Pterygotids (Eurypterida; Pterygotidae), known more commonly as ancient sea scorpions, were large apex predators of the Silurian-Devonian marine realm, and included some of the largest arthropods in Earth’s history, with some species reaching up to 2.5 meters in length. They are the only family of eurypterids to be found globally in marine deposits owing to their domination of the Mid-Palaeozoic seas.
The Late Ordovician Mass Extinction (LOME) was the second largest mass extinction of the ‘Big Five’ extinctions in Earth’s history, responsible for the loss of approximately 85% of marine species. Following an important diversification in the middle Ordovician, crinoids experienced substantial loss during the LOME, and species saw a significant decrease in body size, known in paleontology as the ‘Lilliput Effect’.
From tenacious trilobites, to scavenging shrimp, for the last 500 million years of Earth’s history, marine arthropods have scuttled around the sea floor, forming a dominant part of the ocean’s ecosystem.…
Net winged beetles (Lycidae) are cosmopolitan pollinators, known for their intricate vein-like wing patterns and eye-catching colours, but behind these diverse delicate beetles lies an evolutionary enigma.…
The Brandon Bridge Formation Lagerstätte (site of exceptional fossil preservation) also known as the Waukesha Biota, from Wisconsin, is noteworthy for being one of the best sources of soft-bodied early Silurian fossils.…
Palaeontologists have known the fossil rich laminated platy limestones from Kozja dnina (Slovenia) since the beginning of the 20th century. Locality of Kozja dnina is situated in the Vrata valley in the north-eastern part of the Julian Alps.
The digit-like branches of Codium, or Dead Man’s Fingers, are a common sight in modern day salt-water bays and lagoons, particularly in areas impacted by fertilizer-rich runoff.…
Ricinuleids are cryptic, slow-moving arachnids that live under bark, in leaf litter, and in caves in tropical and subtropical areas of the world: Central and South America and West Africa.…
In popular science horses are considered to be the archetype for demonstrating evolution within a time-stratigraphic framework. From small species, horses evolved into the large forms we know today, symbols of power and freedom.…
Mayflies, present in many modern freshwater streams, are often known by their mass hatches in which large numbers gain wings and fly in the air for as little as one day to procreate before dying.…
For about thirty million years in the Late Cretaceous, a shallow salty seaway flooded the interior of North America. This separated eastern and western North America into different landmasses.…
There are no crocodilians in Europe, which is good for the safety of those of us who like to peacefully fish or swim in lakes and rivers, but it is somewhat sad for those who prize biodiversity or simply like these fascinating predators.…
Modern day crustaceans, including lobster, shrimp, crayfish, and crabs, are perhaps most familiar from our dinner plates. They, along with less familiar forms such as isopods (your garden pillbugs), belong to the huge living group Eumalacostraca, which includes some tens of thousands of species.…
The Early Jurassic meat-eating dinosaur Dilophosaurus wetherilli is a common figure of many dinosaur movies, books, art, and toys. The distinctive two crests on its head, for which Dilophosaurus owes its name, are unique among dinosaurs and make the animal fascinating to the fossil enthusiast and paleontologist alike.…
The mass extinctions at the end of the Ordovician took out up to 60% of marine genera – the second-most devastating extinction event of the Phanerozoic and the end of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE).…
Upper jaws of a new dinosaur from Victoria, Australia, give fresh insight into the diversity of small herbivorous dinosaurs that once inhabited the ancient Australian-Antarctic rift valley 125 million years ago A new, wallaby-sized herbivorous dinosaur has been identified from five fossilized upper jaws in 125 million year old rocks from the Cretaceous period of Victoria, southeastern Australia.…
Freshwater shark lived in South Dakota, had teeth shaped like “Galaga” spaceships SUE the T. rex is the most famous fossil from the Hell Creek Formation of South Dakota—the most complete skeleton ever discovered of the world’s most popular dinosaur.…
About 10,000 years ago, in the last moments of the Pleistocene epoch, an extinction of large mammals, or megafauna, occurred. These included the woolly mammoths, mastodons, saber-tooth tigers, giant ground sloths, and enormous woolly bears, all North American inhabitants of the last major ice age.…
A new special issue from the Journal of Paleontology, brings together a collection of 17 papers focused on different aspects of echinoderm paleobiology. Author David F. Wright discusses his article 'Bayesian estimation of fossil phylogenies and the evolution of early to middle Paleozoic crinoids (Echinodermata)'.
A new special issue of the Journal of Paleontology, published on 12th June 2017, brings together a collection of 17 papers focused on different aspects of echinoderm paleobiology.
Q&A with Editor-in-Chief of the Precision Medicine Journal, Dame Anna Dominiczak, for International day of Women and Girls in Science
How long will humankind survive? Besides the fact that we have been able to eliminate ourselves with nuclear weapons for decades, even without a third world war, the challenge to take care of the resources of our planet remains; we need to use them in a way that our children and their children can have a place on Earth as well. In this blog post Andreas Losch discusses his recent review article in the International Journal of Astrobiology, The need of an ethics of planetary sustainability
The rise of the vegan lifestyle Public Health Nutrition Editorial Highlight: Pattern analysis of vegan eating reveals healthy and unhealthy patterns within the vegan diet.…
The English language contains a wealth of insults and terms of abuse. Personal insults attack the core and immutable aspects of a person, such as their race, ethnicity, appearance, age, or a disability.…
Even though findings from genetics and other sciences unequivocally refute biological conceptions of race, this erroneous viewpoint remains widespread among the general public.…
In our open access article “From religious to secular perspectives of religion and state – tracing the American Blue laws” in Politics and Religion, we explore how religiously rooted legislation evolves over time, but has a hard time leaving, democratic systems.…
Some disability-related names have dropped out of usage, because they are now considered to be offensive due to their origins. Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21) is one example.…
How long will humankind survive? Besides the fact that we have been able to eliminate ourselves with nuclear weapons for decades, even without a third world war, the challenge to take care of the resources of our planet remains; we need to use them in a way that our children and their children can have a place on Earth as well. In this blog post Andreas Losch discusses his recent review article in the International Journal of Astrobiology, The need of an ethics of planetary sustainability
It is an article of faith among ordinary Filipinos that American troops will die with Filipino troops defending Philippine claims to the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea (SCS).…
More and more research is finding inflammation as a potential contributing factor towards to the development of various mental illnesses. A systematic review was conducted to determine the association between parasitic infection and mental illnesses in various African populations. Two parasite groups were evaluated; helminths and protozoans, and four mental illness classifications; depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, schizotypal disorders and unspecified mental illnesses.
This is the first post in our new series: “Conversations with Authors.” For our inaugural post, we asked Dr. Vesla Weaver to meet (virtually) with Dr.…
The March article of Muses – the arts blog from BJPsych International is the first blog of the series. The blog is written by Dr Dami Ajayi, Specialty Doctor, Barnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust and Trainee/Blog Editor, BJPsych International.…
Q&A with Editor-in-Chief of the Precision Medicine Journal, Dame Anna Dominiczak, for International day of Women and Girls in Science
The English language contains a wealth of insults and terms of abuse. Personal insults attack the core and immutable aspects of a person, such as their race, ethnicity, appearance, age, or a disability.…
Listen to @BBCRadio4's Start the Week, featuring @NineDotsPrize winner @jkkusiak, talking about her book, 'Radically Legal'. Learn how a group of ordinary people inspired the book when they reclaimed over 240,000 apartments back from corporate landlords 🔗
Start the Week - ‘Left behind’, but not forgotten - BBC Sounds
Tom Sutcliffe with Paul Collier, Joanna Kusiak and Matthew Xia.
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