Here, the authors present Ediacaran fossils from the Tongshan Lagerstätte (South China), including Burgess Shale-type rangeomorphs preserved both with fronds and holdfasts. They use sedimentary and ch...

The definition and membership of Lophophorata, including brachiopods, phoronids, and bryozoans, have been debated for over a century. Lewin et al. show that phoronids and bryozoans share multiple deri...

The evolutionary origin of the bilaterian gut with two openings is debated. Expression in xenacoelomorphs, the sister group to bilaterians, of genes involved in bilaterian gut patterning suggests that...

Abstract. Stratigraphic correlation and age modelling are fundamental to reconstructing Earth's history, biological evolution, and palaeoclimate, and underpin the exploration for subsurface resources....

Taphonomic megabiases constrain phylogenetic information in the squamate fossil record

Abstract. The formation of calcified skeletons is crucial for the development, physiology, and ecology of many marine metazoans. The evolutionary origins o

Bicknell et al. explore the hypothesis that predation was a major ecological driver of early animal evolution. A study of the early Cambrian tommotiid Lapworthella fasciculata shows a correlation between increasing shell thickness and predation intensity (evidenced by perforations) over time, representing the oldest known microevolutionary arms race.

Instantaneous burial capturing animals alive may not be prerequisite for exceptional marine animal preservation and fossilization, according to experiments on marine and freshwater shrimps and cryogen...

Click the link provided to see the complete job description.