Deuterostomes are the major division of animal life which includes sea stars, acorn worms,
and humans, among a wide variety of ecologically and morphologically disparate taxa …

Echinoderms are a major group (phylum) of invertebrate animals with a rich fossil record
stretching back to the Cambrian period, approximately 518 million years ago. While all …

Exceptionally preserved fossil biotas provide crucial data on early animal evolution. Fossil
anatomy allows for reconstruction of the animal stem lineages, informing the stepwise …

Early Palaeozoic sites with soft-tissue preservation are predominantly found in Cambrian
rocks and tend to capture past tropical and temperate ecosystems. In this study, we describe …

Abstract The Fezouata Biota (Morocco) is a unique Early Ordovician fossil assemblage. The
discovery of this biota revolutionized our understanding of Earth's early animal …

Abstract The Fezouata Biota in Morocco is the only Lower Ordovician Lagerstätte yielding a
biologically diverse assemblage in a fully marine environment, whilst also containing …

Understanding the functioning of extinct ecosystems is a complicated knot of ecological,
evolutionary, and preservational strands that must be untangled. For instance, anatomical …

It is hypothesized that iron from biological tissues, liberated during decay, may have played
a role in inhibiting loss of anatomical information during fossilization of extinct organisms …

Abstract The Early Ordovician is a key interval for our understanding of the evolution of life
on Earth as it lays at the transition between the Cambrian Explosion and the Ordovician …

Exceptional fossils preserve non-biomineralized tissues in the geological record and
provide crucial information on the evolution of life on Earth. Exceptionally preserved fossils …