The fossil record of the earliest animals has been enlivened in recent years by a series of spectacular discoveries, including embryos, from the Ediacaran to the Cambrian, but many issues, not least of dating and interpretation, remain controversial. In particular, aspects of taphonomy of the earliest fossils require careful consideration before pronouncements about their affinities. Neverthele...

New geochronological and geochemical data document a new widely distributed succession of igneous sedimentary rocks within the Sibumasu that extend from SW Yunnan through SE Asia as far Sumatra. Our revealed presence an Ordovician-Silurian (mainly ?490–430 Ma) zone. The early Paleozoic granites in zone display similar elemental Sr–Nd–Pb–Hf isotopic compositions. They were derived common mixed s...

BACKGROUND We examine the physiological and lifestyle adaptations which facilitated the emergence of ostracods as the numerically dominant Phanerozoic bivalve arthropod micro-benthos. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS The PO(2) of modern normoxic seawater is 21 kPa (air-equilibrated water), a level that would cause cellular damage if found in the tissues of ostracods and much other marine fauna....

The position of South China in Gondwana remains controversial. In all previous models, the Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks, two major components China, were amalgamated by Tonian, was considered to be a single coherent block Gondwana. Based on summary critical reevaluation available paleomagnetic, paleontological, stratigraphic, detrital zircon data, we propose that blocks not juxtaposed until ear...