Category Archives: Fossil Focus

Volume 3 | Article 5 | Page 1-9 Download (.pdf)

Fossil Focus: Trilobites

by Mark Bell*1 Introduction: Trilobites make up one of the most fascinating and diverse groups in the fossil record. Over the course of their long history — which dates back to near the beginning of the Cambrian period, around 520 million … Continue reading

How to Reference this Article:

Bell, Mark. 2013. Fossil Focus: Trilobites, Palaeontology Online, Volume 3, Article 5, 1-9.

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Volume 3 | Article 3 | Page 1-6 Download (.pdf)

Fossil Focus: The Evolution of Tree-Kangaroos

by Christine Janis1 Ladies and gentlemen, I give you tree-kangaroos. These wonderful animals can, in myriad ways,  demonstrate the power of evolutionary biology and geology in explaining the patterns we see in modern ecosystems. Here, I want to show how … Continue reading

How to Reference this Article:

Janis, Christine. 2013. Fossil Focus: The Evolution of Tree-Kangaroos, Palaeontology Online, Volume 3, Article 3, 1-6.

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Volume 2 | Article 10 | Page 1-9 Download (.pdf)

Fossil Focus: Marsupial evolution – A limited story?

by Verity Bennett*1 Introduction: There are three groups of mammals alive today: the egg-laying monotremes (echidnas and platypuses); the marsupials (those with pouches); and the placentals (those that develop a placenta in the womb and give birth to comparatively developed … Continue reading

How to Reference this Article:

Bennett, Verity. 2012. Fossil Focus: Marsupial evolution – A limited story? Palaeontology Online, Volume 2, Article 10, 1-9.

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Volume 2 | Article 9 | Page 1-9 Download (.pdf)

Fossil Focus: Pterosaurs

by David W. E. Hone*1 Introduction: Pterosaurs are often mistakenly called flying dinosaurs, but they are a distinct, although related, lineage. They are an extinct group of reptiles from the Mesozoic era (251 million to 66 million years ago) and … Continue reading

How to Reference this Article:

Hone, David W. E. 2012. Fossil Focus: Pterosaurs. Palaeontology Online, Volume 2, Article 9, 1-9.

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Volume 2 | Article 7 | Page 1-8 Download (.pdf)

Fossil Focus: Using Plant Fossils to Understand Past Climates and Environments

by Leyla J. Seyfullah*1 Introduction: Fossils provide us with our only direct record of prehistoric life. Studying them can help us to reconstruct the anatomy, behaviour and evolution of long-extinct organisms. Perhaps less obviously, fossils are also among the most … Continue reading

How to Reference this Article:

Seyfullah, Layla J. 2012. Fossil Focus: Using plant fossils to understand past climates and environments. Palaeontology Online, Volume 2, Article 7, 1-8.

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Volume 2 | Article 6 | Page 1-9 Download (.pdf)

Fossil Focus: Xiphosura

by Jason A. Dunlop*1 Introduction: The Xiphosura are commonly known as horseshoe crabs because the front part of their bodies is horseshoe-shaped. They have sometimes been called king crabs, although this name is also used for a group of large … Continue reading

How to Reference this Article:

Dunlop, Jason A. 2012. Fossil Focus: Xiphosura. Palaeontology Online, Volume 2, Article 6, 1-9.

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Volume 2 | Article 3 | Page 1-6 Download (.pdf)

Fossil Focus: The preservation of colour

by Holly E. Barden*1 Introduction: Colour is important in modern ecosystems, but the colours of extinct organisms are very rarely preserved in the fossil record. Colouration is most commonly seen in fossilized brachiopod shells and arthropod carapaces; however, establishing that … Continue reading

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Volume 2 | Article 2 | Page 1-4 Download (.pdf)

Fossil Focus: Animal embryos

by John Cunningham*1 Introduction: Animal embryos are small (typically less than 1 millimetre across), soft and squidgy, so it was traditionally considered impossible for them to be preserved in the fossil record. However, over the past 15 years or so … Continue reading

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Volume 2 | Article 1 | Page 1-6 Download (.pdf)

Fossil Focus: Vertebrate tracks and trackways

by Peter Falkingham*1 Introduction: The fossilized footprints and trackways of vertebrates are often overlooked in favour of the skeletal remains of the animals that made them. At museums, for instance, many more people will crowd around the dinosaur skeletons than … Continue reading

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Volume 1 | Article 7

Fossil Focus: Arachnida

by Jason A. Dunlop*1 Introduction: Arachnida is one of the major arthropod groups. It includes spiders (Araneae), scorpions (Scorpiones), mites (Acari) and harvestmen (Opiliones), as well as a number of rarer and less familiar groups (Fig 1). The name Arachnida … Continue reading

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