Article
|
Open Access
Featured
-
-
Article
| Open AccessThe oldest three-dimensionally preserved vertebrate neurocranium
Computed tomography reveals that the cranial anatomy of Ordovician stem-group gnathostome Eriptychius americanus from the Harding Sandstone of Colorado, USA, is distinct among vertebrates.
- Richard P. Dearden
- , Agnese Lanzetti
- & Ivan J. Sansom
-
Article |
A new avialan theropod from an emerging Jurassic terrestrial fauna
An avialan species from the Zhenghe Fauna—a collection of vertebrate fossils from the Late Jurassic of China—had an unusual combination of features, including very long hindlimbs, suggesting that it had a terrestrial or wading lifestyle.
- Liming Xu
- , Min Wang
- & Zhonghe Zhou
-
Matters Arising |
Reply to: Palaeospondylus and the early evolution of gnathostomes
- Tatsuya Hirasawa
- & Shigeru Kuratani
-
Article |
Protomelission is an early dasyclad alga and not a Cambrian bryozoan
Protomelission-like macrofossils from the Xiaoshiba Lagerstätte show features characteristic of dasycladalean green alga, suggesting that Protomelission is unlikely to be an early bryozoan.
- Jie Yang
- , Tian Lan
- & Martin R. Smith
-
Article |
Microbial predators form a new supergroup of eukaryotes
Provora is an ancient supergroup of microbial predators that are genetically, morphologically and behaviourally distinct from other eukaryotes, and comprise two divergent clades of predators—Nebulidia and Nibbleridia—that differ fundamentally in ultrastructure, behaviour and gene content.
- Denis V. Tikhonenkov
- , Kirill V. Mikhailov
- & Patrick J. Keeling
-
Article |
Saccorhytus is an early ecdysozoan and not the earliest deuterostome
Analyses of newly discovered specimens of the early Cambrian microscopic animal Saccorhytus coronarius support its taxonomic classification in total-group Ecdysozoa.
- Yunhuan Liu
- , Emily Carlisle
- & Philip C. J. Donoghue
-
Article
| Open AccessA new elpistostegalian from the Late Devonian of the Canadian Arctic
A new elpistostegalian from the Late Devonian period has been discovered that shows disparity in the group and represents a previously hidden ecological expansion, a secondary return to open water, near the origin of limbed vertebrates.
- Thomas A. Stewart
- , Justin B. Lemberg
- & Neil H. Shubin
-
Article
| Open AccessFossil evidence unveils an early Cambrian origin for Bryozoa
Interpretation of the early Cambrian fossil Protomelission gatehousei
9 as a potential stem-group bryozoan realigns the fossil record with molecular clock estimations of the origins of Bryozoa.- Zhiliang Zhang
- , Zhifei Zhang
- & Glenn A. Brock
-
Letter |
Hemimastigophora is a novel supra-kingdom-level lineage of eukaryotes
Phylogenetic analyses based on single-cell transcriptomic data from two hemimastigotes, a Spironema species and the newly described Hemimastix kukwesjijk, indicate that Hemimastigophora is a supra-kingdom-level lineage of eukaryotes.
- Gordon Lax
- , Yana Eglit
- & Alastair G. B. Simpson
-
Article |
Renewing Felsenstein’s phylogenetic bootstrap in the era of big data
A new version of the phylogenetic bootstrap method enables assessment of the robustness of phylogenies that are based on large datasets of hundreds or thousands of taxa.
- F. Lemoine
- , J.-B. Domelevo Entfellner
- & O. Gascuel
-
Article |
New infant cranium from the African Miocene sheds light on ape evolution
Description of the most complete fossil skull of an infant ape recovered from the Miocene epoch of Kenya, assigned to a new species in the genusNyanzapithecus.
- Isaiah Nengo
- , Paul Tafforeau
- & Fred Spoor
-
Letter |
The earliest bird-line archosaurs and the assembly of the dinosaur body plan
The archosaur species Teleocrater rhadinus, part of the new clade Aphanosauria, is an example of the earliest divergence of the avian stem lineage (Avemetatarsalia), the lineage that contains dinosaurs (including birds).
- Sterling J. Nesbitt
- , Richard J. Butler
- & Alan J. Charig
-
Letter |
Ancestral morphology of crown-group molluscs revealed by a new Ordovician stem aculiferan
Presence of a radula in Calvapilosa kroegeri confirms the molluscan affinity of sachitids, and the single shell plate reveals the ancestral condition for all crown molluscs and early evolution of the multi-plated body plan characteristic of Aculifera.
- Jakob Vinther
- , Luke Parry
- & Peter Van Roy
-
Letter |
Hyoliths are Palaeozoic lophophorates
Analysis of exceptionally preserved fossils of the Cambrian hyolith Haplophrentis leads to a proposed evolutionary relationship with Lophophorata, the group containing brachiopods and phoronids, on the basis of a newly described tentacular feeding apparatus.
- Joseph Moysiuk
- , Martin R. Smith
- & Jean-Bernard Caron
-
Letter |
A symmoriiform chondrichthyan braincase and the origin of chimaeroid fishes
The chimaeroids are one of the four principal divisions of the living jawed vertebrates and their evolutionary origins have been hard to discern; here, the study of a skull of the extinct shark Dwykaselachus shows that the chimaeroids nest among the once fairly common and widespread symmoriiforms.
- Michael I. Coates
- , Robert W. Gess
- & Kristen Tietjen
-
Letter |
The eyes of Tullimonstrum reveal a vertebrate affinity
The eyes of the Tully monster (Tullimonstrum) possess ultrastructural details indicating homology with vertebrate eyes.
- Thomas Clements
- , Andrei Dolocan
- & Sarah E. Gabbott
-
Letter |
The ‘Tully monster’ is a vertebrate
The Tully monster (Tullimonstrum), a problematic fossil from the 309–307-million-year-old Mazon Creek biota of Illinois, is shown to be not only a vertebrate but also akin to lampreys, increasing the morphological disparity of that group.
- Victoria E. McCoy
- , Erin E. Saupe
- & Derek E. G. Briggs
-
Letter |
Xenacoelomorpha is the sister group to Nephrozoa
Robust phylogenetic analysis based on transcriptomes of Xenoturbella and acoelomorph worms shows that Xenacoelomorpha is an early bilaterian lineage forming the sister group to Nephrozoa.
- Johanna Taylor Cannon
- , Bruno Cossermelli Vellutini
- & Andreas Hejnol
-
Letter |
New deep-sea species of Xenoturbella and the position of Xenacoelomorpha
Description of four new species of Xenoturbella and phylogenomic analyses, aligning Xenacoelomorpha as sister group to the rest of Bilateria, or as sister to Protostomia.
- Greg W. Rouse
- , Nerida G. Wilson
- & Robert C. Vrijenhoek
-
-
News & Views |
Forecasting the rain ratio
Marine algae known as coccolithophores produce much of the ocean's calcium carbonate. A large survey reveals how these organisms' calcification processes and species distribution change in response to carbon dioxide levels. See Letter p.80
- David A. Hutchins
-
Editorial |
Origin of species
Zoologists should follow botanists in allowing online-only announcements of new species.
-
News |
Botanists shred paperwork in taxonomy reforms
Descriptions of new plant species can now be published electronically.
- Daniel Cressey
-
News |
The evolutionary tree of fungi grows a new branch
Fungi found in UK pond could be part of a previously undiscovered — and extremely diverse — phylum.
- Marian Turner
-
-
-
News |
Big row over tiny T. Rex
Palaeontologists dispute classification of famous dinosaur fossil.
- Zoë Corbyn
-
News |
Top dinosaur hunters are worst at naming
The more fossil species you describe, the less likely the names are to stick.
- Zoë Corbyn
-
-
News |
What's in a name? Fly world is abuzz
Proposed reorganization of Drosophila fruitfly genus might throw out its most celebrated member.
- Rex Dalton