Rapidly permineralized fossils can provide exceptional insights into the evolution of life over
geological time. Here, we present an exquisitely preserved, calcified stem of a royal fern …

A catalytic hydropyrolysis procedure was developed for rapidly assessing the relative
abundances and variety of different biomarker lipid structures in microbial cultures by …

Life on Earth has existed for at least 3.5 billion years. Yet, relatively little is known of its
evolution during the first two billion years, due to the scarceness and generally poor …

Demonstrating the biogenicity of carbonaceous microfossils can be relatively difficult
because of their small size and simple shape, and to the degradation of the associated …

The fossil record of crocodylians and their relatives (pseudosuchians) reveals a rich
evolutionary history, prompting questions about causes of long-term decline to their present …

In living organisms, color patterns, behavior, and ecology are closely linked. Thus, detection
of fossil pigments may permit inferences about important aspects of ancient animal ecology …

Molecular fossils of biological lipids are preserved in 2700-million-year-old shales from the
Pilbara Craton, Australia. Sequential extraction of adjacent samples shows that these …

Fungi were an important component of ancient ecosystems where they functioned as
decomposers of lignin and cellulose much as they do today. While few would challenge this …

Reproducing palaeontological results depends on unrestricted access to fossils described in
the literature, allowing others to re-examine or reinterpret them. Museums have policies and …

Organic compounds of known biological origin (biomarkers) and preserved in marine
sediments have commonly been used to develop proxy records for past climate. While …