Small shelly fossils (SSFs) are minute moulded or replaced by apatite, and less commonly, other minerals like glauconite iron oxides. This taphonomic mode is best known from Cambrian deposits, though some occurrences occur across geological time. Instances of small shelly-style preservation were found in insoluble residues the Lower Triassic Virgin Limestone Member exposed southern Nevada, west...

Large structures are introduced into deep-water marine environments by several industrial activities, including hydrocarbon exploitation. Anthropogenic can alter ecosystem structure and functioning in many ecosystems but the responses on continental margins poorly known. Here, we investigate short-term response of benthic megafauna to installation a 56 km-long 30 cm diameter pipeline Angolan Ma...

Thuy et al. (2017) meant to present evidence that some Paleozoic stem-group echinoderms survived the end-Permian extinction. If valid, this would be an important discovery because it radically challenges severe evolutionary bottleneck experienced by echinoderms during that time. However, given the far-reaching implications of such a matter, the onus and burden of proof must be high and applied....

the spatangoid genus schizaster agassiz is recorded, for the first time, from the lutetian (middle eocene) deposits of sargaz area, south of kerman, iran. the lutetian sediments of sargaz region contain a rich and divers echinoid fauna represented by cidaridae, conoclypeidae, echinolampadidae, toxopneustidae, phymosomatidae and schizasteridae. schizasteroid echinoids are an important component ...

Oxygen consumption (MO2) and ammonium excretion rates were recorded monthly over 2 yr for the regular Antarctic echinoid Sterechinus neumayeri to investigate metabolic activity in relation to seasonal food limitation (i.e. phytoplankton standing stock) at Adelaide Island (67° 34’ S, 68° 07’ W). Phytoplankton standing stock showed a brief but intense summer bloom and extended winter minima chara...

Of the five echinoderm classes, only the modern sea urchins (euechinoids) generate a precociously specified embryonic micromere lineage that ingresses before gastrulation and then secretes the biomineral embryonic skeleton. The gene regulatory network (GRN) underlying the specification and differentiation of this lineage is now known. Many of the same differentiation genes as are used in the bi...