The files contained here relate to the following publication: 



Cunningham, J. A., Vargas, K., Marone, F., Bengtson, S. & Donoghue, P. C. J. 2016. 

A multicellular organism with embedded cell clusters from the Ediacaran Weng’an biota (Doushantuo Formation, South China). Evolution & Development. 

Table S1.xlsx is Table S1, which contains 2D measurements of cell clusters used in Fig. 5 (this is also available from the publisher's website).



The folders SMNH X 4447, SMNH X 5331 and SMNH X 5357 contain data from X-ray tomographic analyses of fossils figured in the paper: 



For SMNH X 5331 (the conical fossil that is the focus of the paper) there are two zip archives:
1. Slice data and Avizo files, containing:
- Slice data: the raw scan data (.tif image stack)
- Label files for cell clusters and individual cells: Avizo projects (.hx) containing the labels and the files required to open the project file. The cluster labels are based on a downsampled version of the data which is included here as slice data (.tif image stack). Voxel sizes for this file are 0.325 x 1.3 x 0.325 micrometers.
2. Working files, containing:
- Surface models: .ply files for clusters and individual cells.
- Segmented stacks: the label files as .tif stacks (voxel sizes as per slice data: 0.325 x 0.325 x 0.325  micrometres (cell labels); 0.325 x 1.3 x 0.325 micrometers (cluster labels)).


SMNH X 4447 and SMNH X 5357 (two specimens figured for comparison) there is:
- Slice data: zip archives of the raw scan data (.tif image stack).



The individual slices (.tif images) can be viewed with standard graphics software, and the datasets can be studied in 3D using tomographic reconstruction software such as Avizo (www.vsg3d.com/), Spiers (www.spiers-software.org/), VG Studio Max (www.volumegraphics.com) etc.
The Avizo project and label files (.hx and .am files) require Avizo software (www.vsg3d.com/) to be opened.
The 3D models (.ply files) are widely compatible with 3D freeware packages such as MeshLab (http://meshlab.sourceforge.net/) or Blender (https://www.blender.org/), or with proprietary software, e.g. Avizo (www.vsg3d.com/), Geomagic (http://www.geomagic.com/en/), Mimics (http://biomedical.materialise.com/mimics).


The scan settings for each specimen are provided below: 



Specimen SMNH X 4447 
Specimen originally published in Huldgren et al. 2011. Science 334: 1686-1699.

Specimen was scanned using synchrotron radiation X-ray tomographic microscopy (SRXTM). SRXTM analyses were carried out at the X02DA TOMCAT beamline of the Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland. The data consist of a stacked series of .tif files that represent maps of X-ray attenuation. The individual slices can be viewed with standard graphics software. The datasets can be studied in 3D using tomographic reconstruction software such as Avizo (www.vsg3d.com/), Spiers (www.spiers-software.org/), VG Studio Max (www.volumegraphics.com) etc.

voxel size: 0.36 x 0.36 x 0.36  micrometres

field dimensions: 1583 x 1889

energy: 20.0 keV

projections: 1501

exposure: 80 ms 

objective: 20x

scintillator: 20 µm



Specimen SMNH X 5331 

Specimen was scanned using synchrotron radiation X-ray tomographic microscopy (SRXTM). SRXTM analyses were carried out at the X02DA TOMCAT beamline of the Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland. The data consist of a stacked series of .tif files that represent maps of X-ray attenuation. The individual slices can be viewed with standard graphics software. The datasets can be studied in 3D using tomographic reconstruction software such as Avizo (www.vsg3d.com/), Spiers (www.spiers-software.org/), VG Studio Max (www.volumegraphics.com) etc.

voxel size: 0.325 x 0.325 x 0.325  micrometres

field dimensions: 1665 x 1250

energy: 17.5 keV

projections: 1501

exposure: 100 ms

objective: 20x

scintillator: 20 µm





Specimen SMNH X 5357

Specimen was scanned using synchrotron radiation X-ray tomographic microscopy (SRXTM). SRXTM analyses were carried out at the X02DA TOMCAT beamline of the Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland. The data consist of a stacked series of .tif files that represent maps of X-ray attenuation. The individual slices can be viewed with standard graphics software. The datasets can be studied in 3D using tomographic reconstruction software such as Avizo (www.vsg3d.com/), Spiers (www.spiers-software.org/), VG Studio Max (www.volumegraphics.com) etc.

voxel size: 0.65 x 0.65 x 0.65  micrometres

field dimensions: 1168 x 1438

energy: 19.0 keV

projections: 1501

exposure: 160 ms

objective: 10x

scintillator: 20 µm