Biotic replacement and mass extinction of the Ediacara biota.

On the eve of animal radiation: phylogeny, ecology and evolution of the Ediacara biota.

Ediacara fossils document an important evolutionary episode just before the Cambrian explosion and hold critical information about the early evolution of macroscopic and complex multicellular life. They also represent an enduring controversy in paleontology. How are the Ediacara fossils related to living animals? How did they live? Do they share any evolutionary patterns with other life forms? ...

The roles of mass extinction and biotic interaction in large-scale replacements: a reexamination using the fossil record of stromboidean gastropods

-The macroevolutionary processes underlying large-scale biotic replacements are still poorly understood. Opinion remains divided regarding the roles of mass extinction, biotic interaction, and environmental perturbations in these replacement events. Previous attempts to test replacement hypotheses have largely focused on taxonomic diversity patterns. Taxonomic data alone, however, provide littl...

The Luoping biota: exceptional preservation, and new evidence on the Triassic recovery from end-Permian mass extinction.

The timing and nature of biotic recovery from the devastating end-Permian mass extinction (252 Ma) are much debated. New studies in South China suggest that complex marine ecosystems did not become re-established until the middle-late Anisian (Middle Triassic), much later than had been proposed by some. The recently discovered exceptionally preserved Luoping biota from the Anisian Stage of the ...

On the Form and Relations of the Ediacara Biota

Assemblage palaeoecology of the Ediacara biota: The unabridged edition?

Fossils of the Ediacara biota offer our earliest insight into diverse macroscopic life on this planet. In particular, given the diversity and range of exquisite soft-bodied preservation, the potential for unraveling aspects of the paleobiology and paleoecology is great. Clearly, however, there can be a taphonomic overprint that dictates how complete the assemblage is. New diversity data (includ...