A diverse fauna of organophosphatic brachiopods is described from the late early Cambrian (Series 2, Stage 3-4) Forteau Formation of southern Labrador and western Newfoundland. The total fauna includes 11 species representing a wide selection of Cambrian brachiopod groups. Three distinct assemblages are recognized: Assemblages 1 and 2 are found in shallow water carbonates in association with ar...

SYNOPSIS. The Cambrian radiation is that key episode in the history of life when a large number of animal phyla appeared in the fossil record over a geologically short period of time. Over the last 20 years, scientific understanding of this radiation has increased significantly. Still, fundamental questions remain about the timing of the radiation and also the tempo of evolution. Trilobites are...

Shell microstructures in some of the oldest known mollusk fossils (from the early to middle Cambrian Period; 542 to 510 million years ago) are diverse, strong, and in some cases unusual. We herein review our recent work focused on different aspects of shell microstructures in Cambrian mollusks, briefly summarizing some of the major conclusions from a few of our recent publications and adding so...

Phytoplankton form the base of most marine trophic chains and studying their past diversity at regional global scales can provide valuable insights into evolution ecosystems climate history. Using a new database more than 4000 species acritarchs prasinophytes, comprehensive investigation taxonomic trajectories this (micro)phytoplankton throughout Paleozoic is performed for first time. This data...

Calcareous skeletons evolved as part of the greater Ediacaran/Cambrian diversification of marine animals; however, skeletons did not become permanent, globally important sources of carbonate sediment until the Ordovician radiation. Representative carbonate facies in a Series 3 Cambrian to Tremadocian succession from western Newfoundland and Ordovician successions from the Ibex area, Utah, show ...

A new compilation of fossil data on invertebrate and vertebrate families indicates that four mass extinctions in the marine realm are statistically distinct from background extinction levels. These four occurred late in the Ordovician, Permian, Triassic, and Cretaceous periods. A fifth extinction event in the Devonian stands out from the background but is not statistically significant in these ...