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Article
Open AccessThe exceptional preservation of Aix-en-Provence spider fossils could have been facilitated by diatoms
Much of our understanding of the history of life on Earth comes from fossil sites with exceptional preservation. Here, we use microscopy and chemical analysis of spiders found in the Oligocene Aix-en-Provence ...
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Article
Open AccessPreservation of early Tonian macroalgal fossils from the Dolores Creek Formation, Yukon
The rise of eukaryotic macroalgae in the late Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic was a critical development in Earth’s history that triggered dramatic changes in biogeochemical cycles and benthic habitats...
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Article
Open AccessGlobal controls on phosphatization of fossils during the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event
Konservat-Lagerstätten—deposits with exceptionally preserved fossils—vary in abundance across geographic and stratigraphic space due to paleoenvironmental heterogeneity. While oceanic anoxic events (OAEs) may ...
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Article
Open AccessUltrastructure of Ediacaran cloudinids suggests diverse taphonomic histories and affinities with non-biomineralized annelids
Cloudinids have long been considered the earliest biomineralizing metazoans, but their affinities have remained contentious and undetermined. Based on well-preserved ultrastructures of two taxa, we here propos...
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Article
Open AccessDiscovery of bilaterian-type through-guts in cloudinomorphs from the terminal Ediacaran Period
The fossil record of the terminal Ediacaran Period is typified by the iconic index fossil Cloudina and its relatives. These tube-dwellers are presumed to be primitive metazoans, but resolving their phylogenetic i...
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Article
Open AccessEdiacaran biozones identified with network analysis provide evidence for pulsed extinctions of early complex life
Rocks of Ediacaran age (~635–541 Ma) contain the oldest fossils of large, complex organisms and their behaviors. These fossils document developmental and ecological innovations, and suggest that extinctions he...