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Outputs (146)

An Edgewood-type Hirnantian fauna from the Mackenzie Mountains, northwestern margin of Laurentia (2024)
Journal Article
Jin, J., & Harper, D. A. (2024). An Edgewood-type Hirnantian fauna from the Mackenzie Mountains, northwestern margin of Laurentia. Journal of Paleontology, 98(1), 13-39. https://doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2023.87

Silicified brachiopods from Hirnantian strata in three sections of the lower Whittaker Formation, Mackenzie Mountains, northwestern Canada, yielded a moderately diverse, Edgewood-type Hirnantian fauna, consisting of 13 species: Biparetis paucirugosus... Read More about An Edgewood-type Hirnantian fauna from the Mackenzie Mountains, northwestern margin of Laurentia.

Late Ordovician and early Silurian virgianid and stricklandioid brachiopods from North Greenland: implications for a warm‐water faunal province (2024)
Journal Article
Jin, J., Rasmussen, C. M. Ø., Sheehan, P. M., & Harper, D. A. T. (2024). Late Ordovician and early Silurian virgianid and stricklandioid brachiopods from North Greenland: implications for a warm‐water faunal province. Papers in Palaeontology, 10(1), Article e1544. https://doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1544

An unusually rich and diverse suite of virgianid brachiopods, hitherto poorly known, is systematically described here for the first time from the Ordovician–Silurian boundary interval (late Katian – Aeronian) of North Greenland. The Late Ordovician v... Read More about Late Ordovician and early Silurian virgianid and stricklandioid brachiopods from North Greenland: implications for a warm‐water faunal province.

A giant stem-group chaetognath. (2024)
Journal Article
Park, T. S., Nielsen, M. L., Parry, L. A., Sørensen, M. V., Lee, M., Kihm, J., …Vinther, J. (2024). A giant stem-group chaetognath. Science Advances, 10(1), Article eadi6678. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adi6678

Chaetognaths, with their characteristic grasping spines, are the oldest known pelagic predators, found in the lowest Cambrian (Terreneuvian). Here, we describe a large stem chaetognath, gen. et sp. nov., from the lower Cambrian Sirius Passet Lagers... Read More about A giant stem-group chaetognath..

New keratose sponges after the end-Permian extinction provide insights into biotic recoveries. (2023)
Journal Article
Wu, S., Reitner, J., Harper, D. A. T., Yu, J., & Chen, Z.-Q. (2023). New keratose sponges after the end-Permian extinction provide insights into biotic recoveries. Geobiology, 22(1), Article e12582. https://doi.org/10.1111/gbi.12582

We challenge the prevailing view that the end-Permian extinction impeded the Triassic evolution of sponges. Here, we report a deep-water community dominated by abundant keratose sponges in the lowest Triassic strata from Southwest China. The sponge f... Read More about New keratose sponges after the end-Permian extinction provide insights into biotic recoveries..

Late Ordovician Mass Extinction: Earth, fire and ice (2023)
Journal Article
Harper, D. A. T. (2024). Late Ordovician Mass Extinction: Earth, fire and ice. National Science Review, 11(1), Article nwad319. https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwad319

The Late Ordovician Mass Extinction was the earliest of the ‘big’ five extinction events and the earliest to affect the trajectory of metazoan life. Two phases have been identified near the start of the Hirnantian period and in the middle. It was a m... Read More about Late Ordovician Mass Extinction: Earth, fire and ice.

The rise and fall of the Malvinoxhosan (Malvinokaffric) bioregion in South Africa: Evidence for Early-Middle Devonian biocrises at the South Pole (2023)
Journal Article
Penn-Clarke, C. R., & Harper, D. A. (2023). The rise and fall of the Malvinoxhosan (Malvinokaffric) bioregion in South Africa: Evidence for Early-Middle Devonian biocrises at the South Pole. Earth-Science Reviews, 246, Article 104595. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104595

Global reconstructions, inclusive of environments and ecosystems, and biodiversity counts for the Devonian Period are often done so at the expense of high latitude regions given a historical lack of data presented from these areas. This has bearing o... Read More about The rise and fall of the Malvinoxhosan (Malvinokaffric) bioregion in South Africa: Evidence for Early-Middle Devonian biocrises at the South Pole.

Middle Ordovician brachiopods from Tagoat, Co. Wexford, SE Ireland: Dapingian diversity drivers (2023)
Journal Article
Harper, D. A., & Bates, D. E. (2023). Middle Ordovician brachiopods from Tagoat, Co. Wexford, SE Ireland: Dapingian diversity drivers. Geobios, 81, 85-100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geobios.2023.06.006

The Dapingian (Arenig) siltstones and sandstones of the Tagoat Group, County Wexford, SE Ireland, contain a well-preserved and diverse brachiopod fauna including a new genus of alimbellid, Palaeotagoatia (type species: Orthis Bailyana Davidson) toget... Read More about Middle Ordovician brachiopods from Tagoat, Co. Wexford, SE Ireland: Dapingian diversity drivers.

The Irish Ordovician brachiopod fauna: A taxonomic renaissance (2023)
Journal Article
Harper, D. A. (2023). The Irish Ordovician brachiopod fauna: A taxonomic renaissance. Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences, 72(1), 38-41. https://doi.org/10.3176/earth.2023.35

Despite its small areal extent, the island of Ireland exposes eight Caledonian tectonic terranes; six of them contain Ordovician brachiopod assemblages. These terranes record the early phases and destruction of the Iapetus Ocean through the occurrenc... Read More about The Irish Ordovician brachiopod fauna: A taxonomic renaissance.

No (Cambrian) explosion and no (Ordovician) event: A single long-term radiation in the early Palaeozoic (2023)
Journal Article
Servais, T., Cascales-Miñana, B., Harper, D. A., Lefebvre, B., Munnecke, A., Wang, W., & Zhang, Y. (2023). No (Cambrian) explosion and no (Ordovician) event: A single long-term radiation in the early Palaeozoic. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 623, Article 111592. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111592

The Cambrian ‘Explosion’, located by many authors between 540 and 520 million years ago (Ma), is considered to be an abrupt appearance in the fossil record of most animal phyla, with a sudden increase of complex morphologies across metazoan groups. I... Read More about No (Cambrian) explosion and no (Ordovician) event: A single long-term radiation in the early Palaeozoic.

A short history of the Ordovician System: from overlapping unit stratotypes to global stratotype sections and points (2023)
Journal Article
Harper, D. A., Meidla, T., & Servais, T. (2023). A short history of the Ordovician System: from overlapping unit stratotypes to global stratotype sections and points. Geological Society Special Publications, 532(1), https://doi.org/10.1144/sp532-2022-285

The Ordovician System was introduced by Charles Lapworth as a solution to the overlapping unit stratotypes loosely defined by Adam Sedgwick, for the Cambrian, and Roderick Murchison, for the Silurian. The Ordovician has emerged as one of the longest... Read More about A short history of the Ordovician System: from overlapping unit stratotypes to global stratotype sections and points.

An enigmatic large discoidal fossil from the Pennsylvanian of County Clare, Ireland (2023)
Journal Article
Murray, J., MacGabhann, B. A., Doyle, E., Mángano, M. G., Tyrrell, S., & Harper, D. A. (2023). An enigmatic large discoidal fossil from the Pennsylvanian of County Clare, Ireland. Palaeoworld, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palwor.2023.01.008

A rare and unusual large solitary discoidal fossil has been discovered on a paving slab quarried from the cyclothems of the Central Clare Group (Kinderscoutian, Pennsylvanian, Carboniferous), western Ireland. The fossil impression consists of a smoot... Read More about An enigmatic large discoidal fossil from the Pennsylvanian of County Clare, Ireland.

New fossil assemblages from the Early Ordovician Fezouata Biota (2022)
Journal Article
Saleh, F., Vaucher, R., Vidal, M., Hariri, K. E., Laibl, L., Daley, A. C., …Lefebvre, B. (2022). New fossil assemblages from the Early Ordovician Fezouata Biota. Scientific Reports, 12(1), Article 20773. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-25000-z

The Fezouata Biota (Morocco) is a unique Early Ordovician fossil assemblage. The discovery of this biota revolutionized our understanding of Earth’s early animal diversifications—the Cambrian Explosion and the Ordovician Radiation—by suggesting an ev... Read More about New fossil assemblages from the Early Ordovician Fezouata Biota.

Ratification of subseries/subepochs as formal rank/units in international chronostratigraphy (2022)
Journal Article
Aubry, M., Piller, W. E., Gibbard, P. L., Harper, D. A., & Finney, S. C. (2022). Ratification of subseries/subepochs as formal rank/units in international chronostratigraphy. Episodes, 45(1), 97-99. https://doi.org/10.18814/epiiugs/2021/021016

The IUGS Executive Committee has voted unanimously to ratify the proposal for formal adoption of the chronostratigraphical/geochronological unit divisions subseries/subepoch within the International Stratigraphic Guide as approved by the Internationa... Read More about Ratification of subseries/subepochs as formal rank/units in international chronostratigraphy.

The palaeogeographical impact on the biodiversity of marine faunas during the Ordovician radiations (2021)
Journal Article
Harper, D. A., Cascales-Miñana, B., Kroeck, D. M., & Servais, T. (2021). The palaeogeographical impact on the biodiversity of marine faunas during the Ordovician radiations. Global and Planetary Change, 207, Article 103665. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2021.103665

Diversification is a key property of life. Building on John Phillips' (1860) classic, iconic curve, Phanerozoic biodiversity trajectories have been based, subsequently, on the availability of additional and renewed sets of data and increasingly sophi... Read More about The palaeogeographical impact on the biodiversity of marine faunas during the Ordovician radiations.

Cambrian and earliest Ordovician fauna and geology of the Sông Đà and adjacent terranes in Việt Nam (Vietnam) (2021)
Journal Article
Hughes, N. C., Peng, S., Harper, D. A., Myrow, P. M., Phạm, N. K., Wernette, S. J., & Zhu, X. (2022). Cambrian and earliest Ordovician fauna and geology of the Sông Đà and adjacent terranes in Việt Nam (Vietnam). Geological Magazine, 159(1), 55-80. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0016756821000844

Later Cambrian and earliest Ordovician trilobites and brachiopods spanning eight horizons from five localities within the Sông Mã, Hàm Rồng and Đông Sơn formations of the Thanh Hóa province of Việt Nam, constrain the age and faunal affinities of rock... Read More about Cambrian and earliest Ordovician fauna and geology of the Sông Đà and adjacent terranes in Việt Nam (Vietnam).

An atypical Burgess Shale-type fossil assemblage from Cambrian Stage 4 of the Jingshan area, South China: Taphonomy, palaeoecology, and global correlations (2021)
Journal Article
Zhang, M., Chen, Z., & Harper, D. A. (2021). An atypical Burgess Shale-type fossil assemblage from Cambrian Stage 4 of the Jingshan area, South China: Taphonomy, palaeoecology, and global correlations. Global and Planetary Change, 206, Article 103640. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2021.103640

Burgess Shale-type biotas have been widely reported from the Cambrian in North America, Siberia, Greenland, China, and Australia; they are crucial in reconstructing the biotic evolution and ecological interactions of early metazoans. Here, we report... Read More about An atypical Burgess Shale-type fossil assemblage from Cambrian Stage 4 of the Jingshan area, South China: Taphonomy, palaeoecology, and global correlations.

Permian–Triassic phylogenetic and morphologic evolution of rhynchonellide brachiopods (2021)
Journal Article
Guo, Z., Chen, Z., Harper, D. A., & Huang, Y. (2021). Permian–Triassic phylogenetic and morphologic evolution of rhynchonellide brachiopods. Paleobiology, https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2021.25

The Rhynchonellida is a major group of brachiopods that survived the “big five” mass extinctions and flourished after the Permian/Triassic (P/Tr) crisis. However, phylogenetic and character evolution in the Rhynchonellida across the P/Tr transition i... Read More about Permian–Triassic phylogenetic and morphologic evolution of rhynchonellide brachiopods.

Hirnantia Fauna from the Condroz Inlier, Belgium: another case of a relict Ordovician shelly fauna in the Silurian? (2021)
Journal Article
Pereira, S., Colmenar, J., Mortier, J., Vanmeirhaeghe, J., Verniers, J., Štorch, P., …Gutiérrez-Marco, J. C. (2021). Hirnantia Fauna from the Condroz Inlier, Belgium: another case of a relict Ordovician shelly fauna in the Silurian?. Journal of Paleontology, 6, 1189-1215. https://doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2021.74

The end-Ordovician mass extinction, linked to a major glaciation, led to deep changes in Hirnantian–Rhuddanian biotas. The Hirnantia Fauna, the first of two Hirnantian survival brachiopod-dominated communities, characterizes the lower–mid Hirnantian... Read More about Hirnantia Fauna from the Condroz Inlier, Belgium: another case of a relict Ordovician shelly fauna in the Silurian?.

Early Cambrian brachiopod-dominated shell concentrations from North-East Greenland: Environmental and taphonomic implications (2021)
Journal Article
Harper, D. A., Stouge, S., Christiansen, J. L., Topper, T. P., Alwmark, C., Richoz, S., & Ahlberg, P. (2021). Early Cambrian brachiopod-dominated shell concentrations from North-East Greenland: Environmental and taphonomic implications. Global and Planetary Change, 204, Article 103560. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2021.103560

The occurrence of a series of thin but persistent early Cambrian (Cambrian Age 4) brachiopod shell concentrations extending along a transect of some 150 km in NE Greenland, indicates the ability of the group to form widespread, skeletal pavements ver... Read More about Early Cambrian brachiopod-dominated shell concentrations from North-East Greenland: Environmental and taphonomic implications.

Pliocene trace fossils from oyster substrates in the Nijar Basin, Betic Cordillera, southern Spain (2021)
Journal Article
Donovan, S. K., Jones, S. J., King, A. R., & Harper, D. A. (2021). Pliocene trace fossils from oyster substrates in the Nijar Basin, Betic Cordillera, southern Spain. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 132(3), 358-368. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pgeola.2021.02.004

The Almería-Níjar Basin is a Neogene, intermontane depression marginal to the Mediterranean in southern Spain in the vicinity of El Argamasón, Andalucia. The Pliocene Cuevas Formation rests unconformably on the Upper Messinian rock succession in the... Read More about Pliocene trace fossils from oyster substrates in the Nijar Basin, Betic Cordillera, southern Spain.

The evolution of thecideide microstructures and textures: traced from Triassic to Holocene (2021)
Journal Article
Simonet Roda, M., Griesshaber, E., Angiolini, L., Harper, D. A., Jansen, U., Bitner, M. A., …Schmahl, W. W. (2021). The evolution of thecideide microstructures and textures: traced from Triassic to Holocene. Lethaia: An International Journal of Palaeontology and Stratigraphy, 54(4), 558-577. https://doi.org/10.1111/let.12422

Thecideide brachiopods are an anomalous group of invertebrates. In this study, we discuss the evolution of thecideide brachiopods from the Triassic to the Holocene and base our results and conclusions on microstructure and texture measurements gained... Read More about The evolution of thecideide microstructures and textures: traced from Triassic to Holocene.

Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian) conodonts from southern Tibet, the Indian passive margin: implications for the age and correlation of the roof of the world (2020)
Journal Article
Stouge, S., Harper, D. A., Zhan, R., Liu, J., & Stemmerik, L. (2020). Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian) conodonts from southern Tibet, the Indian passive margin: implications for the age and correlation of the roof of the world. Geological Magazine, 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0016756820001077

New occurrences of middle–late Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) conodonts are reported from the Nyalam region, southern Tibet. The conodont-yielding strata, referred to the Chiatsun Group, accumulated on the north Indian continental margin of northern... Read More about Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian) conodonts from southern Tibet, the Indian passive margin: implications for the age and correlation of the roof of the world.

A Cambrian–Ordovician boundary section in the Rafnes–Herøya submarine tunnel, Skien–Langesund District, southern Norway (2020)
Journal Article
Rønning, K. J., Bruton, D. L., Harper, D. A., Høyberget, M., Maletz, J., & Nakrem, H. A. (2020). A Cambrian–Ordovician boundary section in the Rafnes–Herøya submarine tunnel, Skien–Langesund District, southern Norway. Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift, 100(1), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.17850/njg100-3-3

Rock specimens and contained fossils collected in 1976 from a submarine tunnel driven between Herøya and Rafnes in the Skien–Langesund area of southern Norway, have been restudied. The contained fossils include olenid and agnostoid trilobites, grapto... Read More about A Cambrian–Ordovician boundary section in the Rafnes–Herøya submarine tunnel, Skien–Langesund District, southern Norway.

The latest Ordovician Hirnantian brachiopod faunas: New global insights (2020)
Journal Article
Jiayu, R., Harper, D., Bing, H., Rongyu, L., Xiaole, Z., & Di, C. (2020). The latest Ordovician Hirnantian brachiopod faunas: New global insights. Earth-Science Reviews, 208, Article 103280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103280

The temporal and spatial distribution of Hirnantian brachiopod faunas are reviewed based on a new, comprehensive dataset from over 20 palaeoplates and terranes, a revised correlation scheme for Hirnantian strata and numerical methods including networ... Read More about The latest Ordovician Hirnantian brachiopod faunas: New global insights.

Ordovician successions in southern-central Xizang (Tibet), China—Refining the stratigraphy of the Himalayan and Lhasa terranes (2020)
Journal Article
Zhen, Y. Y., Zhang, Y., Harper, D. A., Zhan, R., Fang, X., Wang, Z., …Li, W. (2020). Ordovician successions in southern-central Xizang (Tibet), China—Refining the stratigraphy of the Himalayan and Lhasa terranes. Gondwana Research, 83, 372-389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2020.01.023

The Ordovician stratigraphy of southern-central Xizang (Tibet) has been revised based on new conodont data recovered from 43 samples in four stratigraphic units and their integration with existing nautiloid and graptolite data. The Histiodella holode... Read More about Ordovician successions in southern-central Xizang (Tibet), China—Refining the stratigraphy of the Himalayan and Lhasa terranes.

Storm-induced community dynamics in the Fezouata Biota (Lower Ordovician, Morocco) (2019)
Journal Article
Saleh, F., Candela, Y., Harper, D. A., Polechová, M., Lefebvre, B., & Pittet, B. (2019). Storm-induced community dynamics in the Fezouata Biota (Lower Ordovician, Morocco). PALAIOS, 33(12), 535-541. https://doi.org/10.2110/palo.2018.055

In the Central Anti-Atlas (Morocco), the lower part of the Fezouata Shale has yielded locally abundant remains of soft-bodied to lightly sclerotized taxa, occurring in low diversity assemblages characterized by strong spatial and taxonomic heterogene... Read More about Storm-induced community dynamics in the Fezouata Biota (Lower Ordovician, Morocco).

An extremely brief end Ordovician mass extinction linked to abrupt onset of glaciation (2019)
Journal Article
Ling, M., Zhan, R., Wang, G., Wang, Y., Amelin, Y., Tang, P., …Rong, J. (2019). An extremely brief end Ordovician mass extinction linked to abrupt onset of glaciation. Solid earth sciences, 4(4), 190-198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sesci.2019.11.001

The end Ordovician mass extinction (EOME) was the second most severe biotic crisis in Phanerozoic, and has been widely linked to a major glaciation. However, robust geochronology of this interval is still lacking. Here we present four successive high... Read More about An extremely brief end Ordovician mass extinction linked to abrupt onset of glaciation.

Early Palaeozoic diversifications and extinctions in the marine biosphere: a continuum of change (2019)
Journal Article
Harper, D. A., Cascales-Miñana, B., & Servais, T. (2020). Early Palaeozoic diversifications and extinctions in the marine biosphere: a continuum of change. Geological Magazine, 157, 5-21. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0016756819001298

A review of biodiversity curves of marine organisms indicates that, despite fluctuations in amplitude (some large), a large-scale, long-term radiation of life took place during the early Palaeozoic Era; it was aggregated by a succession of more discr... Read More about Early Palaeozoic diversifications and extinctions in the marine biosphere: a continuum of change.

A nearshore Hirnantian brachiopod fauna from South China and its ecological significance (2019)
Journal Article
Huang, B., Rong, J., Harper, D. A., & Zhou, H. (2020). A nearshore Hirnantian brachiopod fauna from South China and its ecological significance. Journal of Paleontology, 94(2), 239-254. https://doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2019.90

The brachiopods collected from the Kuanyinchiao Beds (Hirnantian, uppermost Ordovician) in Meitan and Zunyi counties, northern Guizhou, include 13 species and one undetermined taxon, dominated by Hirnantia sagittifera (M'Coy, 1851) (which accounts fo... Read More about A nearshore Hirnantian brachiopod fauna from South China and its ecological significance.

The Anisian (Middle Triassic) brachiopod fauna from Qingyan, Guizhou, south-western China (2019)
Journal Article
Guo, Z., Chen, Z., & Harper, D. A. (2020). The Anisian (Middle Triassic) brachiopod fauna from Qingyan, Guizhou, south-western China. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 18(8), 647-701. https://doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2019.1682695

Like most of the benthos, brachiopods suffered huge losses in biodiversity during the end-Permian extinction and did not fully recover until the Anisian (Middle Triassic). Anisian brachiopod faunas are thus a key clade characterizing the recovered ma... Read More about The Anisian (Middle Triassic) brachiopod fauna from Qingyan, Guizhou, south-western China.

An extraterrestrial trigger for the mid-Ordovician ice age: Dust from the breakup of the L-chondrite parent body (2019)
Journal Article
Schmitz, B., Farley, K. A., Goderis, S., Heck, P. R., Bergström, S. M., Boschi, S., …Terfelt, F. (2019). An extraterrestrial trigger for the mid-Ordovician ice age: Dust from the breakup of the L-chondrite parent body. Science Advances, 5(9), Article eaax4184. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aax4184

The breakup of the L-chondrite parent body in the asteroid belt 466 million years (Ma) ago still delivers almost a third of all meteorites falling on Earth. Our new extraterrestrial chromite and 3He data for Ordovician sediments show that the breakup... Read More about An extraterrestrial trigger for the mid-Ordovician ice age: Dust from the breakup of the L-chondrite parent body.

Revisiting the Great Ordovician Diversification of land plants: Recent data and perspectives (2019)
Journal Article
Servais, T., Cascales-Miñana, B., Cleal, C. J., Gerrienne, P., Harper, D. A., & Neumann, M. (2019). Revisiting the Great Ordovician Diversification of land plants: Recent data and perspectives. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 534, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109280

Recent molecular clock data suggest with high probability a Cambrian origin of Embryophyta (also called land plants), indicating that their terrestrialization most probably started about 500 Ma. The fossil record of the ‘Cambrian Explosion’ was limit... Read More about Revisiting the Great Ordovician Diversification of land plants: Recent data and perspectives.

The Sirius Passet Lagerstätte of North Greenland: a remote window on the Cambrian Explosion (2019)
Journal Article
Harper, D., Hammarlund, E., Topper, T., Nielsen, A., Rasmussen, J., T-y.s., P., & Smith, M. (2019). The Sirius Passet Lagerstätte of North Greenland: a remote window on the Cambrian Explosion. Journal of the Geological Society, 176(6), 1023-1037. https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2019-043

The lower Cambrian Lagerstätte of Sirius Passet, Nansen Land, North Greenland, is one of the oldest of the Phanerozoic, exceptionally preserved biotas. The Lagerstätte evidences the escalation of numbers of new body plans and life modes that formed t... Read More about The Sirius Passet Lagerstätte of North Greenland: a remote window on the Cambrian Explosion.

The latest Ordovician Hirnantia brachiopod fauna of Myanmar: Significance of new data from the Mandalay Region (2019)
Journal Article
Rong, J., Aung, K. P., Zhan, R., Huang, B., Harper, D. A., Chen, D., …Zhang, X. (2020). The latest Ordovician Hirnantia brachiopod fauna of Myanmar: Significance of new data from the Mandalay Region. Palaeoworld, 29(1), 1-30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palwor.2019.07.002

A new, latest Ordovician brachiopod fauna is systematically described from the Hwe Mawng Purple Shale Member (Hirnantian) of the Naungkangyi Group of the Pa-thin area, Mandalay Region, Myanmar, revealing one of the most diverse representatives of the... Read More about The latest Ordovician Hirnantia brachiopod fauna of Myanmar: Significance of new data from the Mandalay Region.

The giants of the phylum Brachiopoda: a matter of diet? (2019)
Journal Article
Angiolini, L., Crippa, G., Azmy, K., Capitani, G., Confalonieri, G., Della Porta, G., …Stephenson, M. H. (2019). The giants of the phylum Brachiopoda: a matter of diet?. Palaeontology, 62(6), 889-917. https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12433

The species of the brachiopod Gigantoproductus are giants within the Palaeozoic sedentary benthos. This presents a dilemma as living brachiopods have low‐energy lifestyles. Although brachiopod metabolic rates were probably higher during the Palaeozoi... Read More about The giants of the phylum Brachiopoda: a matter of diet?.

A latest Ordovician Hirnantia brachiopod fauna from western Yunnan, Southwest China and its paleobiogeographic significance (2019)
Journal Article
Huang, B., Zhou, H., Harper, D. A., Zhan, R., Zhang, X., Chen, D., & Rong, J. (2020). A latest Ordovician Hirnantia brachiopod fauna from western Yunnan, Southwest China and its paleobiogeographic significance. Palaeoworld, 29(1), 31-46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palwor.2019.03.002

A new, high-diversity, latest Ordovician brachiopod fauna of nearly 800 brachiopod specimens was collected from the Wanyaoshu Formation (Hirnantian) in the Shaodihe section, Mangshi City, western Yunnan, Southwest China. Altogether 22 genera and two... Read More about A latest Ordovician Hirnantia brachiopod fauna from western Yunnan, Southwest China and its paleobiogeographic significance.

A new Cathaysiorthis (Brachiopoda) fauna from the lower Llandovery of eastern Qinling, China (2019)
Journal Article
Huang, B., Harper, D. A., Zhou, H., Zhan, R., Wang, Y., Tang, P., …Rong, J. (2019). A new Cathaysiorthis (Brachiopoda) fauna from the lower Llandovery of eastern Qinling, China. Papers in Palaeontology, 5(3), 537-557. https://doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1253

Following the end Ordovician mass extinction, brachiopod faunas were commonly of low diversity, generally rare in abundance, and restricted to shallow‐water environments in many places. The Cathaysiorthis fauna, first described from South East China,... Read More about A new Cathaysiorthis (Brachiopoda) fauna from the lower Llandovery of eastern Qinling, China.

The Furongian (late Cambrian) Biodiversity Gap: Real or apparent? (2019)
Journal Article
Harper, D. A., Topper, T. P., Cascales-Miñana, B., Servais, T., Zhang, Y., & Ahlberg, P. (2019). The Furongian (late Cambrian) Biodiversity Gap: Real or apparent?. Palaeoworld, 28(1-2), 4-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palwor.2019.01.007

Two major, extended diversifications punctuated the evolution of marine life during the Early Palaeozoic. The interregnum, however, between the Cambrian Explosion and the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event, is exemplified by the Furongian Gap... Read More about The Furongian (late Cambrian) Biodiversity Gap: Real or apparent?.

An Image Mapping Approach to U-Pb LA-ICP-MS Carbonate Dating and Applications to Direct Dating of Carbonate Sedimentation (2018)
Journal Article
Drost, K., Chew, D., Petrus, J. A., Scholze, F., Woodhead, J. D., Schneider, J. W., & Harper, D. A. (2018). An Image Mapping Approach to U-Pb LA-ICP-MS Carbonate Dating and Applications to Direct Dating of Carbonate Sedimentation. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 19(12), 4631-4648. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018gc007850

We present a new approach to laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS) U‐Pb dating of carbonates based on selection and pooling of pixels from 2‐D elemental and isotopic ratio maps. This image mapping technique is partic... Read More about An Image Mapping Approach to U-Pb LA-ICP-MS Carbonate Dating and Applications to Direct Dating of Carbonate Sedimentation.

New records of brachiopods and crinoids from the Silurian (Wenlock) of the southern Urals, Russia (2018)
Journal Article
Bogolepova, O. K., Donovan, S. K., Harper, D. A., Suyarkova, A. A., Yakupov, R., & Gubanov, A. P. (2018). New records of brachiopods and crinoids from the Silurian (Wenlock) of the southern Urals, Russia. GFF, 140(4), 323-331. https://doi.org/10.1080/11035897.2018.1526210

Crinoids and brachiopods are described from the Silurian Uzyan Formation of the Zilair Zone in the southern Urals. The occurrence of the graptolites Coronograptus praedeubeli suggests a late Homerian (Wenlock) age for the strata. A new disparid crino... Read More about New records of brachiopods and crinoids from the Silurian (Wenlock) of the southern Urals, Russia.

The Sirius Passet Lagerstätte of North Greenland—A geochemical window on early Cambrian low‐oxygen environments and ecosystems (2018)
Journal Article
Hammarlund, E. U., Smith, M. P., Rasmussen, J. A., Nielsen, A. T., Canfield, D. E., & Harper, D. A. (2019). The Sirius Passet Lagerstätte of North Greenland—A geochemical window on early Cambrian low‐oxygen environments and ecosystems. Geobiology, 17(1), 12-26. https://doi.org/10.1111/gbi.12315

The early Cambrian Sirius Passet fauna of northernmost Greenland (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 3) contains exceptionally preserved soft tissues that provide an important window to early animal evolution, while the surrounding sediment holds critical data... Read More about The Sirius Passet Lagerstätte of North Greenland—A geochemical window on early Cambrian low‐oxygen environments and ecosystems.

Diversity and biostratigraphic utility of Ordovician brachiopods in the East Baltic (2018)
Journal Article
Hints, L., Harper, D., & Paškevičius, J. (2018). Diversity and biostratigraphic utility of Ordovician brachiopods in the East Baltic. Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences, 67(3), 176-191. https://doi.org/10.3176/earth.2018.14

The stratigraphy of the Ordovician carbonates of Baltoscandia was initially based, during the 19th century, on the stratigraphical ranges of macrofossils, mainly trilobites, but other fossils (brachiopods, echinoderms and cephalopods) were also used.... Read More about Diversity and biostratigraphic utility of Ordovician brachiopods in the East Baltic.

Silicification of low-magnesium mollusc shells from the Upper Oligocene of Antigua, Lesser Antilles (2018)
Journal Article
Strang, K., Harper, D., Donovan, S., & Portell, R. (2018). Silicification of low-magnesium mollusc shells from the Upper Oligocene of Antigua, Lesser Antilles

Silicified molluscs, namely the oyster Hyotissa and the scallop Aequipecten?, are commonly preserved as silica in the carbonate successions on the island of Antigua. These fossil assemblages are located within the Antigua Formation, above and adjacen... Read More about Silicification of low-magnesium mollusc shells from the Upper Oligocene of Antigua, Lesser Antilles.

Contextualizing the Onset of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (2018)
Journal Article
Harper, D., & Servais, T. (2018). Contextualizing the Onset of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event. Lethaia: An International Journal of Palaeontology and Stratigraphy, 51(2), 149-150. https://doi.org/10.1111/let.12264

We introduce and briefly summarize a collection of papers contextualizing the onset of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event, initiated during the first meeting of IGCP project 653 at Van Mildert College, Durham University, UK, in September 2... Read More about Contextualizing the Onset of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event.

Brain and eyes of Kerygmachela reveal protocerebral ancestry of the panarthropod head (2018)
Journal Article
Park, T. S., Kihm, J., Woo, J., Park, C., Lee, W. Y., Smith, M. P., …Vinther, J. (2018). Brain and eyes of Kerygmachela reveal protocerebral ancestry of the panarthropod head. Nature Communications, 9(1), Article 1019. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03464-w

Recent discoveries of fossil nervous tissue in Cambrian fossils have allowed researchers to trace the origin and evolution of the complex arthropod head and brain based on stem groups close to the origin of the clade, rather than on extant, highly de... Read More about Brain and eyes of Kerygmachela reveal protocerebral ancestry of the panarthropod head.

Characterization of kerogenous films and taphonomic modes of the Sirius Passet Lagerstätte, Greenland (2018)
Journal Article
Topper, T. P., Greco, F., Hofmann, A., Beeby, A., & Harper, D. A. (2018). Characterization of kerogenous films and taphonomic modes of the Sirius Passet Lagerstätte, Greenland. Geology, 46(4), 359-362. https://doi.org/10.1130/g39930.1

The Sirius Passet Lagerstätte (northern Greenland) is an exceptionally well-preserved early Cambrian faunal community containing a diverse array of stem-group euarthropods, lobopodians, worms, sponges, and the iconic Halkieria. Material collected in... Read More about Characterization of kerogenous films and taphonomic modes of the Sirius Passet Lagerstätte, Greenland.

The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE): definition, concept and duration (2018)
Journal Article
Servais, T., & Harper, D. A. (2018). The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE): definition, concept and duration. Lethaia: An International Journal of Palaeontology and Stratigraphy, 51(2), 151-164. https://doi.org/10.1111/let.12259

The Ordovician biodiversification has been recognized since the 1960s; the term ‘The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event’, abbreviated by many as the ‘GOBE’, has been used for the past 20 years. The conceptual development and terminology applie... Read More about The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE): definition, concept and duration.

A new Silurian ophiuroid from the west of Ireland (2017)
Journal Article
Blake, D. B., Donovan, S. K., & Harper, D. A. (2017). A new Silurian ophiuroid from the west of Ireland. Irish Journal of Earth Sciences, 35, 57-66. https://doi.org/10.3318/ijes.2017.35.57

Silurian echinoderms from Ireland are poorly known; hitherto, only three nominal species have been described, all crinoids and all from the Telychian (Upper Llandovery, Lower Silurian) Kilbride Formation in County Galway. A new species from this form... Read More about A new Silurian ophiuroid from the west of Ireland.

Possible patterns of marine primary productivity during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (2017)
Journal Article
Pohl, A., Harper, D. A., Donnadieu, Y., Le Hir, G., Nardin, E., & Servais, T. (2018). Possible patterns of marine primary productivity during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event. Lethaia: An International Journal of Palaeontology and Stratigraphy, 51(2), 187-197. https://doi.org/10.1111/let.12247

Following the appearance of numerous animal phyla during the ‘Cambrian Explosion’, the ‘Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event’ (GOBE) records their rapid diversification at the lower taxonomic levels, constituting the most significant rise in bio... Read More about Possible patterns of marine primary productivity during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event.

Identifying the most surprising victims of mass extinction events: an example using Late Ordovician Brachiopods (2017)
Journal Article
Finnegan, S., Rasmussen, C., & Harper, D. (2017). Identifying the most surprising victims of mass extinction events: an example using Late Ordovician Brachiopods. Biology Letters, 13(9), Article 2017400. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2017.0400

Mass extinction events are recognized by increases in extinction rate and magnitude and, often, by changes in the selectivity of extinction. When considering the selective fingerprint of a particular event, not all taxon extinctions are equally infor... Read More about Identifying the most surprising victims of mass extinction events: an example using Late Ordovician Brachiopods.

The dawn of a dynasty: life strategies of Cambrian and Ordovician brachiopods (2017)
Journal Article
Topper, T., Zhang, Z., Gutiérrez-Marco, J., & Harper, D. (2018). The dawn of a dynasty: life strategies of Cambrian and Ordovician brachiopods. Lethaia: An International Journal of Palaeontology and Stratigraphy, 51(2), 254-266. https://doi.org/10.1111/let.12229

Brachiopods are among the first animal phyla to emerge from the Cambrian Explosion, rapidly diversifying to all major palaeocontinental blocks within 20 million years. The group underwent another steep rise in diversity during the Ordovician, and the... Read More about The dawn of a dynasty: life strategies of Cambrian and Ordovician brachiopods.

Sexual dimorphism within the stem-group arthropod Isoxys volucris from the Sirius Passet Lagerstätte, North Greenland (2017)
Journal Article
Nielsen, M., Rasmussen, J., & Harper, D. (2017). Sexual dimorphism within the stem-group arthropod Isoxys volucris from the Sirius Passet Lagerstätte, North Greenland. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark, 65, 47-58

Morphometric analyses carried out on 126 specimens of the early Cambrian (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 3) stem-group arthropod Isoxys volucris from North Greenland reveal a bimodal distribution, where Morphogroup A is characterised by a significantly wid... Read More about Sexual dimorphism within the stem-group arthropod Isoxys volucris from the Sirius Passet Lagerstätte, North Greenland.

Brachiopods: origin and early history (2017)
Journal Article
Harper, D. A., Popov, L. E., & Holmer, L. E. (2017). Brachiopods: origin and early history. Palaeontology, 60(5), 609-631. https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12307

Despite many major advances in recent years, three key challenges remain in bringing clarity to the early history of the phylum: (1) identifying the origin, morphology and life modes of the first brachiopods; (2) understanding the relationships of th... Read More about Brachiopods: origin and early history.

Late Ordovician deep-water brachiopod fauna from Raheen, Waterford Harbour, Ireland (2017)
Journal Article
Harper, D. A., Parkes, M. A., & Ren-Bin, Z. (2017). Late Ordovician deep-water brachiopod fauna from Raheen, Waterford Harbour, Ireland. Irish Journal of Earth Sciences, 35, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.3318/ijes.2017.35.1

The Raheen Formation at Newtown Head in Waterford Harbour is a small isolated section of Ordovician rocks, dominated by volcanics of the Duncannon Group, but with interbedded fossiliferous shales. Although a brachiopod and trilobite dominated fauna h... Read More about Late Ordovician deep-water brachiopod fauna from Raheen, Waterford Harbour, Ireland.

Echinoids as hard substrates: varied examples from the Oligocene of Antigua, Lesser Antilles (2017)
Journal Article
Donovan, S. K., Harper, D. A., Portell, R. W., & Toomey, J. K. (2017). Echinoids as hard substrates: varied examples from the Oligocene of Antigua, Lesser Antilles. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 128(3), 326-331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pgeola.2017.04.003

A collection of unremarkably preserved fossil irregular echinoids from the Upper Oligocene (Chattian) Antigua Formation of Antigua, Lesser Antilles, nonetheless provides evidence of a range of palaeoecological interactions. A dead test of the heart u... Read More about Echinoids as hard substrates: varied examples from the Oligocene of Antigua, Lesser Antilles.

Brachiopod faunas after the end Ordovician mass extinction from South China: Testing ecological change through a major taxonomic crisis (2017)
Journal Article
Huang, B., Harper, D. A., Rong, J., & Zhan, R. (2017). Brachiopod faunas after the end Ordovician mass extinction from South China: Testing ecological change through a major taxonomic crisis. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 138, 502-514. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2017.02.043

Classification of extinction events and their severity is generally based on taxonomic counts. The ecological impacts of such events have been categorized and prioritized but rarely tested with empirical data. The ecology of the end Ordovician extinc... Read More about Brachiopod faunas after the end Ordovician mass extinction from South China: Testing ecological change through a major taxonomic crisis.

Mass extinctions over the last 500 myr: an astronomical cause? (2017)
Journal Article
Erlykin, A. D., Harper, D. A., Sloan, T., & Wolfendale, A. W. (2017). Mass extinctions over the last 500 myr: an astronomical cause?. Palaeontology, 60(2), 159-167. https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12283

A Fourier analysis of the magnitudes and timing of the Phanerozoic mass extinctions (MEs) demonstrates that many of the periodicities claimed in other analyses are not statistically significant. Moreover we show that the periodicities associated with... Read More about Mass extinctions over the last 500 myr: an astronomical cause?.

Minerals in the gut: scoping a Cambrian digestive system (2016)
Journal Article
Strang, K., Armstrong, H., & Harper, D. (2016). Minerals in the gut: scoping a Cambrian digestive system. Royal Society Open Science, 3(11), Article 160420. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160420

The Sirius Passet Lagerstätte of North Greenland contains the first exceptionally preserved mat-ground community of the Cambrian, dominated, in terms of abundance, by trilobites but particularly characterized by iconic arthropods and lobopods, some a... Read More about Minerals in the gut: scoping a Cambrian digestive system.

Shell-Filled Burrows in the Upper Oligocene Antigua Formation, Antigua, Lesser Antilles (2016)
Journal Article
Donovan, S., Harper, D., & Portell, R. (2017). Shell-Filled Burrows in the Upper Oligocene Antigua Formation, Antigua, Lesser Antilles. Ichnos: an International Journal of Plant and Animal Traces, 24, 72-77. https://doi.org/10.1080/10420940.2016.1223653

Limestones of the Upper Oligocene Antigua Formation of Antigua contain unusual burrows filled with the densely packed debris of shelly benthos. Unlined burrows (Planolites?) in deep-water biofacies at Half Moon Bay, parish of Saint Philip, are packed... Read More about Shell-Filled Burrows in the Upper Oligocene Antigua Formation, Antigua, Lesser Antilles.

Permian–Triassic evolution of the Bivalvia: Extinction-recovery patterns linked to ecologic and taxonomic selectivity (2016)
Journal Article
Chenyi, T., Zhong-Qiang, C., & Harper, D. (2016). Permian–Triassic evolution of the Bivalvia: Extinction-recovery patterns linked to ecologic and taxonomic selectivity. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 459, 53-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.06.042

The Bivalvia is an important benthic clade that was relatively less affected than other benthos during the Permian–Triassic (P–Tr) biotic crisis, reporting losses of 85%, 64%, and 32% at the species, genus and family levels, respectively. This clade... Read More about Permian–Triassic evolution of the Bivalvia: Extinction-recovery patterns linked to ecologic and taxonomic selectivity.

A Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) bivalve-dominated molluscan fauna from the Stairway Sandstone, Amadeus Basin, central Australia (2016)
Journal Article
Jakobsen, K., Brock, G., Nielsen, A., & Harper, D. (2016). A Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) bivalve-dominated molluscan fauna from the Stairway Sandstone, Amadeus Basin, central Australia. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 61(4), 897-924. https://doi.org/10.4202/app.00215.2015

A bivalve-dominated molluscan fauna is described from the Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) Stairway Sandstone, Amadeus Basin, central Australia. The fauna comprises 16 species of bivalves and rostroconchs plus six gastropod species which are treated u... Read More about A Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) bivalve-dominated molluscan fauna from the Stairway Sandstone, Amadeus Basin, central Australia.

Biogeographic and bathymetric determinants of brachiopod extinction and survival during the Late Ordovician mass extinction (2016)
Journal Article
Finnegan, S., Rasmussen, C., & Harper, D. (2016). Biogeographic and bathymetric determinants of brachiopod extinction and survival during the Late Ordovician mass extinction. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 283(1829), Article 20160007. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.0007

The Late Ordovician mass extinction (LOME) coincided with dramatic climate changes, but there are numerous ways in which these changes could have driven marine extinctions. We use a palaeobiogeographic database of rhynchonelliform brachiopods to exam... Read More about Biogeographic and bathymetric determinants of brachiopod extinction and survival during the Late Ordovician mass extinction.

The Sirius Passet Lagerstatte: silica death masking opens the window on the earliest matground community of the Cambrian explosion (2016)
Journal Article
Strang, K., Armstrong, H., Harper, D., & Trabucho-Alexandre, J. P. (2016). The Sirius Passet Lagerstatte: silica death masking opens the window on the earliest matground community of the Cambrian explosion. Lethaia: An International Journal of Palaeontology and Stratigraphy, 49(4), 631-643. https://doi.org/10.1111/let.12174

The Sirius Passet Lagerstätte (SP), Peary Land, North Greenland, occurs in black slates deposited at or just below storm wave base. It represents the earliest Cambrian microbial mat community with exceptional preservation, predating the Burgess Shale... Read More about The Sirius Passet Lagerstatte: silica death masking opens the window on the earliest matground community of the Cambrian explosion.

Onset of main Phanerozoic marine radiation sparked by emerging Mid Ordovician icehouse (2016)
Journal Article
Rasmussen, C. Ø., Ullmann, C., Jakobsen, K., Lindskog, A., Hansen, J., Hansen, T., …Harper, D. (2016). Onset of main Phanerozoic marine radiation sparked by emerging Mid Ordovician icehouse. Scientific Reports, 6, Article 18884. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep18884

The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE) was the most rapid and sustained increase in marine Phanerozoic biodiversity. What generated this biotic response across Palaeozoic seascapes is a matter of debate; several intrinsic and extrinsic... Read More about Onset of main Phanerozoic marine radiation sparked by emerging Mid Ordovician icehouse.

Hirnantian (Late Ordovician) brachiopod faunas across Baltoscandia: A global and regional context (2015)
Journal Article
Harper, D., & Hints, L. (2016). Hirnantian (Late Ordovician) brachiopod faunas across Baltoscandia: A global and regional context. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 444, 71-83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.11.044

A diverse, typical Hirnantia brachiopod fauna from terminal Ordovician strata in Latvia extends the distribution of the Kosov Province across much of the Baltic Palaeoplate into the deeper-water facies of the East Baltic. The new data emphasise the c... Read More about Hirnantian (Late Ordovician) brachiopod faunas across Baltoscandia: A global and regional context.

Ordovician Gastropoda from Northeast Greenland (2015)
Journal Article
Rohr, D., Harper, D., Stouge, S., & Christiansen, J. (2015). Ordovician Gastropoda from Northeast Greenland. Bulletin of Geosciences (On-line), 90, 795-805. https://doi.org/10.3140/bull.geosci.1566

Nine gastropod genera are described from the Ordovician (upper Ibexian portion) of the Narwhale Sound Formation of Hudson Land in Northeast Greenland. The gastropods have Laurentian affinities, and eight of the Greenland genera described here also oc... Read More about Ordovician Gastropoda from Northeast Greenland.

Trace fossils from the lower Cambrian Kløftelv Formation, Ella Ø, North-East Greenland (2015)
Journal Article
Jensen, S., Harper, D., & Stouge, S. (2016). Trace fossils from the lower Cambrian Kløftelv Formation, Ella Ø, North-East Greenland. GFF, 138(3), 369-376. https://doi.org/10.1080/11035897.2015.1076029

Relatively large burrows with crudely-developed spreiten, some arranged in a zig-zag pattern, occur in the Kløftelv Formation, Ella Ø, North-East Greenland. These trace fossils, tentatively identified as Teichichnus isp., are associated with sediment... Read More about Trace fossils from the lower Cambrian Kløftelv Formation, Ella Ø, North-East Greenland.

Neogene echinoids from the Cayman Islands, West Indies: regional implications (2015)
Journal Article
Donovan, S., Jones, B., & Harper, D. (2016). Neogene echinoids from the Cayman Islands, West Indies: regional implications. Geological Journal, 51(6), 864-879. https://doi.org/10.1002/gj.2703

The first fossil echinoids are recorded from the Cayman Islands. A regular echinoid, Arbacia? sp., the spatangoids Brissus sp. cf. B. oblongus Wright and Schizaster sp. cf. S. americanus (Clark), and the clypeasteroid Clypeaster sp. are from the Midd... Read More about Neogene echinoids from the Cayman Islands, West Indies: regional implications.

In deep water: a crinoid–brachiopod association in the Upper Oligocene of Antigua, West Indies (2015)
Journal Article
Donovan, S., Harper, D., & Portell, R. (2015). In deep water: a crinoid–brachiopod association in the Upper Oligocene of Antigua, West Indies. Lethaia: An International Journal of Palaeontology and Stratigraphy, 48(3), 291-298. https://doi.org/10.1111/let.12105

Extant brachiopods and stalked crinoids are found together in the deeper waters of the Caribbean Sea. Analogous brachiopod/crinoid associations have been reported from diverse palaeoenvironments in the Neogene of the region. Studied examples include... Read More about In deep water: a crinoid–brachiopod association in the Upper Oligocene of Antigua, West Indies.

Lower and Middle Ordovician conodonts of Laurentian affinity from blocks of limestone in the Rosroe Formation, South Mayo Trough, western Ireland and their palaeogeographic implication (2015)
Journal Article
their palaeogeographic implication. Geological Journal, 51(4), 584-599. https://doi.org/10.1002/gj.2659

The Middle Ordovician Rosroe Formation consists of some 1350 m of coarse, mainly siliciclastic to volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks, deposited in a submarine fan environment, and is restricted to the southern limb of the South Mayo Trough, western Ire... Read More about Lower and Middle Ordovician conodonts of Laurentian affinity from blocks of limestone in the Rosroe Formation, South Mayo Trough, western Ireland and their palaeogeographic implication.

The Hirnantian (Late Ordovician) brachiopod fauna of the East Baltic: Taxonomy of the key species (2015)
Journal Article
Hints, L., & Harper, D. (2015). The Hirnantian (Late Ordovician) brachiopod fauna of the East Baltic: Taxonomy of the key species. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 60(2), 395-420. https://doi.org/10.4202/app.2013.0010

Rhynchonelliformean brachiopods, belonging to 17 genera, are described from the East Baltic Porkuni Regional Stage, correlated with the global Hirnantian Stage. The brachiopod genera Paromalomena, Proboscizambon?, Kinnella, Drabo-via, and Coolinia, w... Read More about The Hirnantian (Late Ordovician) brachiopod fauna of the East Baltic: Taxonomy of the key species.

An earth system approach to understanding the end-Ordovician (Hirnantian) mass extinction (2014)
Book Chapter
Armstrong, H., & Harper, D. (2014). An earth system approach to understanding the end-Ordovician (Hirnantian) mass extinction. In G. Keller, & A. Kerr (Eds.), Volcanism, impacts, and mass extinctions : causes and effects (287-300). Geological Society of America. https://doi.org/10.1130/2014.2505%2814%29

The Hirnantian mass extinction is recognized as the first of the "big three" extinctions and, along with the end-Permian and end-Cretaceous events, is the result of an acceleration in biotic extinctions concomitant with a rise in originations. The Hi... Read More about An earth system approach to understanding the end-Ordovician (Hirnantian) mass extinction.

A suspension-feeding anomalocarid from the Early Cambrian (2014)
Journal Article
Vinther, J., Stein, M., Longrich, N., & Harper, D. (2014). A suspension-feeding anomalocarid from the Early Cambrian. Nature, 507(7493), 496-499. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13010

Large, actively swimming suspension feeders evolved several times in Earth’s history, arising independently from groups as diverse as sharks, rays and stem teleost fishes1, and in mysticete whales2. However, animals occupying this niche have not been... Read More about A suspension-feeding anomalocarid from the Early Cambrian.

Precisely locating the Ordovician equator in Laurentia (2013)
Journal Article
Jisuo, J., Harper, D., Cocks, L., McCausland, P., Rasmussen, C., & Sheehan, P. (2013). Precisely locating the Ordovician equator in Laurentia. Geology, 41(2), 107-110. https://doi.org/10.1130/g33688.1

The Late Ordovician equatorial zone, like the zone today, had few hurricane-grade storms within 10º of the equator, as emphasized by the preservation of massive-bedded Thalassinoides ichnofacies in a trans-Laurentian belt more than 6000 km long, from... Read More about Precisely locating the Ordovician equator in Laurentia.

Neoichnology and implications for stratigraphy of reworked Upper Oligocene oysters, Antigua, West Indies (2013)
Journal Article
Oligocene oysters, Antigua, West Indies. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 125(1), 99-106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pgeola.2013.10.002

The Late Oligocene oyster Hyotissa antiguensis (Brown) is locally common in the Antigua Formation of Hughes Point, eastern Antigua, Lesser Antilles; it was not commonly bored at that time. Its valves and shells are robust, and reworked into the shall... Read More about Neoichnology and implications for stratigraphy of reworked Upper Oligocene oysters, Antigua, West Indies.

A starfish bed in the Middle Miocene Grand Bay Formation of Carriacou, The Grenadines (West Indies) (2013)
Journal Article
Jagt, J., Thuy, B., Donovan, S., Stohr, S., Portell, R., Pickerill, R., …Jackson, T. (2014). A starfish bed in the Middle Miocene Grand Bay Formation of Carriacou, The Grenadines (West Indies). Geological Magazine, 151(3), 381-393. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0016756813000204

The first starfish bed to be recognized from the Antilles is a lensoid body in the middle Miocene Grand Bay Formation of Carriacou, The Grenadines (West Indies). This unit was deposited in a turbidite basin in a region of active volcanism fed from on... Read More about A starfish bed in the Middle Miocene Grand Bay Formation of Carriacou, The Grenadines (West Indies).

Arthroaspis n. gen., a common element of the Sirius Passet Lagerstätte (Cambrian, North Greenland), sheds light on trilobite ancestry (2013)
Journal Article
Stein, M., Budd, G., Peel, J., & Harper, D. (2013). Arthroaspis n. gen., a common element of the Sirius Passet Lagerstätte (Cambrian, North Greenland), sheds light on trilobite ancestry. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 13, Article 99. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-13-99

Background: Exceptionally preserved Palaeozoic faunas have yielded a plethora of trilobite-like arthropods, often referred to as lamellipedians. Among these, Artiopoda is supposed to contain taxa united by a distinctive appendage structure. This incl... Read More about Arthroaspis n. gen., a common element of the Sirius Passet Lagerstätte (Cambrian, North Greenland), sheds light on trilobite ancestry.

Ancestral billingsellides and the evolution and phylogenetic relationships of early rhynchonelliform brachiopods. (2013)
Journal Article
Topper, T., Harper, D., & Brock, G. (2013). Ancestral billingsellides and the evolution and phylogenetic relationships of early rhynchonelliform brachiopods. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 11(7), 821-833. https://doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2012.728253

The relationship of many Cambrian rhynchonelliform brachiopods is poorly understood, with many genera displaying a combination of morphological features that are taxonomically confusing. The study of middle Cambrian–early Tremadocian brachiopods is c... Read More about Ancestral billingsellides and the evolution and phylogenetic relationships of early rhynchonelliform brachiopods..

End Ordovician extinctions : a coincidence of causes. (2013)
Journal Article
Harper, D., Hammarlund, E., & Rasmussen, C. (2014). End Ordovician extinctions : a coincidence of causes. Gondwana Research, 25(4), 1294-1307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2012.12.021

The end Ordovician (Hirnantian) extinction was the first of the five big Phanerozoic extinction events, and the first that involved metazoan-based communities. It comprised two discrete pulses, both linked in different ways to an intense but short-li... Read More about End Ordovician extinctions : a coincidence of causes..

The oldest brachiopods from the lower Cambrian of South Australia. (2012)
Journal Article
Topper, T., Holmer, L., Skovsted, C., Brock, G., Balthasar, U., Larsson, C., …Harper, D. (2012). The oldest brachiopods from the lower Cambrian of South Australia. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 58(1), 93-109. https://doi.org/10.4202/app.2011.0146

The morphology and organophosphatic shell structure of the paterinate brachiopod Askepasma is documented using new and previously collected specimens from the lower Cambrian of South Australia. Lack of adequately preserved material has seen the major... Read More about The oldest brachiopods from the lower Cambrian of South Australia..

Carbon-isotope stratigraphy of the Lower Ordovician succession in Northeast Greenland: Implications for correlations with St. George Group in western Newfoundland (Canada) and beyond (2010)
Journal Article
Azmy, K., Stouge, S., Christiansen, J., Harper, D., Knight, I., & Boyce, D. (2010). Carbon-isotope stratigraphy of the Lower Ordovician succession in Northeast Greenland: Implications for correlations with St. George Group in western Newfoundland (Canada) and beyond. Sedimentary Geology, 225(1-2), 67-81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2010.01.007