Abstract The Neoproterozoic era (about 1,000 to 542 million years ago) was a time of
turbulent environmental change. Large fluctuations in the carbon cycle were associated with …

In recent years, scientists have made remarkable progress reconstructing the animal
phylogeny. There is broad agreement regarding many deep animal relationships, including …

Molecular phylogeny indicates that metazoans (animals) emerged early in the
Neoproterozoic era, but physical evidence is lacking. The search for animal fossils from the …

A rise in the oxygen content of the atmosphere and oceans is one of the most popular
explanations for the relatively late and abrupt appearance of animal life on Earth. In this …

An extraordinarily well preserved, 600-million-year (Myr)-old, three-dimensionally
phosphatized fossil displaying multiple independent characters of modern adult sponges …

Abstract The Cambrian Explosion by nature is a three-phased explosion of animal body
plans alongside episodic biomineralization, pulsed change of generic diversity, body size …

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 …

The discovery of traces of a blood meal in the abdomen of a 50‐million‐year‐old mosquito
reminds us of the insights that the chemistry of fossils can provide. Ancient DNA is the best …

Twenty candidate fossils with claim to be the oldest representative of the P hylum P orifera
have been re‐analysed. Three criteria are used to assess each candidate:(i) the diagnostic …

Sterane biomarkers preserved in ancient sedimentary rocks hold promise for tracking the
diversification and ecological expansion of eukaryotes. The earliest proposed animal …