Fossilized lipids preserved in sedimentary rocks offer singular insights into the Earth's
palaeobiology. These 'biomarkers' encode information pertaining to the oxygenation of the …

The evolutionary emergence of animals is one of the most significant episodes in the history
of life, but its timing remains poorly constrained. Molecular clocks estimate that animals …

Sponges are one of the critical groups in understanding the early evolution of animals.
Traditional views of these relationships are currently being challenged by molecular data …

The dawn of animals remains one of the most mysterious milestones in the evolution of life.
The fossil lipids 24-isopropylcholestane and 26-methylstigmastane are considered …

Both molecular clocks and the fossil record indicate that eukaryotic algae evolved by the late
Paleoproterozoic Era (2500 to 1600 million years ago, Ma). However, the biomarker record …

Natural history collections are critical for modern scientific investigations, which are greatly
expanding on the potential data applications of historic specimens. However, using these …

Steranes preserved in sedimentary rocks serve as molecular fossils, which are thought to
record the expansion of eukaryote life through the Neoproterozoic Era (~ 1000-541 Ma) …

An experimental decay methodology is developed for a cnidarian model organism to serve
as a comparison to the many previous such studies on bilaterians. This allows an …

The Athel silicilyte is an enigmatic, hundreds of meters thick, finely laminated quartz deposit,
in which silica precipitated in deep water (>~ 100–200 m) at the Ediacaran–Cambrian …

Demosponges are a rich natural source of unusual lipids, some of which are of interest as
geochemical biomarkers. Although demosponges are animals, they often host dense …