Topic description and stories

Top: Complete specimen of Chengjiangocaris kunmingensis from the early Cambrian Xiaoshiba biota of South China. Bottom: Magnification of ventral nerve cord of Chengjiangocaris kunmingensis.

520 million-year-old fossilised nervous system is most detailed example yet found

29 Feb 2016

A 520 million-year-old fossilised nervous system – so well-preserved that individually fossilised nerves are visible – is the most complete and best...

Read more
Top: Complete specimen of Chengjiangocaris kunmingensis from the early Cambrian Xiaoshiba biota of South China. Bottom: Magnification of ventral nerve cord of Chengjiangocaris kunmingensis.

Opinion: Our 500 million-year-old nervous system fossil shines a light on animal evolution

29 Feb 2016

Javier Ortega-Hernández (Department of Zoology) discusses what the discovery of the earliest known fossilised nervous system could tell us about...

Read more
Collinsium ciliosum, a Collins’ monster-type lobopodian from the early Cambrian Xiaoshiba biota of China

Spiky monsters: new species of ‘super-armoured’ worm discovered

29 Jun 2015

A newly-identified species of spike-covered worm with legs, which lived 500 million years ago, was one of the first animals on Earth to develop...

Read more

Left: Hallucigenia sparsa from the Burgess Shale (Royal Ontario Museum 61513) The fossil is 15 mm long. Right: Colour reconstruction of Hallucigenia sparsa.

Newly-discovered ‘ring of teeth’ helps determine what common ancestor of moulting animals looked like

24 Jun 2015

A new analysis of one of the most bizarre-looking fossils ever discovered has definitively sorted its head from its tail, and turned up a previously...

Read more
Odaraia alata, an arthropod resembling a submarine from the middle Cambrian Burgess Shale.

Clues contained in 500 million-year-old brain point to the origin of heads in early animals

07 May 2015

The discovery of a 500 million-year-old fossilised brain has helped identify a point of crucial transformation in early animals, and answered some of...

Read more
Left: Illustration of Ottoia, a prehistoric priapulid, burrowing. Right: Ottoia worm.

Compiling a ‘dentist’s handbook’ for penis worms

06 May 2015

A new study of teeth belonging to a particularly phallic-looking creature has led to the compilation of a prehistoric ‘dentist’s handbook’ which may...

Read more

Fossil of Haootia quadriformis

Animals first flex their muscles

27 Aug 2014

A new fossil discovery identifies the earliest evidence for animals with muscles.

Read more
Fossil Hallucigenia sparsa from the Burgess Shale

Misunderstood worm-like fossil finds its place in the Tree of Life

17 Aug 2014

One of the most bizarre-looking fossils ever found - a worm-like creature with legs, spikes and a head difficult to distinguish from its tail – has...

Read more
Palaeontological reconstruction of rangeomorph fronds from the Ediacaran Period (635-541 million years ago) built using computer models of rangeomorph growth and development.

How some of the first animals lived - and died

11 Aug 2014

New three-dimensional reconstructions show how some of the earliest animals on Earth developed, and provide some answers as to why they went extinct...

Read more

Left: Illustration of Metaspriggina swimming. Right: Fossil of Metaspriggina from Marble Canyon – head to the left with two eyes, and branchial arches at the top.

New fossil find pinpoints the origin of jaws in vertebrates

11 Jun 2014

A major fossil discovery in Canada sheds new light on the development of the earliest vertebrates, including the origin of jaws, the first time this...

Read more