raman Spectroscopy: Raman Computer Tomography was used to see into Shrimpy Peanut cells and organelles as the quadruple evidence and phonon tricks.
Chapter 9, Shrimpy: Reincarnation and Future Life of Shrimpy.
Chapter 10, Integration: The combination of organic and inorganic materials in the Daqian fossil, the relationship between oxygen and these organisms, and the significant conclusions are described.
Chapter 11, PaleoChemistry: Discussion of organic remains in the Daqian fossil as products of condensed chemical reactions and presenting the originally submitted article.
Chapter 12, Looking Forward: About academic papers publications, introducing the ancient fossils in central Yunnan, discussing the environmental changes of "seeing feng shui," and the expectation for the future.
Download the complete book in PDF format (WAS Archived): https://drive.google.com/.../1bajx64YEjPGxgbuKo.../view....
Photo 1: Paleoproterozoic fossil specimens of 2.2 Ga from Daqian, Tongchang, Yimen. Closeup of 'Shrimpy'. Similar to the oldest shrimp fossil from Chernjiang Cambrian Explosion. Scale bar 1 mm. Credit: Prof. Timothy D. Huang.
Photo 2: Liangshania shrimpy of Daqian biota with finger-like bifurcations at lower left. Credit: Prof. Timothy D. Huang.
Photo 3: Prof. Timothy D. Huang. Credit: Prof. Timothy D. Huang.
References:
Timothy D. Huang, 2022. The Way of Life — PaleoChemistry Examples. 430 pp.
Download the complete book in PDF format (WAS Archived): https://drive.google.com/.../1bajx64YEjPGxgbuKo.../view....
Uwe-M. Troppenz, 2021. News from the past, 2.2 billions: Yimenionta with 'Shrimpies' and 'Peanuts' Paleoproterozoic - Mesoproterozoic - Neoproterozoic. Tetrada Verlag, Parchim. Édition 2021. 34 Fig. 72 pp.