Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils

Causal analysis of rock-biodiversity relationships over the global Phanerozoic challenges rock record bias and common cause hypothesis

This study evaluates the causes of covariation between marine biodiversity and sedimentary rock quantity over the Phanerozoic, finding that rock-record bias and common-cause mechanisms both contribute, but neither fully explains the patterns.

A sulfur-cycling co-culture alters iron sulfide diagenesis and pyritization

This study investigates how sulfur-cycling co-cultures affect iron sulfide diagenesis and pyritization, finding that abiotic processes and mineral reactivity, rather than microbial activity, primarily control these transformations.

Borealization: a biodiversity refugium and evolutionary cradle during the Permian-Triassic climate crisis

This study identifies the Boreal Ocean as a biodiversity refugium and evolutionary cradle during the Permian-Triassic climate crisis, showing it supported survival and speciation of many taxa.

Constraining Palaeogeography and Palaeotides for the Cambrian using cnidarian medusae

This study uses cnidarian medusae as tidal proxies to improve palaeogeographic reconstructions for the Cambrian period.

Stratigraphic Paleobiology of Carbonate Systems

Simulated tropical carbonate platforms and temperate ramps under identical sea-level forcing yield different fossil records: platform tops push apparent extinctions into transgressive tracts, while ramp unconformity bias fades gradually offshore.

Microbial N2O reduction in sulfidic waters:Implications for Proterozoic oceans

The paper investigates microbial N2O reduction in sulfidic waters, finding that Proterozoic oceans likely had lower N2O emissions due to active N2O reduction under euxinic conditions.

Temporal resolution reshapes dynamics of inferred community structure and extinction selectivity across the Permian-Triassic mass extinction

This study shows that high temporal resolution reveals abrupt ecological changes and shifts in extinction selectivity during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, which coarse resolution obscures.

Dawn of segmented bilaterians unveiled by soft-bodied fossils in microbial pseudomorphs from the Basal Cambrian

This paper describes the discovery of segmented bilaterian fossils from the lowermost Cambrian, preserved as microbial pseudomorphs, indicating a significant diversification during the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition.

Mosaic terrestrial diversity dynamics through the Permo-Triassic interval

This study reconstructs terrestrial diversification dynamics across the Permo-Triassic boundary using fossil data, revealing heterogeneous extinction patterns and challenging the idea of global terrestrial collapse.

No global collapse of food webs across the Permian-Triassic Mass Extinction

This study reconstructs marine food webs across the Permian-Triassic Mass Extinction to show that trophic collapse was not global and was influenced by environmental factors and species traits.

The fossil record of siliceous sponge spicules can be taken at face value

The paper shows that siliceous sponge spicules first appear in the fossil record during the Cambrian, not the Ediacaran, and that this reflects their actual evolutionary timing rather than taphonomic bias.

Experimental evidence for a microbial origin of reduction spots in red beds

The paper demonstrates experimentally that microbial activity can create bleached spots in ferruginous sediments, supporting the microbial origin of similar features in ancient red beds.

Possible planktonic lifestyle of the Silurian trilobite Deiphon evaluated through 3D modelling

This study uses 3D modeling to evaluate the planktonic lifestyle of the Silurian trilobite Deiphon by analyzing its morphology and buoyancy.

Fungal proliferation before and after the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction in North America

The paper identifies fungal proliferation in North America before and after the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction, linking it to climatic cooling and Deccan Traps activity.

A Quantitative Review of Biodiversity Trends during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event

This study quantifies biodiversity trends during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event using a meta-analysis of 98 datasets, revealing sustained diversification followed by a decline due to mass extinction.

Microstructural and geochemical evidence offers a solution to the cephalopod cameral deposits riddle

This study identifies cameral deposits in orthoceratoid cephalopods as primary aragonite and calcite fabrics formed via a capillary effect, resolving previous contradictions and suggesting an adaptation for increased growth rates.

Metabolic controls on the carbon isotope fractionations of bacterial fermentation

This paper investigates carbon isotope fractionations in bacterial fermentation products and shows they can serve as isotopic signatures for studying fermentation in both modern and ancient environments.

Devonian stromatoporoid historical collections in the Natural History Museum, London (UK): redescription, taxonomic revision and implications for stromatoporoid global paleobiogeography

This study redescribes and revises Devonian stromatoporoid specimens from the NHMUK, revealing global paleobiogeographic patterns through network analysis.

A stromatoporoid-like sediment-agglutinating sponge from microbialites of Cambrian Stage 4

This study describes a new Cambrian sponge species that built its skeleton primarily from foreign detritus, expanding understanding of early sponge physiology and ecology.

Recolonisation strategies of early animals in the Avalon (Ediacaran 574 - 560 Ma)

This study investigates how biological legacies influenced recolonisation dynamics in Avalon palaeocommunities by analyzing spatial patterns of Fractofusus fragments and survivor fronds.

Seasonal biogeochemical variations in a modern microbialite reef under early Earth-like conditions

The paper studies seasonal changes in a modern microbialite reef, finding that environmental fluctuations drive microbial community shifts and mineralization patterns, indicating metabolic drivers over taxonomy in carbonate precipitation.

New insights into the extinction and recovery of marine vertebrates across the Permian-Triassic mass extinction event in the Dolomites, Southern Alps, Italy

The paper reports new fossil findings from the Permian-Triassic boundary in the Dolomites, suggesting ecological changes and a rapid recovery of apex predators after the mass extinction.

Did Iron Suppress Eukaryote Emergence and Early Radiation?

This study investigates how iron availability influenced early eukaryotic evolution by linking geochemical records with microbial biochemistry, suggesting iron constraints rather than oxygen availability drove eukaryogenesis.

Prototaxites was an extinct lineage of multicellular terrestrial eukaryotes

The paper analyzes the anatomy and molecular composition of Prototaxites to determine its taxonomic classification, concluding it is not a fungus but an extinct terrestrial lineage.

Sponges of the Lower Greensand Group (Lower Cretaceous) of England; a revision

This paper revises and describes sponge species from the Lower Greensand Group of England, using updated taxonomy and museum collections.

Substantial contribution of in-situ produced bacterial lipids to the sedimentary lipidome

The paper identifies in-situ produced bacterial sphingolipids as a significant component of the sedimentary lipidome in the Black Sea, accounting for ~20% of total lipids.

Rapid riparian ecosystem recovery in low-latitudinal North China following the end-Permian mass extinction

This study shows rapid recovery of riparian ecosystems in low-latitude North China within 2 million years after the end-Permian mass extinction, marked by increased ichnological complexity and burrowing behavior.

Were Neoarchean atmospheric methane hazes and early Paleoproterozoic glaciations driven by the rise of oxygen in surface environments?

The paper uses a dynamical model to show that oxygen rise drove methane cycle cyclicity, linking it to ancient climate and glacial events.

Basal Cambrian soft-bodied segmented bilaterians preserved as microbial pseudomorphs

This study identifies microbial pseudomorphs as the earliest three-dimensional body fossils of segmented bilaterians from the basal Cambrian, revealing a diversified bilaterian world.