Evolutionary developmental biology (evo–devo) explores the mechanistic relationships
between the processes of individual development and phenotypic change during evolution …

This book offers a comprehensive review of the entire field of taphonomy, the science of
fossil preservation. It describes the formation of plant and animal fossils in oceanic …

Phosphorites of the late Neoproterozoic (570±20 Myr bp) Doushantuo Formation, southern
China, preserve an exceptional record of multicellular life from just before the Ediacaran …

Ecosystems are supported by organic carbon from two distinct sources. Endogenous carbon
is produced by photosynthesis within an ecosystem by autotrophic organisms. Exogenous …

Sponge remains have been identified in the Early Vendian Doushantuo phosphate deposit
in central Guizhou (South China), which has an age of∼ 580 million years ago. Their …

Carbonaceous compression fossils in shales of the uppermost Doushantuo Formation (ca.
555–590 Ma) at Miaohe in the Yangtze Gorges area provide a rare Burgess-Shale-type …

▪ Abstract Molecular tools have profoundly rearranged our understanding of metazoan
phylogeny. Initially based on the nuclear small ribosomal subunit (SSU or 18S) gene, recent …

Exceptionally preserved, non-biomineralizing fossils contribute importantly to resolving
details of the Cambrian explosion, but little to its overall patterns. Six distinct “types” of …

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 …

Data on the first appearances of major animal groups with mineralized skeletons on the
Siberian Platform and worldwide are revised and summarized herein with references to an …