All vertebrates possess anatomical features not seen in their closest living relatives, the
protochordates (tunicates and amphioxus). Some of these features depend on develop …

Current information on the conodonts Clydagnathus windsorensis (Globensky) and
Promissum pulchrum Kovács–Endrödy, together with the latest interpretations of conodont …

Enamel is the hardest and most resilient tissue in the human body. Enamel includes
morphologically aligned, parallel,∼ 50 nm wide, microns-long nanocrystals, bundled either …

Conodonts, microfossils composed of carbonate-fluor apatite, are abundant in Palaeozoic–
Triassic sediments and have a high potential to preserve primary oxygen isotope signals. In …

Fishes include more than half of all living animals with backbones, but large‐scale
palaeobiological patterns in this assemblage have not received the same attention as those …

ORGANIZATION into gene clusters is an essential and diagnostic feature of Hox genes1.
Insect and nematode genomes possess single Hox gene clusters (split in Drosophila); in …

The origins of jawed vertebrates (gnathostomes) lie somewhere within the ranks of long-
extinct jawless fishes, represented today as the lampreys and hagfishes. Recent discoveries …

Most non‐tetrapod vertebrates develop mineralized extra‐oral elements within the
integument. Known collectively as the integumentary skeleton, these elements represent the …

The appearance of the multicellular animals, or Metazoa, in the fossil record about 600
million years ago marks a revolution in the history of life. Molecular biology is continuing to …

The physical survival of bone is integral to any kind of palaeopathological study. Not only
must the skeleton survive in the burial environment or tomb, it must retain sufficient strength …