The discovery of traces of a blood meal in the abdomen of a 50‐million‐year‐old mosquito
reminds us of the insights that the chemistry of fossils can provide. Ancient DNA is the best …

Melanin, and other pigments have recently been shown to preserve over geologic time
scales, and are found in several different organisms. This opens up the possibility of …

The application of carbonate clumped isotope (Δ 47) thermometry in deep-time is often
limited by modification of the original temperature signal by thermal resetting. New modeling …

Predator-prey dynamics are an important evolutionary driver of escalating predation mode
and efficiency, and commensurate responses of prey [1–3]. Among these strategies …

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 …

Abstract The Jurassic Yanliao theropods have offered rare glimpses of the early paravian
evolution and particularly of bird origins, but, with the exception of the bizarre …

The melanin pigments eumelanin (EM) and pheomelanin (PM), which are dark brown to
black and yellow to reddish-brown, respectively, are widely found among vertebrates. They …

Colour, derived primarily from melanin and/or carotenoid pigments, is integral to many
aspects of behaviour in living vertebrates, including social signalling, sexual display and …

This chapter will cover clade definitions, the relationships within clades as well as the
occasional controversial relationships between different clades. Phylogenies arising from a …

Fossil melanin granules (melanosomes) are an important resource for inferring the
evolutionary history of colour and its functions in animals. The taphonomy of melanin and …