Marine organisms have occupied hard substrates since the Archaean. Shells, rocks, wood
and sedimentary hardgrounds offer relatively stable habitats compared to unconsolidated …

Geologic deposits containing fossils with remains of non-biomineralized tissues (ie
Konservat-Lagerstätten) provide key insights into ancient organisms and ecosystems. Such …

Taphonomy plays diverse roles in paleobiology. These include assessing sample quality
relevant to ecologic, biogeographic, and evolutionary questions, diagnosing the roles of …

The taxonomic treatment of trace fossils needs a uniform approach, independent of the
ethologic groups concerned. To this aim, trace fossils are rigorously defined with regard to …

Marine hard-substrate communities are important ecological and evolutionary resources for
paleontologists and neontologists, yet their study is handicapped by numerous terms that …

The origin and differentiation of major clades is often assumed to have occurred in tandem
with the 'explosion'of fossil evidence of diverse morphologies ('disparity') at the base of the …

This paper describes the functional role of main benthic constructor organisms and reviews
processes by which bioconstructions increase diversity and abundance of associated biota …

Seagrass meadows are marine habitats with high ecological importance. Their detection in
the fossil record will contribute to our understanding of the development of patterns of …

Improved knowledge of the fossil record, combined with molecular trees describing the
phylogenetic relationships between recent phyla, is gradually advancing our understanding …

Endosymbionts are organisms that live within the growing skeleton of a live host organism,
producing a cavity called a bioclaustration. The endosymbiont lives inside the …