Publications
84 results found
Sutton MD, Rahman IA, Garwood RJ, 2016, VIRTUAL PALEONTOLOGY – AN OVERVIEW, Journal of Paleontology, ISSN: 1937-2337
Virtual paleontology is the study of fossils through three-dimensional digital visualizations; it represents a powerful and well-established set of tools for the analysis and dissemination of fossil-data. Techniques are divisible into tomographic (i.e. slice-based) and surface-based types. Tomography has a long pre-digital history, but the recent explosion of virtual paleontology has resulted primarily from developments in X-ray computed tomography (CT), and of surface-based technologies such as laser scanning. Destructive tomographic methods include forms of physical-optical tomography (e.g. serial grinding); these are powerful but problematic techniques. Focused Ion Beam (FIB) tomography is a modern alternative for microfossils, also destructive but capable of extremely high resolutions. Non-destructive tomographic methods include the many forms of CT; these are the most widely used data-capture techniques at present, but are not universally applicable. Where CT is inappropriate, other non-destructive technologies (neutron tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, optical tomography) may prove suitable. Surface-based methods provide portable and convenient data capture for surface topography and texture, and may be appropriate when internal morphology is not of interest; technologies include laser scanning, photogrammetry, and mechanical digitization. Reconstruction methods that produce visualizations from raw data are many and various; selection of an appropriate workflow will depend on many factors, but is an important consideration that should be addressed prior to any study. The vast majority of three-dimensional fossils can now be studied using some form of virtual paleontology, and barriers to broader uptake are being eroded. Technical issues regarding data-sharing, however, remain problematic. Technological developments continue; those promising tomographic recovery of compositional data are of particular relevance to paleontology.
Tennant JP, Mannion PD, Upchurch P, et al., 2016, Biotic and environmental dynamics through the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous transition: evidence for protracted faunal and ecological turnover, Biological Reviews, Vol: 92, Pages: 776-814, ISSN: 1469-185X
The Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous interval represents a time of environmental upheaval and cataclysmic events, combined with disruptions to terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Historically, the Jurassic/Cretaceous (J/K) boundary was classified as one of eight mass extinctions. However, more recent research has largely overturned this view, revealing a much more complex pattern of biotic and abiotic dynamics than has previously been appreciated. Here, we present a synthesis of our current knowledge of Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous events, focusing particularly on events closest to the J/K boundary. We find evidence for a combination of short-term catastrophic events, large-scale tectonic processes and environmental perturbations, and major clade interactions that led to a seemingly dramatic faunal and ecological turnover in both the marine and terrestrial realms. This is coupled with a great reduction in global biodiversity which might in part be explained by poor sampling. Very few groups appear to have been entirely resilient to this J/K boundary ‘event’, which hints at a ‘cascade model’ of ecosystem changes driving faunal dynamics. Within terrestrial ecosystems, larger, more-specialised organisms, such as saurischian dinosaurs, appear to have suffered the most. Medium-sized tetanuran theropods declined, and were replaced by larger-bodied groups, and basal eusauropods were replaced by neosauropod faunas. The ascent of paravian theropods is emphasised by escalated competition with contemporary pterosaur groups, culminating in the explosive radiation of birds, although the timing of this is obfuscated by biases in sampling. Smaller, more ecologically diverse terrestrial non-archosaurs, such as lissamphibians and mammaliaforms, were comparatively resilient to extinctions, instead documenting the origination of many extant groups around the J/K boundary. In the marine realm, extinctions were focused on low-latitude, shallow marine shel
Jordan N, Allison PA, Hill J, et al., 2015, Not all aragonitic molluscs are missing: taphonomy and significance of a unique shelly lagerstatte from the Jurassic of SW Britain, Lethaia, Vol: 48, Pages: 540-548, ISSN: 1502-3931
The Blue Lias Formation at Lyme Regis (Dorset, UK) includes an exceptional pavement of abundant large ammonites that accumulated during a period of profound sedimentary condensation. Ammonites were originally composed of aragonite, an unstable polymorph of calcium carbonate, and such fossils are typically prone to dissolution; the occurrence of a rich association of aragonitic shells in a condensed bed is highly unusual. Aragonite dissolution occurs when pore-water pH is reduced by the oxidization of hydrogen sulphide close to the sediment-water interface. Evidence suggests that, in this case, the oxygen concentrations in the overlying water column were low during deposition. This inhibited the oxidation of sulphides and the associated lowering of pH, allowing aragonite to survive long enough for the shell to be neomorphosed to calcite. The loss of aragonite impacts upon estimates of past biodiversity and carbonate accumulation rates. The preservational model presented here implies that diagenetic loss of aragonite will be greatest in those areas where dysoxic-anoxic sediment lies beneath an oxic waterbody but least where the sediment and overlying water are oxygen depleted. Unfortunately, this implies that preservational bias through aragonite loss will be greatest in those biotopes which are typically most diverse and least where biodiversity is lowest due to oxygen restriction.
Dean CD, Sutton MD, Siveter DJ, et al., 2015, A novel respiratory architecture in the Silurian mollusc <i>Acaenoplax</i>, PALAEONTOLOGY, Vol: 58, Pages: 839-847, ISSN: 0031-0239
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- Citations: 3
Siveter DJ, Briggs DE, Siveter DJ, et al., 2015, A 425-million-year-old Silurian pentastomid parasitic on ostracods, Current Biology, Vol: 25, Pages: 1632-1637, ISSN: 0960-9822
Pentastomids (tongue worms) are worm-like arthropods known today from ∼140 species [1]. All but four are parasitic on vertebrates. Their life cycle typically involves larval development in an intermediate host followed by maturation in the respiratory tract of a definitive terrestrial host. Fossil pentastomids are exceedingly rare and are known only from isolated juveniles [2-6]. The identity of the possible hosts of fossil pentastomids and the origin of their lifestyle have generated much debate. A new, exceptionally preserved species, described based on adults from 425-million-year-old marine rocks, is the only known fossil pentastomid associated with a host, in this case a species of ostracod crustacean. The pentastomids are preserved near eggs within the ostracod and also, uniquely for any fossil or living pentastomid, are attached externally to the host. This discovery affirms the origin of pentastomids as ectoparasitic on marine invertebrates. The terrestrialization of pentastomids may have occurred in parallel with the vertebrate invasion of land.
Siveter DJ, Briggs DEG, Siveter DJ, et al., 2014, A Silurian short-great-appendage arthropod, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol: 281, Pages: 1-7, ISSN: 0962-8452
A new arthropod, Enalikter aphson gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Silurian (Wenlock Series) Herefordshire Lagerstätte of the UK. It belongs to the Megacheira (=short-great-appendage group), which is recognized here, for the first time, in strata younger than mid-Cambrian age. Discovery of this new Silurian taxon allows us to identify a Devonian megacheiran representative, Bundenbachiellus giganteus from the Hunsrück Slate of Germany. The phylogenetic position of megacheirans is controversial: they have been interpreted as stem chelicerates, or stem euarthropods, but when Enalikter and Bundenbachiellus are added to the most comprehensive morphological database available, a stem euarthropod position is supported. Enalikter represents the only fully three-dimensionally preserved stem-group euarthropod, it falls in the sister clade to the crown-group euarthropods, and it provides new insights surrounding the origin and early evolution of the euarthropods. Recognition of Enalikter and Bundenbachiellus as megacheirans indicates that this major arthropod group survived for nearly 100 Myr beyond the mid-Cambrian.
Winrow P, Sutton MD, 2014, Lingulate brachiopods and the Early Palaeozoic history of the Iapetus Ocean, Lethaia, Vol: 47, Pages: 456-468, ISSN: 1502-3931
Sutton M, Rahman I, Garwood R, 2014, Techniques for Virtual Palaeontology, Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, ISBN: 9781118591130
All titles in this series are available in a variety of full-colour, searchable eBook formats.
Legg DA, Sutton MD, Edgecombe GD, 2013, Arthropod fossil data increase congruence of morphological and molecular phylogenies, NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, Vol: 4, ISSN: 2041-1723
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- Citations: 227
Siveter DJ, Briggs DEG, Siveter DJ, et al., 2013, A Silurian myodocope with preserved soft-parts: cautioning the interpretation of the shell-based ostracod record, PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, Vol: 280, ISSN: 0962-8452
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- Citations: 36
Jordan N, Allison PA, Hill JH, et al., 2012, Carbonates, ammonites and the fate of aragonite: a new perspective from the Lower Jurassic of Lyme Regis, British Sedimentological Research Group Annual Meeting
The Lower Jurassic Blue Lias Formation at Lyme Regis, Dorset, preserves a diverse assemblage of invertebrate and vertebrate fossils within rhythmic packages of shales, marls and carbonates. One limestone bed in particular, Bed 29, preserves a unique pavement of very large (up to 72 cm) ammonites, initially buried in carbonate mud before diagenetic cementation. The ammonite accumulation is most likely due to sedimentological condensation but the mechanisms for preserving an aragonitic shell long enough for it to be neomorphosed to calcite on the seabed are a challenge for conventional taphonomic models. It has been suggested that early dissolution of aragonite is a major process in offshore deeper ramp settings, resulting in the removal of sediment prior to lithification. We present field-based evidence for a new model of aragonite preservation within a cyclic oxic-anoxic carbonate environment, using ammonite preservation to track the fate of aragonite in different depositional environments. The carbonate sediment provides a short-term geochemical buffer that militates against the dissolution of aragonite sediment and molluscs, allowing neomorphism to calcite under some conditions. The broader implications of this model for the preservation of molluscan shells and reduced sediment dissolution in carbonate environments under variably oxygenated conditions are evaluated.
Legg DA, Sutton MD, Edgecombe GD, et al., 2012, Cambrian bivalved arthropod reveals origin of arthrodization, PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, Vol: 279, Pages: 4699-4704, ISSN: 0962-8452
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- Citations: 79
Sutton MD, Briggs DEG, Siveter DJ, et al., 2012, A Silurian armoured aplacophoran and implications for molluscan phylogeny, NATURE, Vol: 490, Pages: 94-97, ISSN: 0028-0836
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- Citations: 56
Briggs DEG, Siveter DJ, Siveter DJ, et al., 2012, Silurian horseshoe crab illuminates the evolution of arthropod limbs, PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Vol: 109, Pages: 15702-15705, ISSN: 0027-8424
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- Citations: 64
Sutton MD, Sigwart JD, 2012, A chiton without a foot, PALAEONTOLOGY, Vol: 55, Pages: 401-411, ISSN: 0031-0239
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- Citations: 33
Spencer ART, Hilton J, Sutton MD, 2012, Combined methodologies for three-dimensional reconstruction of fossil plants preserved in siderite nodules: Stephanospermum braidwoodensis nov. sp. (Medullosales) from the Mazon Creek lagerstätte, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology
A new species of Medullosan ovule from the Mazon Creek Carboniferous lagerstätte is documented using a novel combination of non-invasive X-Ray Micro-Tomography (XMT) and orientated precision sectioning based on the XMT results. 3-D reconstruction of the ovule has correlated geometries of different layers with tissue characteristics gathered from wafered sections, with the methodological combination presenting a virtual reconstruction of the specimen and also enabling positioning of serial sections of the holotype in pre-determined positions. Stephanospermum braidwoodensis sp. nov. has four longitudinally orientated sarcotestal wings, two to each side of the major plane that demonstrate 180° rotational (bilateral) symmetry, while the sclerotesta has three prominent longitudinal commissural ribs and the pollen chamber has three small ribs and triangular nucellar beak, both demonstrating radial (threefold) symmetry. This demonstration of both radial and bilateral symmetries in different tissues emphasises the complexities of inferring systematic affinities of fossil seeds from symmetry alone. We consider S. braidwoodensis to be closely related to the co-occurring S. konopeonus Drinnan et al., and postulate that it was born on a fertile truss similar to that of the latter species. Finally implications of our findings for the utility of these methods in identifying additional species from the Mazon Creek biota are discussed, and the advantages and disadvantages of different methods of nodule preparation are considered. We conclude that additional species are likely to be recognised from the Mazon Creek flora by application of the same methodologies used in this investigation.
Winrow P, Sutton MD, 2012, Epithelial cell moulds in acrotretoid brachiopods, HISTORICAL BIOLOGY, Vol: 24, Pages: 557-565, ISSN: 0891-2963
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- Citations: 8
Sutton MD, Garwood RJ, Siveter DJ, et al., 2012, SPIERS and VAXML; A software toolkit for tomographic visualisation and a format for virtual specimen interchange, PALAEONTOLOGIA ELECTRONICA, Vol: 15, ISSN: 1935-3952
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- Citations: 33
Legg DA, Garwood RJ, Dunlop JA, et al., 2012, A taxonomic revision of orthosternous scorpions from the English Coal Measures aided by x-ray micro-tomography (XMT), PALAEONTOLOGIA ELECTRONICA, Vol: 15, ISSN: 1935-3952
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- Citations: 21
Garwood RJ, Sutton MD, 2012, The enigmatic arthropod <i>Camptophyllia</i>, PALAEONTOLOGIA ELECTRONICA, Vol: 15, ISSN: 1935-3952
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- Citations: 8
Botting JP, Muir LA, Sutton MD, et al., 2011, Welsh gold: A new exceptionally preserved pyritized Ordovician biota, GEOLOGY, Vol: 39, Pages: 879-882, ISSN: 0091-7613
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- Citations: 45
Legg DA, Ma X, Wolfe JM, et al., 2011, Lobopodian phylogeny reanalysed, NATURE, Vol: 476, Pages: E2-E3, ISSN: 0028-0836
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- Citations: 13
Garwood RJ, Dunlop JA, Giribet G, et al., 2011, Anatomically modern Carboniferous harvestmen demonstrate early cladogenesis and stasis in Opiliones, NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, Vol: 2, ISSN: 2041-1723
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- Citations: 50
Sutton MD, Briggs DEG, Siveter DJ, et al., 2011, A soft-bodied lophophorate from the Silurian of England, BIOLOGY LETTERS, Vol: 7, Pages: 146-149, ISSN: 1744-9561
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- Citations: 9
Donovan SK, Sutton MD, Sigwart JD, 2010, The last meal of the Late Ordovician mollusc '<i>Helminthochiton</i>' <i>thraivensis</i> Reed, 1911, from the Lady Burn Starfish Beds, southwest Scotland, GEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, Vol: 46, Pages: 451-463, ISSN: 0072-1050
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- Citations: 6
Donovan SK, Sutton MD, Sigwart JD, 2010, Crinoids for lunch? An unexpected biotic interaction from the Upper Ordovician of Scotland, GEOLOGY, Vol: 38, Pages: 935-938, ISSN: 0091-7613
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- Citations: 17
Siveter DJ, Briggs DEG, Siveter DJ, et al., 2010, An exceptionally preserved myodocopid ostracod from the Silurian of Herefordshire, UK, PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, Vol: 277, Pages: 1539-1544, ISSN: 0962-8452
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- Citations: 46
Garwood R, Dunlop JA, Sutton MD, 2009, High-fidelity X-ray microtomography reconstruction of siderite-hosted Carboniferous arachnids, BIOLOGY LETTERS, Vol: 5, Pages: 841-844, ISSN: 1744-9561
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- Citations: 39
Rahman IA, Sutton MD, Bell MA, 2009, Evaluating phylogenetic hypotheses of carpoids using stratigraphic congruence indices, LETHAIA, Vol: 42, Pages: 424-437, ISSN: 0024-1164
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- Citations: 6
Selden PA, Shear WA, Sutton MD, 2008, Fossil evidence for the origin of spider spinnerets, and a proposed arachnid order, PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Vol: 105, Pages: 20781-20785, ISSN: 0027-8424
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- Citations: 73
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