Flora

Plants

Fungi

New taxa

Research

* Exceptionally preserved specimens of ''Tawuia'', providing new information on the anatomy of this organism, are described from the

Tonian The Tonian (from , meaning "stretch") is the first geologic period of the Neoproterozoic era (geology), Era. It lasted from to Mya (million years ago). Instead of being based on stratigraphy, these dates are defined by the International Commissi ...

Liulaobei and Shiwangzhuang formations (China) by Tang ''et al.'' (2021), who interpret ''Tawuia'' as a

coenocytic A coenocyte () is a multinucleate cell which can result from multiple nuclear divisions without their accompanying cytokinesis, in contrast to a syncytium, which results from cellular aggregation followed by dissolution of the cell membranes i ...

eukaryote, possibly a macroalga. * Microfossils which may represent early terrestrial fungi are described from the Ediacaran

Doushantuo Formation The Doushantuo Formation (formerly transcribed as Toushantuo or Toushantou, from ) is a geological formation in western Hubei, eastern Guizhou, southern Shaanxi, central Jiangxi, and other localities in China. It is known for the fossil Lagers ...

(

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

) by Gan ''et al.'' (2021). * A Rhynie chert fossil '' Mycokidstonia sphaerialoides'', originally interpreted as an

ascomycete Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The def ...

, is reclassified as a member of

Glomeromycota Glomeromycota (often referred to as glomeromycetes, as they include only one class, Glomeromycetes) are one of eight currently recognized division (mycology), divisions within the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Fungi, with approximately 230 describ ...

belonging to the family Ambisporaceae by Walker ''et al.'' (2021). * Carboniferous organism '' Oochytrium lepidodendri'', originally classified as a fungus, is reinterpreted as an

oomycete The Oomycetes (), or Oomycota, form a distinct phylogenetic lineage of fungus-like eukaryotic microorganisms within the Stramenopiles. They are filamentous and heterotrophic, and can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Sexual reproduction o ...

by Strullu-Derrien ''et al.'' (2021). * Probable fossils of

multicellular A multicellular organism is an organism that consists of more than one cell (biology), cell, unlike unicellular organisms. All species of animals, Embryophyte, land plants and most fungi are multicellular, as are many algae, whereas a few organism ...

eukaryotic The eukaryotes ( ) constitute the Domain (biology), domain of Eukaryota or Eukarya, organisms whose Cell (biology), cells have a membrane-bound cell nucleus, nucleus. All animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, seaweeds, and many unicellular organisms ...

macroalgae Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of Macroscopic scale, macroscopic, Multicellular organism, multicellular, ocean, marine algae. The term includes some types of ''Rhodophyta'' (red), ''Brown algae, Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ...

(possibly with a green algal affinity) are described from the

Dolores Creek Formation in the Wernecke Mountains (Canada) by Maloney ''et al.'' (2021), who interpret these fossils as likely to be some of the few green algae and some of the largest macroscopic eukaryotes yet recognized in the early

Neoproterozoic The Neoproterozoic Era is the last of the three geologic eras of the Proterozoic geologic eon, eon, spanning from 1 billion to 538.8 million years ago, and is the last era of the Precambrian "supereon". It is preceded by the Mesoproterozoic era an ...

, indicating that eukaryotic algae colonized marine environments by the early Neoproterozoic. * Fossil material of macroalgae, providing information on the early evolution of holdfast morphologies and attachment strategies of

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...

macroalgae, is described from the Ediacaran Lantian biota and Miaohe biota (

) by Wang ''et al.'' (2021).

Cnidarians

New taxa

Research

* Anatomical evidence indicative of a close relationship between cloudinids and Cambrian animals with cnidarian affinities: '' Cambroctoconus'', '' Lipopora'' and '' Tretocylichne'' is published by Park ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the morphology, embryonic development and phylogenetic relationships of '' Quadrapyrgites'' is published by Zhao ''et al.'' (2021), who interpret this taxon and its probable relative '' Olivooides'' as more likely to be

diploblastic Diploblasty is a condition of the blastula in which there are two primary germ layers: the ectoderm and endoderm. Diploblastic organisms are organisms which develop from such a blastula, and include Cnidaria and Ctenophora, formerly grouped toge ...

cnidarians than

triploblastic Triploblasty is a condition of the gastrula in which there are three primary germ layers: the ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. Germ cells are set aside in the embryo at the blastula stage, and are incorporated into the gonads during organogenesis ...

cycloneuralia Cycloneuralia is a proposed clade of ecdysozoan animals including the Scalidophora ( Kinorhynchans, Loriciferans, Priapulids), the Nematoida (nematodes, Nematomorphs), and the extinct Palaeoscolecida. It may be paraphyletic, or may be a si ...

ns. * An exceptionally preserved

conulariid Conulariida are an extinct group of medusozoan cnidarians known from fossils spanning from the latest Ediacaran up until the Late Triassic. They are almost exclusively known from their hard external structures (alternatively referred to as a the ...

specimen, keeping its aperture semi-closed and making it possible to see most of the internal part of the closure with rib continuation inwards, is described from the

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...

of southeastern

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

(

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) by Sendino & Bochmann (2021). * Revision of '' Palaenigma wrangeli'' is published by Kröger ''et al.'' (2021), who argue that this organism can be best interpreted as a conulariid, and name a new family Palaenigmaidae. * A study on the earliest growth stages and branching process in specimens of '' Oligophylloides'' from the

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

(

Famennian The Famennian is the later of two faunal stages in the Late Devonian epoch. The most recent estimate for its duration is that it lasted from around 371.1 to 359.3 million years ago. An earlier 2012 estimate, still used by the International Commis ...

) of

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, and on the implications of these specimens for the knowledge of the phylogenetic relationships of Heterocorallia, is published by Berkowski ''et al.'' (2021).

Arthropods

Bryozoans

New taxa

Research

* ''

Protomelission ''Protomelission'' is a Cambrian fossil taxon of contested affinity. It comprises cataphract arrays of box-like chambers, forming a club-shaped thallus surrounding a hollow central cavity. It was first described from phosphatized microfossils ...

gatehousei'' is reinterpreted as a potential

stem-group In phylogenetics, the crown group or crown assemblage is a collection of species composed of the living representatives of the collection, the most recent common ancestor of the collection, and all descendants of the most recent common ancestor. ...

bryozoan by Zhang ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the evolutionary history of cyclostome and cheilostome bryozoans over the past 150 million years, focusing on causes of cheilostome taxonomic richness surpassing the richness of once dominant cyclostomes, is published by Lidgard ''et al.'' (2021).

Brachiopods

New taxa

Research

* Revision and a study on the

biogeography Biogeography is the study of the species distribution, distribution of species and ecosystems in geography, geographic space and through evolutionary history of life, geological time. Organisms and biological community (ecology), communities o ...

of brachiopod faunas from the Early Ordovician Mediterranean Province is published by Cocks & Popov (2021). * A study on the evolution of the strophomenoid brachiopods, aiming to determine whether environmental changes at the time of the

Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE) was an evolutionary radiation of animal life throughout the Ordovician period, 40 million years after the Cambrian explosion, whereby the distinctive Cambrian fauna fizzled out to be replaced wi ...

correlated with the diversification of this group, is published by Congreve, Patzkowsky & Wagner (2021). * A study on the selectivity of extinction of

rhynchonelliform Rhynchonelliformea is a major subphylum and clade of brachiopods. It is roughly equivalent to the former Class (biology), class Articulata, which was used previously in brachiopod taxonomy up until the 1990s. These so-called articulated brachiop ...

brachiopods from the Appalachian Foreland Basin during the two pulses of the Frasnian–Famennian mass extinction, aiming to determine the primary kill mechanism in this fauna, is published by Pier ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of late Permian and Triassic rhynchonellides is published by Guo ''et al.'' (2021).

Molluscs

Echinoderms

New taxa

Research

* Fossil material of '' Dendrocystites'' belonging or related to the species ''D. sedgwicki'' is described from the

Lower Ktaoua Formation (

) by Nohejlová & Lefebvre (2021), representing the first record of Soluta from Morocco and Africa in general reported to date. * A study on the anatomy of '' Glyptosphaerites'' is published by Paul & Toom (2021). * Redescription of the anatomy of '' Cystoblastus'', and a study on the phylogenetic relationships of glyptocystitoids and hemicosmitoids, is published by Paul & Toom (2021). * A study on the functional efficiency of hydrospires of

blastoid Blastoids (class Blastoidea) are an extinct type of stemmed echinoderm, often referred to as sea buds. They first appear, along with many other echinoderm classes, in the Ordovician period, and reached their greatest diversity in the Mississi ...

s, evaluating their potential significance for longer survival of blastoids than other

blastozoa Blastozoa is a subphylum of extinct echinoderms characterized by the presence of specialized respiratory structures and brachiole plates used for feeding. It ranged from the Cambrian to the Permian. Biserial, triradiate, and pentaradiate ambulacra ...

n echinoderms, is published by Paul (2021). * A study on extinction selectivity and changes in taxonomic, morphological and ecological diversity of diplobathrid crinoids throughout their evolutionary history is published by Cole & Hopkins (2021). * A

brittle star Brittle stars, serpent stars, or ophiuroids (; ; referring to the serpent-like arms of the brittle star) are echinoderms in the class Ophiuroidea, closely related to starfish. They crawl across the sea floor using their flexible arms for locomot ...

specimen (belonging to the group

Oegophiurida The Oegophiurida are an order of brittle stars, class Ophiuroidea. The physical characteristics of this order include well separated lateral plates, which expose the oral surface of radial ossicles. It also has vertebrae with streptospondylous ( ...

and probably to the genus '' Protaster'') preserving the body cavity in three dimensions and soft tissues, including the

tube feet Tube or tubes may refer to: * Tube (2003 film), ''Tube'' (2003 film), a 2003 Korean film * "Tubes" (Peter Dale), performer on the Soccer AM#Tubes, Soccer AM television show * Tube (band), a Japanese rock band * Tube & Berger, the alias of dance/e ...

and internal structures, is described from the

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

Herefordshire Lagerstätte Coalbrookdale Formation, earlier known as Wenlock Shale or Wenlock Shale Formation and also referred to as Herefordshire Lagerstätte in palaeontology, is a fossil-rich deposit (''Konservat-Lagerstätte'') in Powys and Herefordshire at the Engla ...

(

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

) by Carter ''et al.'' (2021).

Conodonts

New taxa

Research

* A study aiming to resolve the nature, porosity and permeability of conodont white matter is published by Atakul-Özdemir ''et al.'' (2021). * A study aiming to determine feeding behavior, growth patterns and possible changes of feeding behavior during

ontogeny Ontogeny (also ontogenesis) is the origination and development of an organism (both physical and psychological, e.g., moral development), usually from the time of fertilization of the ovum, egg to adult. The term can also be used to refer to t ...

in ''

Proconodontus ''Proconodontus'' is an extinct genus of conodonts in the monotypic family Proconodontidae. The specimens are found in Cambrian The Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian ...

muelleri'' and '' Panderodus equicostatus'' is published by Leonhard ''et al.'' (2021). * An exceptionally preserved specimen of '' Panderodus unicostatus'' is described from the Waukesha

Lagerstätte A Fossil-Lagerstätte (, from ''Lager'' 'storage, lair' '' Stätte'' 'place'; plural ''Lagerstätten'') is a sedimentary deposit that preserves an exceptionally high amount of palaeontological information. ''Konzentrat-Lagerstätten'' preserv ...

(

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, United States) by Murdock & Smith (2021), who evaluate the implications of this specimen for the knowledge of the homology within

conodont feeding apparatus Conodonts, are an extinct group of marine jawless vertebrates belonging to the class Conodonta (from Ancient Greek κῶνος (''kōnos''), meaning "cone", and ὀδούς (''odoús''), meaning "tooth"). They are primarily known from their hard, ...

es and body anatomy of primitive conodonts, and interpret ''P. unicostatus'' as a macrophagous predator. * A study on the phylogenetic relationships of Early Triassic conodonts is published by Bai ''et al.'' (2021). * Han ''et al.'' (2021) reconstruct

ontogenetic Ontogeny (also ontogenesis) is the origination and development of an organism (both physical and psychological, e.g., moral development), usually from the time of fertilization of the egg to adult. The term can also be used to refer to the stu ...

series for seven

stratigraphically Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithostrati ...

important Early Triassic conodont species, on the basis of fossil material from the Salt Range and Surghar Range (

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

), and study the phylogenetic relationships among these taxa.

Fish

Amphibians

New taxa

Research

* A study on the function and evolution of forelimbs of early

tetrapod A tetrapod (; from Ancient Greek :wiktionary:τετρα-#Ancient Greek, τετρα- ''(tetra-)'' 'four' and :wiktionary:πούς#Ancient Greek, πούς ''(poús)'' 'foot') is any four-Limb (anatomy), limbed vertebrate animal of the clade Tetr ...

s, based on data from three-dimensional models of bones and muscles of forelimbs of ''

Eusthenopteron ''Eusthenopteron'' (from 'stout', and 'wing' or 'fin') is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine lobe-finned fish known from several species that lived during the Late Devonian period, about 385 million years ago. It has attained an iconic ...

foordi'', ''

Acanthostega ''Acanthostega'', from Ancient Greek ἄκανθα (''ákantha''), meaning "spine", and στέγη (''stégē''), meaning "roof", is an extinct genus of stem tetrapoda, stem-tetrapod, among the first vertebrates, vertebrate animals to have recogn ...

gunnari'' and ''

Pederpes ''Pederpes'' ("Peter's Foot") is an extinct genus of early Carboniferous stegocephalian, dating from 348 to 347.6 Ma in the Tournaisian age (lower Mississippian). ''Pederpes'' contains one species, ''P. finneyae'', 1 m long. This most basal C ...

finneyae'', is published by Molnar ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the evolutionary dynamics of early tetrapods and their closest fish relatives is published by Simões & Pierce (2021). * A study on the anatomy of the skull of '' Whatcheeria deltae'' is published by Rawson ''et al.'' (2021). * Description of the anatomy of the postcranial skeleton of ''Whatcheeria deltae'' is published by Otoo ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the femoral bone

histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology that studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissue (biology), tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at large ...

of ''

Greererpeton ''Greererpeton burkemorani'' ("crawler from Greer, West Virginia") is an extinct genus of colosteid stem-tetrapods from the Early Carboniferous period (late Viséan) of North America. ''Greererpeton'' was first described by famed vertebrate pal ...

'', and on its implications for the knowledge of the life history of this tetrapod, is published by Whitney & Pierce (2021). * A study on the locomotor capabilities of tetrapods from the earliest Carboniferous Blue Beach site (

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

) is published by Lennie ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the early evolution of

long bone The long bones are those that are longer than they are wide. They are one of five types of bones: long, short, flat, irregular and sesamoid. Long bones, especially the femur and tibia, are subjected to most of the load during daily activities ...

elongation and

bone marrow Bone marrow is a semi-solid biological tissue, tissue found within the Spongy bone, spongy (also known as cancellous) portions of bones. In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production (or haematopoiesis). It i ...

in tetrapods, based on data from

temnospondyls Temnospondyli (from Greek τέμνειν, ''temnein'' 'to cut' and σπόνδυλος, ''spondylos'' 'vertebra') or temnospondyls is a diverse ancient order of small to giant tetrapods—often considered primitive amphibians—that flourished wo ...

(''

Apateon Apateon is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian within the family (biology), family Branchiosauridae. Species *†''Apateon caducus'' *†''Apateon dracyi'' *†''Apateon flagrifer'' *†''Apateon kontheri'' *†''Apateon pedestris'' Chri ...

'' and ''

Metoposaurus ''Metoposaurus'' meaning "front lizard" is an extinct genus of stereospondyl temnospondyls, known from the Late Triassic of Germany, Italy, Poland, and Portugal. https://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app47/app47-535.pdf This mostly aquatic an ...

'') and

seymouriamorphs Seymouriamorpha were a small but widespread group of limbed vertebrates (tetrapods). They have long been considered stem-amniotes (reptiliomorphs), and most paleontologists still accept this point of view, but some analyses suggest that seymouria ...

(''

Seymouria ''Seymouria'' is an extinct genus of seymouriamorph from the Early Permian of North America and Europe. Although they were amphibians (in a biological sense), ''Seymouria'' were well-adapted to life on land, with many reptilian features—so ma ...

'' and ''

Discosauriscus ''Discosauriscus'' was a small seymouriamorph which lived in what is now Central and Western Europe during the latest Carboniferous and in the Early Permian Period. Its best fossils have been found in the Broumov and Bačov Formations of Bosko ...

''), is published by Estefa ''et al.'' (2021), who find the terrestrial Permian seymouriamorphs to be the oldest known tetrapods exhibiting a centralized marrow organization of long bones (which allows production of blood cells as in extant

amniote Amniotes are tetrapod vertebrate animals belonging to the clade Amniota, a large group that comprises the vast majority of living terrestrial animal, terrestrial and semiaquatic vertebrates. Amniotes evolution, evolved from amphibious Stem tet ...

s), and argue that the migration of blood-cell production in long bones probably wasn't an

exaptation Exaptation or co-option is a shift in the function of a trait during evolution. For example, a trait can evolve because it served one particular function, but subsequently it may come to serve another. Exaptations are common in both anatomy and be ...

predating the water-to-land transition. * A study on the skeletal anatomy of the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

specimen of '' Ichthyerpeton bradleyae'' is published by Ó Gogáin & Wyse Jackson (2021). * A study on the relations between vertebral shape and terrestriality in the evolution of temnospondyls is published by Carter ''et al.'' (2021). * Description of new fossil material of temnospondyls from the

Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...

of the Ruhuhu and Luangwa basins (

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

and

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

), providing new information on the diversity of Triassic African temnospondyls and their recovery after the

Permian–Triassic extinction event The Permian–Triassic extinction event (also known as the P–T extinction event, the Late Permian extinction event, the Latest Permian extinction event, the End-Permian extinction event, and colloquially as the Great Dying,) was an extinction ...

, is published by Steyer ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the morphological changes in the skeleton of ''

Onchiodon ''Onchiodon'' is an extinct genus of temnospondyl. It is primarily known from the Carboniferous and Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the ...

labyrinthicus'' during its

, on the phylogenetic relationships of eryopids, and on the evolution of the life cycle in eryopids is published by Schoch (2021). * A study on the anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of ''"

Cheliderpeton ''Cheliderpeton'' (often misspelled ''Chelyderpeton'') is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian. It lived during the Early Permian in what is now Europe. Fossils have been found from the Ruprechtice horizon of the Intrasudetic Basin of Bohem ...

" lellbachae'' is published by Schoch (2021), who transfers this species to the genus ''

Glanochthon ''Glanochthon'' is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian from the Early Permian of Germany. Fossils have been found from the Meisenheim Formation in the Saar–Nahe Basin Saar–Nahe Basin is a molasse basin in southwest Germany. The bas ...

'' in the family Sclerocephalidae. * A study on the histology of different-sized

femora The femur (; : femurs or femora ), or thigh bone is the only bone in the thigh — the region of the lower limb between the hip and the knee. In many four-legged animals the femur is the upper bone of the hindleg. The top of the femur fits in ...

and vertebra of specimens of '' Platyoposaurus stuckenbergi'' is published by Uliakhin, Skutschas & Saburov (2021). * Redescription of the

of '' Cryobatrachus kitchingi'' is published by Gee, Makovicky & Sidor (2021), who interpret this specimen as more likely to be the juvenile of an indeterminate capitosaur than a lydekkerinid, and who also describe partial temnospondyl skull from the lower

Fremouw Formation The Fremouw Formation is a Triassic-age rock formation in the Transantarctic Mountains of the Ross Depenency of Antarctica. It contains the oldest known fossils of tetrapods from Antarctica, including synapsids, reptiles and amphibians. Fossiliz ...

(

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

), provisionally referred to Lydekkerinidae. * A study on the anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of ''

Tertrema ''Tertrema'' is an extinct genus of trematosaurian temnospondyl within the family (biology), family Trematosauridae. It is known from skull material from the Vikinghøgda Formation on Spitsbergen, Spitsbergen Island in Svalbard. Relative to most ...

acuta'' is published by Slodownik, Mörs & Kear (2021). * Redescription of the

metoposaurid Metoposauridae is an extinct family of trematosaurian temnospondyls. The family is known from the Triassic period. Most members are large, approximately long and could reach 3 m long.Brusatte, S. L., Butler R. J., Mateus O., & Steyer S. J. (201 ...

fossil material from the Upper Triassic Zions View locality (

New Oxford Formation The New Oxford Formation is a mapped bedrock unit consisting primarily of sandstones, conglomerates, and shales. The New Oxford Formation was first described in Adams County, Pennsylvania in 1929, and over the following decade was mapped in adjace ...

;

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States) is published by Gee & Jasinski (2021), who assign this material to the species ''

Anaschisma ''Anaschisma'' ("ripped up") is an extinct genus of large temnospondyls. These animals were part of the family called Metoposauridae, which filled the crocodile-like predatory Ecological niche, niches in the late Triassic. It had a large skull ab ...

browni'', expanding known geographic range of this taxon. * Redescription of the

specimens of ''Borborophagus wyomingensis'' and ''Koskinonodon princeps'', and a reassessment of their synonymy with ''Anaschisma browni'', is published by Kufner & Gee (2021). * A study on the histology of the mandible of ''Metoposaurus krasiejowensis'' is published by Gruntmejer, Bodzioch & Konietzko-Meier (2021). * A study on the anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of '' Timonya anneae'' and ''

Procuhy ''Procuhy'' is an extinct genus of dvinosaurian temnospondyl amphibian in the family Trimerorhachidae represented by the type species ''Procuhy nazariensis'' from the Early Permian of Brazil. History of study ''Procuhy'' was named in 2015 on ...

nazariensis'' is published by Marsicano ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of '' Macrerpeton huxleyi'' is published by Schoch & Milner (2021). * A study on the phylogenetic relationships of dissorophid temnospondyls is published by Gee (2021). * Description of a new specimen of '' Conjunctio'' from the Permian

Cutler Formation The Cutler Formation or Cutler Group is a stratigraphic unit exposed across the U.S. states of Arizona, northwest New Mexico, southeast Utah and southwest Colorado. It was laid down in the Early Permian during the Wolfcampian epoch. Desc ...

(

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, United States), and a study on the phylogenetic relationships of this genus, is published by Gee ''et al.'' (2021). * New fossil material of ''

Micropholis ''Micropholis'' is genus of trees in the family ''Sapotaceae'', described in 1891. (2001): World Checklist of Sapotaceae &ndash''Micropholis'' The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2008-DEC-24. These trees are nativ ...

stowi'', expanding known geographic range of this species, is described from the lower

( Halfmoon Bluff,

) by Gee & Sidor (2021). * New early adult specimen of '' Milnererpeton huberi'', providing new information on the

development of

amphibamiform Amphibamiformes is an unranked clade with Dissorophoidea created by Schoch (2018). It encompasses all of the taxa traditionally considered to be "Amphibamidae, amphibamids" (subsequently restricted to ''Doleserpeton, Doleserpeton annectens'' and ...

temnospondyls, is described from the Carboniferous (Kasimovian) Atrasado Formation (New Mexico, United States) by Werneburg, Schneider & Lucas (2021). * A study on the skeletal anatomy of ''

dracyiensis'', the anatomical variation in the fossil material of this species, and on its

, is published by Werneburg (2021). * A study on the anatomy and development of the wrist of '' Genibatrachus'' is published by Roček ''et al.'' (2021). * An early

Campanian The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campa ...

assemblage of anuran bones, suggestive of high local species richness of frogs, is described from the

Aguja Formation The Aguja Formation is a geological formation in North America, exposed in Texas, United States and Chihuahua and Coahuila in Mexico, whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered ...

(

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States) by Wick (2021). * Fossil material of Late Cretaceous frogs, including fossils of calyptocephalellid frogs and the southernmost record of pipids ('' Kuruleufenia'') worldwide reported to date, is described from the

–

Maastrichtian The Maastrichtian ( ) is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) geologic timescale, the latest age (geology), age (uppermost stage (stratigraphy), stage) of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or Upper Cretaceous series (s ...

assemblages from

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an and

Argentinean Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

Patagonia (

Dorotea Dorotea () is a locality and the seat of Dorotea Municipality in Västerbotten County, province of Lapland, Sweden, with 1,543 inhabitants in 2010. European route E45 and the Inland Line both pass through Dorotea. History Dorotea has been pop ...

Allen Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Univ ...

and Los Alamitos formations) by Suazo Lara & Gómez (2021). * Description of new pipimorph fossil material from the

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or the lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Cretace ...

Candeleros Formation The Candeleros Formation is a geologic formation that outcrop, crops out in the Rio Negro Province, Río Negro, Neuquen Province, Neuquén, and Mendoza Province, Mendoza provinces of northern Patagonia, Argentina. It is the oldest formation in the ...

(Argentina), and a study on the implications of these fossils for the knowledge of the formation of the sacrum in pipimorphs throughout their evolutionary history, is published by Báez, Muzzopappa & Araújo (2021). * Description of new fossil material of '' Hungarobatrachus szukacsi'' from the Upper Cretaceous (

Santonian The Santonian is an age in the geologic timescale or a chronostratigraphic stage. It is a subdivision of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 86.3 ± 0.7 mya ( million years ago) and 83.6 ± 0.7 m ...

)

Csehbánya Formation The Csehbánya Formation is a Formation (geology), geological formation in the Transdanubian Mountains of Veszprém County, Hungary. The formation dates to the Late Santonian (around 85-84 million years ago) of the Late Cretaceous. It represents ...

(Hungary), and a study on the anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of this species, is published by Venczel, Szentesi & Gardner (2021). * Revision of the fossil record of the family

Ceratophryidae The Ceratophryidae, also known as common horned frogs, are a family of frogs found in South America. It is a relatively small family with three extant genera and 12 species. Despite the common name, not all species in the family have the horn-like ...

is published by Gómez & Turazzini (2021). * Redescription and a study on the phylogenetic relationships of ''Bufo servatus'' is published by Lemierre ''et al.'' (2021), who interpret this species as a

senior synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

of ''

Thaumastosaurus ''Thaumastosaurus'' ("marvelous lizard") is an extinct genus of frogs in the family Pyxicephalidae. Five species are known, all from the Eocene of western Europe, including France, England, and Switzerland. Specimens of the species ''T. gezei'' f ...

gezei'' (resulting in new combination ''Thaumastosaurus servatus''), and assign it to the family

Pyxicephalidae The Pyxicephalidae are a Family (biology), family of frogs currently found in sub-Saharan Africa. However, in the Eocene, the taxon ''Thaumastosaurus'' lived in Europe. Classification The Pyxicephalidae contain two subfamilies, with a total of 1 ...

. * Revision of the fossil material of

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

temnospondyls and anurans housed in the collections of the Sirindhorn Museum and the Palaeontological Research and Education Centre of Mahasarakham University (

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

), including fossils of

brachyopids Brachyopidae is an extinct family of temnospondyls. They evolved in the early Mesozoic and were mostly aquatic. A fragmentary find from Lesotho, Africa is estimated to have been long, the largest amphibian ever known to have lived besides ''Prio ...

resembling the Chinese forms, is published by Nonsrirach, Manitkoon & Lauprasert (2021). * Redescription of ''

Nannaroter ''Nannaroter'' is an extinct genus of Recumbirostra, Recumbirostran tetrapod within the family (biology), family Ostodolepidae. History of study ''Nannaroter'' was named in 2009 by Canadian paleontologists Jason Anderson, Diane Scott, and Robe ...

mckinziei'', based on data from the

and from a new specimen from the

Richards Spur Richards Spur is a Permian fossil locality located at the Dolese Brothers Limestone Quarry north of Lawton, Oklahoma. The locality preserves clay and mudstone fissure fills of a karst system eroded out of Ordovician limestone and dolomite, with t ...

locality (

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, United States), is published by MacDougall ''et al.'' (2021). * A study aiming to determine plausible body postures and locomotion of ''

Orobates ''Orobates'' is an extinct genus of diadectid reptiliomorphs that lived during the Early Permian. Its fossilised remains were found in Germany. A combination of primitive and derived traits (i.e. autapomorphic and plesiomorphic) distinguish it ...

pabsti'' is published by Zwafing ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the anatomy of the braincase and inner ear of ''

Limnoscelis ''Limnoscelis'' (/limˈnäsələ̇s/, meaning "marsh footed") was a genus of large diadectomorph tetrapods from the Late Carboniferous to early Permian of western North America. It includes two species: the type species ''Limnoscelis paludis'' f ...

dynatis'' is published by Klembara ''et al.'' (2021).

Reptiles

Synapsids

Non-mammalian synapsids

New taxa

Research

* A study comparing species richness of synapsids and reptiles during the

Pennsylvanian Pennsylvanian may refer to: * A person or thing from Pennsylvania * Pennsylvanian (geology) The Pennsylvanian ( , also known as Upper Carboniferous or Late Carboniferous) is, on the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS geologic timesc ...

and

Cisuralian The Cisuralian, also known as the Early Permian, is the first series/epoch of the Permian. The Cisuralian was preceded by the Pennsylvanian and followed by the Guadalupian. The Cisuralian Epoch is named after the western slopes of the Ural Mou ...

, evaluating the impact of the preservation biases, the effect of ''

n'', and contested phylogenetic placement of late Carboniferous and early Permian tetrapods on estimates of relative diversity patterns of synapsids and reptiles, is published by Brocklehurst (2021), who interprets his findings as challenging the assumption that synapsids dominated during the Pennsylvanian and Cisuralian. * A study on the evolution of the vertebral column in synapsids is published by Jones ''et al.'' (2021), who interpret their findings as refuting the idea that the transition from non-mammalian synapsids to mammals involved a shift from reptile-like lateral bending of the backbone to sagittal bending, and argue that non-mammalian synapsids were characterized by their own unique functional regime of the vertebral column, distinct from that of extant reptiles and amphibians. * A study comparing the forelimb morphology in extant mammals and fossil non-mammalian synapsids, aiming to determine whether extant mammals are good

ecomorphological Ecomorphology or ecological morphology is the study of the relationship between the ecological role of an individual and its morphological adaptations. The term "morphological" here is in the anatomical context. Both the morphology and ecology ex ...

analogues for extinct synapsids, whether examples of ecomorphological

convergence Convergence may refer to: Arts and media Literature *''Convergence'' (book series), edited by Ruth Nanda Anshen *Convergence (comics), "Convergence" (comics), two separate story lines published by DC Comics: **A four-part crossover storyline that ...

can be found among synapsids, and whether evolutionary history determined available functional solutions in synapsid forelimbs, is published by Lungmus & Angielczyk (2021). * A study aiming to determine when major shifts in shoulder joint function and a shift from sprawling to parasagittal posture occurred during synapsid evolution, based on relationships between shoulder joint morphology, mobility, and muscle function in extant

Argentine black and white tegu The Argentine black and white tegu (''Salvator merianae''), also Common name, commonly known as the Argentine giant tegu, the black and white tegu, the blue tegu, and the huge tegu, is a species of lizards in the Family (biology), family Teiidae ...

short-beaked echidna The short-beaked echidna (''Tachyglossus aculeatus''), also called the short-nosed echidna, is one of four living species of echidna, and the only member of the genus ''Tachyglossus'', from Ancient Greek (), meaning "fast", and (), meaning ...

and

Virginia opossum The Virginia opossum (''Didelphis virginiana''), also known as the North American opossum, is a member of the opossum family found from southern Canada to northern Costa Rica, making it the northernmost marsupial in the world and the only marsup ...

, as well as on data on anatomical transformations preserved in the fossil record, is published by Brocklehurst ''et al.'' (2021). * A study aiming to determine the index of blood flow into the

of non-mammalian synapsids, and using it to determine the maximum metabolic rate of these synapsids, is published by Knaus ''et al.'' (2021), who interpret their findings as indicating that aerobic capacity was elevated in non- therapsid synapsids above the level of most recent non-

varanid The Varanidae are a family of lizards in the superfamily Varanoidea and order Anguimorpha. The family, a group of carnivorous and frugivorous lizards, includes the living genus '' Varanus'' and a number of extinct genera more closely related ...

lepidosaurs The Lepidosauria (, from Greek meaning ''scaled lizards'') is a Order (biology), superorder or Class (biology), subclass of reptiles, containing the orders Squamata and Rhynchocephalia. Squamata also includes Lizard, lizards and Snake, snakes. Sq ...

, turtles and

crocodilia Crocodilia () is an order of semiaquatic, predatory reptiles that are known as crocodilians. They first appeared during the Late Cretaceous and are the closest living relatives of birds. Crocodilians are a type of crocodylomorph pseudosuchia ...

ns since the late

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...

, with maximum aerobic metabolic rates at, or above, the level of varanids. * Matamales-Andreu ''et al.'' (2021) describe probable

caseid Caseidae are an extinct family of basal synapsids that lived from the Late Carboniferous to Middle Permian between about 300 and 265 million years ago. Fossils of these animals come from the south-central part of the United States (Texas, Oklaho ...

tracks from the lower Permian of Mallorca (Spain), and evaluate the implications of these tracks for the knowledge of the locomotion of early synapsids. * A study comparing the morphology of the maxillary canal of ''

Heleosaurus ''Heleosaurus scholtzi'' is an extinct species of basal synapsids, known as pelycosaurs, in the family of Varanopidae during the middle Permian.Reisz, R. R. & Modesto, S. P. 2007. ''Heleosaurus scholtzi'' from the Permian of South Africa: a varan ...

scholtzi'', ''

Varanosaurus ''Varanosaurus'' ('monitor lizard') is an extinct genus of early ophiacodontid synapsid that lived during the Artinskian and Kungurian ages of the Permian.R. R. Reisz. 1986. Pelycosauria. ''Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie / Encyclopedia of Pal ...

acutrostris'', ''

Orovenator ''Orovenator'' is an extinct genus of diapsid from Lower Permian ( Artinskian stage) deposits of Oklahoma, United States. It is known from two partial skulls from the Richards Spur locality in Oklahoma. The holotype OMNH 74606 consists o ...

mayorum'' and '' Prolacerta broomi'', and evaluating the implications of the morphology of the maxillary canal for the knowledge of the phylogenetic placement of

varanopids Varanopidae is an extinct family of amniotes known from the Late Carboniferous to Middle Permian that resembled monitor lizards (with the name of the group deriving from the monitor lizard genus ''Varanus'') and may have filled a similar niche. T ...

, is published by Benoit ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the neurosensory anatomy of varanopids is published by Bazzana ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the skeletal anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of ''

Raranimus ''Raranimus'' is an extinct genus of therapsids of the Middle Permian. It was described in 2009 from a partial skull found in 1998 from the Dashankou locality of the Qingtoushan Formation, outcropping in the Qilian Mountains of Gansu, China. Th ...

dashankouensis'' is published by Duhamel ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the

variation in the anatomy of the skulls of

biarmosuchia Biarmosuchia is an extinct clade of non-mammalian synapsids from the Permian. Biarmosuchians are the most basal group of the therapsids. They were moderately-sized, lightly built carnivores, intermediate in form between basal sphenacodont " pel ...

ns, based on data from skulls of juvenile specimens, is published by Duhamel ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the

paleoneurology Paleoneurobiology is the study of brain evolution by analysis of brain endocasts to determine endocranial traits and volumes. Considered a subdivision of neuroscience, paleoneurobiology combines techniques from other fields of study including ...

and likely paleobiology of ''

Anteosaurus ''Anteosaurus'' (meaning "Antaeus lizard") is an extinct genus of large carnivorous dinocephalian synapsid. It lived at the end of the Guadalupian (= Middle Permian) during the Capitanian age, about 265 to 260 million years ago in what is now Sou ...

magnificus'' is published by Benoit ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on bone architecture and histology in two species of ''Anteosaurus'' from the ''Tapinocephalus'' Assemblage Zone of the

Karoo Basin The Karoo Supergroup is the most widespread stratigraphic unit in Africa south of the Kalahari Desert. The supergroup consists of a sequence of units, mostly of nonmarine origin, deposited between the Late Carboniferous and Early Jurassic, a per ...

(South Africa), aiming to determine the inter-elemental variation in their bone histology and their possible lifestyle adaptations, is published by Bhat, Shelton & Chinsamy (2021). * A study on the bone histology of multiple skeletal elements of three specimens belonging to the genus ''

Jonkeria ''Jonkeria'' is an extinct genus of dinocephalians. ''Jonkeria'' was a large and omnivore, omnivorous animal, from the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone, ''Tapinocephalus'' Assemblage Zone, Lower Beaufort Group, of the South Africa, South African Ka ...

'' from the ''Tapinocephalus'' Assemblage Zone, and on its implications for the knowledge of the paleobiology of these dinocephalians, is published by Bhat, Shelton & Chinsamy (2021). * A study on the bone histology of multiple skeletal elements of dinocephalians from the ''Tapinocephalus'' Assemblage Zone of the Karoo Basin is published by Bhat, Shelton & Chinsamy (2021). * New specimen of '' Lanthanostegus mohoii'', providing new information on the anatomy of the skull of this dicynodont and providing the first direct correlation between the lower

Abrahamskraal Formation The Abrahamskraal Formation is a geological formation and is found in numerous localities in the Northern Cape, Western Cape, and the Eastern Cape of South Africa. It is the lowermost formation of the Adelaide Subgroup of the Beaufort Group, a ma ...

at Jansenville on the eastern side of the

and the southwestern part of this basin, is described by Rubidge, Day & Benoit (2021). * New burrow casts containing skeletons of ''

Diictodon ''Diictodon'' (meaning "two weasel teeth") is an extinct genus of pylaecephalid dicynodont that lived during the Late Permian period, approximately 255 million years ago. Fossils have been found in the ''Cistecephalus'' Assemblage Zone of the M ...

'', including associated remains of adult and infant specimens, are described by Smith ''et al.'' (2021), who consider it likely that portions of burrows produced ''Diictodon'' by were facultatively used as brood chambers. * A study on the

of mandibles and maxillae of ''

Endothiodon ''Endothiodon'' (/ɛndoʊθiːoʊdɔːn/ "inner tooth" from Greek endothi (ἔνδοθῐ), "within", and odon (ὀδών), "tooth", most likely named for the characteristic of the teeth being placed internally to the maxilla) is an extinct genus ...

bathystoma'', and on the development and evolution of multiple tooth rows in this dicynodont, is published by Olroyd ''et al.'' (2021). * Redescription and a study on the phylogenetic relationships of '' Kunpania scopulusa'' is published by Angielczyk, Liu & Yang (2021). * A study on the bone

and likely life history of specimens of ''

Lystrosaurus ''Lystrosaurus'' (; 'shovel lizard'; proper Ancient Greek is ''lístron'' ‘tool for leveling or smoothing, shovel, spade, hoe’) is an extinct genus of herbivorous dicynodont therapsids from the late Permian and Early Triassic epochs (arou ...

'' from the Lower Triassic Turpan Basin (Xinjiang, China), comparing them with specimens from South Africa, is published by Han, Zhao & Liu (2021). * A study on the bone histology in a size range of ''Lystrosaurus'' skeletal elements from the Jiucaiyuan Formation (China), and on its implications for the knowledge whether members of the genus ''Lystrosaurus'' from northern

Pangaea Pangaea or Pangea ( ) was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. It assembled from the earlier continental units of Gondwana, Euramerica and Siberia during the Carboniferous period approximately 335 mi ...

had differing life histories than their southern Pangean relatives, is published by Kulik ''et al.'' (2021). * A new postcranial specimen of a

stahleckeriid Stahleckeriidae is a family of dicynodont therapsids whose fossils are known from the Triassic of North America, South America, Asia and Africa. Classification Phylogeny Below is a cladogram A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados ...

dicynodont, possibly of ''

Stahleckeria ''Stahleckeria'' is an extinct genus of Middle Triassic (Ladinian) dicynodonts.''Stahle ...

'', is described from the

Chañares Formation The Chañares Formation is a Carnian-age geologic formation of the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin, located in La Rioja Province, Argentina. It is characterized by drab-colored fine-grained volcaniclastic claystones, siltstones, and sandstones ...

, representing the oldest record of stahleckeriine dicynodonts from the

Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin The Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin () is a small sedimentary basin located in the Argentine Northwest, Argentina. It is located in the southwestern part of La Rioja Province and the northeastern part of San Juan Province. The basin borders the ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. * A study on the evolution of dicynodont tusks is published by Whitney ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the quality of the early

cynodont Cynodontia () is a clade of eutheriodont therapsids that first appeared in the Late Permian (approximately 260 Megaannum, mya), and extensively diversified after the Permian–Triassic extinction event. Mammals are cynodonts, as are their extin ...

fossil record in time and space, and on its implications for the understanding of the group's evolutionary history, is published by Varnham, Mannion & Kammerer (2021). * A study on the anatomy and variation of the

stapes The ''stapes'' or stirrup is a bone in the middle ear of humans and other tetrapods which is involved in the conduction of sound vibrations to the inner ear. This bone is connected to the oval window by its annular ligament, which allows the f ...

in ''

Thrinaxodon ''Thrinaxodon'' is an extinct genus of cynodonts which lived in what are now South Africa and Antarctica during the Late Permian - Early Triassic. ''Thrinaxodon'' lived just before, during, and right after the Permian–Triassic mass extinction ...

'' and ''

Galesaurus ''Galesaurus'' (from the Greek roots for 'weasel' and 'lizard') is an extinct genus of carnivorous cynodont therapsid that lived between the Induan and the Olenekian stages of the Early Triassic in what is now South Africa. It was incorrectly cl ...

'' is published by Gaetano & Abdala (2021). * A study on the anatomy of the skull of '' Bolotridon frerensis'', and on the phylogenetic relationships of this species, is published by Pusch, Kammerer & Fröbisch (2021). * A study on the morphology of the nasal cavity of ''

Exaeretodon ''Exaeretodon'' is an Extinction, extinct genus of fairly large, low-slung traversodontid cynodonts from the southern parts of Pangea. Four species are Knowledge, known, hailing from various geologic formation, formations. ''E. argentinus'' is fr ...

riograndensis'' and ''

Siriusgnathus ''Siriusgnathus'' is a traversodontid cynodont from the Carnian channel sandstones and mudstones of the Candelária Formation, belonging to the Santa Maria Supersequence of the Paraná Basin in southeastern Brazil.

niemeyerorum'' is published by Franco ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the morphology of the

endocast An endocast is the internal cast of a hollow object, often referring to the cranial vault in the study of brain development in humans and other organisms. Endocasts can be artificially made for examining the properties of a hollow, inaccessible ...

of a specimen of ''

Riograndia ''Riograndia'' is an extinct genus of prozostrodontian cynodonts from the Late Triassic of Brazil. The type species, type and only species is ''Riograndia guaibensis'', named after the State of Rio Grande do Sul and Guaíba Basin, where it was di ...

guaibensis'' from the Linha São Luiz site (Candelária Sequence of the Santa Maria Supersequence, Brazil) is published by Kerber ''et al.'' (2021). * Description of a new specimen of ''

Irajatherium ''Irajatherium'' is an extinct genus of cynodonts, known only of the type species ''Irajatherium hernandezi''.Martinelli et al., 2005 It is named in honor of Irajá Damiani Pinto. Species ''Irajatherium hernandezi'' is a species known only by ...

hernandezi'' from the Linha São Luiz site ( Candelária Sequence, Brazil), providing new information on the skeletal anatomy of this cynodont, and a study on the phylogenetic relationships of tritheledontids is published by Kerber ''et al.'' (2021). * Description of five partially preserved petrosals of early

mammaliaforms Mammaliaformes ("mammalian forms") is a clade of synapsid tetrapods that includes the crown group mammals and their closest extinct relatives; the group radiated from earlier probainognathian cynodonts during the Late Triassic. It is defined as ...

from the Middle Jurassic sediments of the Berezovsk coal mine (

Krasnoyarsk Krai Krasnoyarsk Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krai) of Russia located in Siberia. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Krasnoyarsk, the second-largest city in Siberia after ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

), and a study on the implications of these fossils for the knowledge of the evolution of the inner ear anatomy in early mammaliaforms, is published by Schultz ''et al.'' (2021). * New specimen of the Middle Jurassic

haramiyida Haramiyida is a possibly Paraphyly, paraphyletic order of Mammaliaformes, mammaliaform cynodonts or mammals of controversial taxonomic affinites. Their teeth, which are by far the most common remains, resemble those of the multituberculates. Howe ...

n ''

Vilevolodon ''Vilevolodon'' is an extinct, monotypic genus of volant, arboreal euharamiyids from the Oxfordian age of the Late Jurassic of China. The type species is ''Vilevolodon diplomylos''. The genus name ''Vilevolodon'' references its gliding capabili ...

diplomylos'' with well-preserved

malleus The ''malleus'', or hammer, is a hammer-shaped small bone or ossicle of the middle ear. It connects with the incus, and is attached to the inner surface of the eardrum. The word is Latin for 'hammer' or 'mallet'. It transmits the sound vibra ...

incus The ''incus'' (: incudes) or anvil in the ear is one of three small bones (ossicles) in the middle ear. The incus receives vibrations from the malleus, to which it is connected laterally, and transmits these to the stapes medially. The incus i ...

and

ectotympanic The ectotympanic, or tympanicum, is a bony structure found in all mammals, located on the tympanic part of the temporal bone, which holds the tympanic membrane (eardrum) in place. In catarrhine primates (including humans), it takes a tube-shape. ...

is described by Wang ''et al.'' (2021). * Description of two partial postcranial skeletons of ''Borealestes'' from the Kilmaluag Formation (Scotland, United Kingdom), and a study on the phylogenetic relationships of this docodont, is published by Panciroli ''et al.'' (2021).

Mammals

Other animals

New taxa

Research

* Turner (2021) describes vermiform-microstructured masses from approximately 890-million-year-old Little Dal reefs ( Stone Knife Formation,

), potentially representing the oldest body fossils of sponges (and animals in general) reported to date. * A study on the internal anatomical structure and development of ''

Charnia ''Charnia'' is an extinct genus of frond-like lifeforms belonging to the Ediacaran biota with segmented, leaf-like ridges branching alternately to the right and left from a zig-zag medial suture (thus exhibiting glide reflection, or opposite is ...

masoni'', based on data from specimens interpreted as reflecting different developmental stages, is published by Dunn ''et al.'' (2021), who interpret their findings as indicating that rangeomorphs were members of the

stem group In phylogenetics, the crown group or crown assemblage is a collection of species composed of the living representatives of the collection, the most recent common ancestor of the collection, and all descendants of the most recent common ancestor. ...

Eumetazoa Eumetazoa (), also known as Epitheliozoa or Histozoa, is a proposed basal animal subkingdom as a sister group of Porifera (sponges). The basal eumetazoan clades are the Ctenophora and the ParaHoxozoa. Placozoa is now also seen as a eumetazoan ...

. * A study aiming to identify characters of ''

Kimberella ''Kimberella'' is an extinct genus of marine bilaterian known only from rocks of the Ediacaran period. The slug-like organism fed by scratching the microbial surface on which it dwelt in a manner similar to the gastropods, although its affinity ...

'', ''

Ikaria Ikaria, also spelled Icaria (; ), is a Greece, Greek island in the Aegean Sea, 10 nautical miles (19 km) southwest of Samos. Administratively, Ikaria forms a separate municipality within the Ikaria (regional unit), Ikaria regional unit, ...

'', ''

Dickinsonia ''Dickinsonia'' is a genus of extinct organism that lived during the late Ediacaran period in what is now Australia, China, Russia, and Ukraine. It had a round, bilaterally symmetric body with multiple segments running along it. It could range f ...

'' and ''

Tribrachidium ''Tribrachidium heraldicum'' is a tri-radially symmetric fossil animal that lived in the late Ediacaran (Vendian) seas. In life, it was hemispherical in form. ''T. heraldicum'' is the best known member of the extinct group Trilobozoa. Etymolo ...

'' controlled by conserved developmental processes, as well as genetic elements likely responsible for their expression, is published by Evans, Droser & Erwin (2021), who also attempt to determine phylogenetic positions of these taxa relative to extant animals. * Structures interpreted as traces of motor activity of ''Dickinsonia'' are reported by Ivantsov & Zakrevskaya (2021), who interpret the studied traces as indicating that ''Dickinsonia'' was capable of both attachment and mobility. * A study on the location of module addition during growth in ''Dickinsonia costata'' is published by Evans ''et al.'' (2021). * A study aiming to determine the feeding mode of '' Arkarua adami'' is published by Cracknell ''et al.'' (2021). * A fossil specimen sharing anatomical features with both archaeocyaths and vauxiids is described from the early Cambrian Guanshan

(South China) by Luo ''et al.'' (2021), who suggest that vauxiids were descendants of archaeocyaths rather than Cambrian representatives of horny

demosponge Demosponges or common sponges are sponges of the class Demospongiae (from + ), the most diverse group in the phylum Porifera which include greater than 90% of all extant sponges with nearly 8,800 species A species () is often de ...

s. * A study on the morphology and affinities of '' Shaanxilithes'' is published by Wang ''et al.'' (2021). * A study aiming to test the hypothesis that the type and extent of calcification and morphology in '' Cloudina'' was controlled environmentally, based on data from ''Cloudina'' assemblages from localities in the Upper Omkyk Member of the

Nama Group The Nama Group is a megaregional Vendian to Cambrian group of stratigraphic sequences deposited in the Nama Basin, Nama foreland basin in central and southern Namibia. The Nama Basin is a peripheral foreland basin, and the Nama Group was deposited ...

(

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

), is published by Shore &

Wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

(2021). * Taxonomic revision of the Ediacaran tubular fossils ''Cloudina'', ''

Sinotubulites ''Sinotubulites'' is a genus of small, tube-shaped shelly fossils from near the terminal boundary of the Ediacaran period in formations within China and North America. It is often found in association with '' Cloudina'', and much like ''Cloudina ...

'' and '' Conotubus'' is published by Yang ''et al.'' (2021). * Shore ''et al.'' (2021) report the first three-dimensional,

pyritized Permineralization is a process of fossilization of bones and tissues in which mineral deposits form internal Casting, casts of organisms. Carried by water, these minerals fill the spaces within organic tissue. Because of the nature of the casts, p ...

preservation of soft tissue in ''

Namacalathus ''Namacalathus'' is a problematic metazoan fossil occurring in the latest Ediacaran. The first, and only described species, ''N. hermanastes'', was first described in 2000 from the Nama Group of central and southern Namibia. Discovery and nami ...

hermanastes'' from the

(

), and evaluate the implications of this finding for the knowledge of the phylogenetic relationships of this animal. * A novel type of agglutinated tube, made of silt-sized particles forming a flanged shape that was previously unknown in the fossil record, is described from the Devonian Ponta Grossa Formation (

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

) by Becker-Kerber ''et al.'' (2021), who identify the studied tubes as belonging to the species '' Annulitubus mutvei'', and note their similarities to tubes made by

polychaete Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine Annelid, annelid worms, common name, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called c ...

s from the family

Maldanidae Maldanidae is a family of more than 200 species of marine polychaetes commonly known as bamboo worms or maldanid worms. They belong to the order Capitellida, in the phylum Annelida. They are most closely related to family Arenicolidae, and toget ...

. * New specimen of '' Protowenella flemingi'' is described from the Cambrian

Henson Gletscher Formation The Henson Gletscher Formation is a Formation (geology), geologic formation in Greenland. It preserves fossils dating back to the Cambrian Period (geology), period. It is named after the Henson Glacier (Greenland). It preserves numerous Phosphato ...

(

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

) by Peel (2021), who interprets the anatomy of this specimen as indicating that ''Protowenella'' was a hyolith rather than a mollusc. * A new assemblage of fossil eggs, embryos attributable to the early

scalidophora Scalidophora is a group of marine pseudocoelomate ecdysozoans that was proposed on morphological grounds to unite three phyla: the Kinorhyncha, the Priapulida and the Loricifera. The three phyla have four characters in common — chitinous cuti ...

n ''

Markuelia ''Markuelia'' is a genus of fossil worm-like bilaterian animals allied to Ecdysozoa and known from strata of Lower Cambrian to Lower Ordovician age containing five species. An advanced X-ray imaging technique called X-ray tomographic microscop ...

'', and early post-embryonic developmental stages of

camenellan The camenellans, consisting of the genera ''Camenalla'', ''Dailyatia'', ''Kennardia'', ''Kelanella'', ''Wufengella'' and ''Lapworthella'', are a (probably monophyletic) group of Tommotiid invertebrates from the Cambrian period, reconstructed as s ...

s is described from the

Cambrian Stage 3 Cambrian Stage 3 is the still unnamed third stage of the Cambrian. It succeeds Cambrian Stage 2 and precedes Cambrian Stage 4, although neither its base nor top have been formally defined. The plan is for its lower boundary to correspond approxima ...

Salanygol Formation (

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

) by Steiner ''et al.'' (2021). * Yang ''et al.'' (2021) describe fossil material from the Guanshan biota (China) providing evidence of consistent occurrence of Cambrian priapulan worms (possibly belonging to the genus ''

Eximipriapulus ''Eximipriapulus'' is a genus of priapulid-like organisms, perhaps belonging to the crown group, known from the Chengjiang biota. Paleoecology Eximipriapulus is known to live inside Hyolith shells. It is also an active burrower and is carni ...

'') within the conical shells of hyoliths, representing the first direct evidence of the adoption of a different organism's

exoskeleton An exoskeleton () . is a skeleton that is on the exterior of an animal in the form of hardened integument, which both supports the body's shape and protects the internal organs, in contrast to an internal endoskeleton (e.g. human skeleton, that ...

in the priapulans and within the

Paleozoic The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three Era (geology), geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma a ...

era. * Description of new fossil material of ''

Tabelliscolex ''Tabelliscolex'' is a genus of palaeoscolecid worm from the Early Cambrian Chengjiang biota that comprises two species, ''T. hexagonus'' and ''T. maanshanensis''. References Prehistoric protostome genera Paleoscolecids {{palaeo-p ...

hexagonus'' from the Cambrian Chengjiang biota (Yu'anshan Formation, China), and a study on the phylogenetic affinities of

palaeoscolecid The palaeoscolecids are a group of extinct ecdysozoan worms resembling armoured priapulids. They are known from the Lower Cambrian to the lower Ludfordian (late Silurian); they are mainly found as disarticulated sclerites, but are also preserved ...

s, is published by Shi & Howard ''et al.'' (2021); the study is subsequently criticized by Smith & Dhungana (2021). * Redescription of ''

Stanleycaris ''Stanleycaris'' ("Stanley's shrimp") is an extinct genus of hurdiid radiodont from the Cambrian (Stage 3 to Miaolingian). The type species is ''Stanleycaris hirpex''. ''Stanleycaris'' was described from the Stephen Formation near the Stanley Gl ...

hirpex'', and a study on the phylogenetic relationships of this species and on the functional specialization of the frontal appendages of this and other

stem Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

euarthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

s, is published by Moysiuk &

Caron A caron or háček ( ), is a diacritic mark () placed over certain letters in the orthography of some languages, to indicate a change of the related letter's pronunciation. Typographers tend to use the term ''caron'', while linguists prefer ...

(2021).

Other organisms

New taxa

Research

* Well-preserved putative filamentous microfossils, potentially representing the oldest known indigenous subsurface microorganisms with a methane-based metabolism, are described from the ~3.42-billion-year-old subseafloor hydrothermal

vein Veins () are blood vessels in the circulatory system of humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are those of the pulmonary and feta ...

system from the

Barberton Greenstone Belt The Barberton Greenstone Belt is a geologic formation situated on the eastern edge of the Kaapvaal craton in South Africa. It is known for its gold mineralisation and for its komatiites, an unusual type of ultramafic volcanic rock named after th ...

by Cavalazzi ''et al.'' (2021). * Delarue ''et al.'' (2021) describe 3.4 billion years old microfossils preserved with a tail-like structure from the Strelley Pool Formation (

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

), and interpret the tail-like appendage as likely providing early microorganisms with movement capabilities. * A study on the preservation of ~ 1 billion years old organic matter in the Lakhanda

(Siberia,

) is published by Duda ''et al.'' (2021), who interpret this Lagerstätte as evidence of an environment dominated by

anaerobic Anaerobic means "living, active, occurring, or existing in the absence of free oxygen", as opposed to aerobic which means "living, active, or occurring only in the presence of oxygen." Anaerobic may also refer to: *Adhesive#Anaerobic, Anaerobic ad ...

bacteria with no or very little inputs by

eukaryote The eukaryotes ( ) constitute the Domain (biology), domain of Eukaryota or Eukarya, organisms whose Cell (biology), cells have a membrane-bound cell nucleus, nucleus. All animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, seaweeds, and many unicellular organisms ...

s. * Tang ''et al.'' (2021) describe dark discoidal, semicircular, or ovate structures preserved on fossil of early Neoproterozoic eukaryotes '' Tawuia'' and '' Sinosabellidites'' from North China, and interpret these structures as fossils of eukaryotic

epibiont An epibiont (from the Ancient Greek meaning "living on top of") is an organism that lives on the surface of another living organism, called the basibiont ("living underneath"). The interaction between the two organisms is called epibiosis. An ep ...

s that lived on the surface of and may have benefited from an association with their ''Tawuia'' and ''Sinosabellidites'' hosts. * Well-preserved communities of large unbranched filamentous microorganisms, bearing morphological and ecological similarities with large sulfide-oxidizing bacteria such as ''

Beggiatoa ''Beggiatoa'' is a genus of ''Gammaproteobacteria'' belonging to the order '' Thiotrichales'', in the ''Pseudomonadota'' phylum. These bacteria form colorless filaments composed of cells that can be up to 200 μm in diameter, and are one of ...

'', are described from the

Ediacaran The Ediacaran ( ) is a geological period of the Neoproterozoic geologic era, Era that spans 96 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period at 635 Million years ago, Mya to the beginning of the Cambrian Period at 538.8 Mya. It is the last ...

Itajaí Basin (

) by Becker-Kerber ''et al.'' (2021). * Ediacaran fossils, including mouldically preserved desiccated

microbial mat A microbial mat is a multi-layered sheet or biofilm of microbial colonies, composed of mainly bacteria and/or archaea. Microbial mats grow at interfaces between different types of material, mostly on submerged or moist surfaces, but a few surviv ...

fossils, '' Arumberia''-type fossils, and associated metre-scale structures, are described from the Gibbett Hill and Ferryland Head formations (Newfoundland,

) by McMahon ''et al.'' (2021), who interpret the metre-scale structures as fossil

biofilm A biofilm is a Syntrophy, syntrophic Microbial consortium, community of microorganisms in which cell (biology), cells cell adhesion, stick to each other and often also to a surface. These adherent cells become embedded within a slimy ext ...

streamers induced by currents. * A study on the morphology of ''Arumberia'', based on data from findings from the lower Cambrian Port Lazo Formation (Brittany,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

), is published by McMahon ''et al.'' (2021), who interpret ''Arumberia'' as recording the remains of extinct, sessile filamentous organisms (possibly microbial or algal). * Zacaï ''et al.'' (2021) attempt to determine the potential timing of establishment of the latitudinal diversity gradient for early

acritarch Acritarchs () are organic microfossils, known from the Precambrian to the present. The classification is a catch all term used to refer to any organic microfossils that cannot be assigned to other groups. Their diversity reflects major ecolog ...

s and its evolution through time . * A study on the affinities of archaeocyaths, interpreting them as possible consortia of siphonous green seaweeds and cyanobacteria-like microbes, is published by Kaźmierczak & Kremer (2021). * A study on the impact of Earth's

orbital eccentricity In astrodynamics, the orbital eccentricity of an astronomical object is a dimensionless parameter that determines the amount by which its orbit around another body deviates from a perfect circle. A value of 0 is a circular orbit, values be ...

on the evolution of

coccolithophore Coccolithophores, or coccolithophorids, are single-celled organisms which are part of the phytoplankton, the autotrophic (self-feeding) component of the plankton community. They form a group of about 200 species, and belong either to the kingdom ...

s during the last 2.8 million years is published Beaufort ''et al.'' (2021).

History of life in general

* A study on the

taphonomy Taphonomy is the study of how organisms decay and become fossilized or preserved in the paleontological record. The term ''taphonomy'' (from Greek language, Greek , 'burial' and , 'law') was introduced to paleontology in 1940 by Soviet scientis ...

organelle In cell biology, an organelle is a specialized subunit, usually within a cell (biology), cell, that has a specific function. The name ''organelle'' comes from the idea that these structures are parts of cells, as Organ (anatomy), organs are to th ...

s, assessing the basis of the view that organelles decay too rapidly to be fossilized and evaluating the plausibility of the claims of organelles preserved in

Proterozoic The Proterozoic ( ) is the third of the four geologic eons of Earth's history, spanning the time interval from 2500 to 538.8 Mya, and is the longest eon of Earth's geologic time scale. It is preceded by the Archean and followed by the Phanerozo ...

fossils, is published by Carlisle ''et al.'' (2021). * Evidence of the presence of significant populations of both

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

and

green algae The green algae (: green alga) are a group of chlorophyll-containing autotrophic eukaryotes consisting of the phylum Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister group that contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/ Streptophyta. The land plants ...

ca. 1.4 billion years ago (600 million years earlier than previously recognized) is reported from the Xiamaling Formation (China) by Zhang ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the micro- and ultra-structures and chemical components of embryo-like fossils from the early

Weng'an biota (China) is published by Sun ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the latitudinal distribution of the macrobiota through the late Ediacaran is published by Boddy ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the major biotic transitions in the

Phanerozoic The Phanerozoic is the current and the latest of the four eon (geology), geologic eons in the Earth's geologic time scale, covering the time period from 538.8 million years ago to the present. It is the eon during which abundant animal and ...

fossil record of the

marine faunas is published by Rojas ''et al.'' (2021), who report evidence of three major biotic transitions (across the end-Cambrian, end-Permian, and mid-Cretaceous boundaries). * A study on changes of diversity of skeletonized marine invertebrates in the fossil record, evaluating the impact of dead clades walking on broader trends in Phanerozoic biodiversity, is published by Barnes, Sclafani & Zaffos (2021), who identify 70 invertebrate orders that experienced major diversity losses without recovery, but note that most of these taxa had a long duration after the drop in diversity, and many drops in diversity without recovery were not associated with mass extinction events. * A study on the relationship between changes in surface oxygenation and extinction rates of marine animals throughout the Phanerozoic is published by Stockey ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on shifts in the dynamics of the evolution of body size in marine animals between background intervals and the "Big Five" Phanerozoic

extinction event An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the biodiversity on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp fall in the diversity and abundance of multicellular organisms. It occ ...

s is published by Monarrez, Heim & Payne (2021). * A study on changes of nutrient content of planktonic organic matter throughout the Phanerozoic is published by Sharoni & Halevy (2021). * New Burgess Shale-type Cambrian paleocommunity, preserving fossil eggs and fossils of members various

phyla Phyla, the plural of ''phylum'', may refer to: * Phylum, a biological taxon between Kingdom and Class * by analogy, in linguistics, a large division of possibly related languages, or a major language family which is not subordinate to another Phy ...

representing early and middle

stages, is described from Haiyan (China) by Yang ''et al.'' (2021), who interpret the deposit as either preserving one of the earliest known nurseries in the fossil record, or recording several attempted invasions. * Geyer &

Landing Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal, aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing", "touchdown" or " spl ...

(2021) report a hitherto unknown

from the Amouslek Formation (Morocco), preserving the first relatively abundant fossils with exceptional preservation from the Cambrian of Morocco (and Africa). * A study on the relationship between

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

s and origination rates in the marine fossil taxa throughout the last 485 million years is published by Mathes, Kiessling & Steinbauer (2021). * A study on the relationship between the rate and magnitude of climate change and the extinction rate of marine animals throughout the last 450 million years is published by Song ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on Carboniferous and early Permian tetrapod tracks, and on their implications for the knowledge of evolutionary changes in the anatomy of the trackmakers in and locomotion style close to the origin of

s, is published by Buchwitz ''et al.'' (2021). * A study aiming to determine the climatic preferences of major Permo-Triassic tetrapod groups is published by Liu, Angielczyk & Abdala (2021). * A study on the impact of Permian mass extinctions on continental invertebrate

infauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

, based on data from the Iberian Basin (central

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

), is published by Buatois ''et al.'' (2021), who report evidence of a dramatic decrease in

bioturbation Bioturbation is defined as the reworking of soils and sediments by animals or plants. It includes burrowing, ingestion, and defecation of sediment grains. Bioturbating activities have a profound effect on the environment and are thought to be a ...

intensity on land by the end of the

Capitanian In the geologic timescale, the Capitanian is an age or stage of the Permian. It is also the uppermost or latest of three subdivisions of the Guadalupian Epoch or Series. The Capitanian lasted between and million years ago. It was preceded by t ...

, coinciding with an increase in weathering intensity and acidic conditions, and a collapse in plant communities spanning the late Permian–Early Triassic in the Iberian Basin. * A review of the state of research on the

Capitanian mass extinction event The Capitanian mass extinction event (also known as the end-Guadalupian extinction event, the Guadalupian-Lopingian boundary mass extinction, the pre-Lopingian crisis, or the Middle Permian extinction) was a major mass extinction event that occu ...

in the

(South Africa) is published by Day & Rubidge (2021). * Evidence from tetrapod fossil record from the Karoo Basin (South Africa) indicative of a protracted (~1 Ma) extinction on land during the Permian-Triassic transition is presented by Viglietti ''et al.'' (2021). * Evidence of two pulses of extinction at the Permian–Triassic boundary caused by different environmental triggers is reported from the Liangfengya section in the South China Block by Li ''et al.'' (2021). * Evidence of algal and bacterial blooms following forest

ecosystem collapse An ecosystem, short for ecological system, is defined as a collection of interacting organisms within a biophysical environment. Ecosystems are never static, and are continually subject to both stabilizing and destabilizing processes. Stabilizing ...

during the Permian–Triassic extinction event is reported from the Sydney Basin (

) by Mays ''et al.'' (2021), who interpret their findings as indicating that the proliferation of microbial communities was both a symptom of ecosystem collapse, and a cause of its delayed recovery in the aftermath of the Permian–Triassic mass extinction. * Smith ''et al.'' (2021) describe diverse assemblages of Early Triassic marine organisms from three new sites of the same age as the Paris Canyon exposures, and another slightly younger site, from

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

(United States), providing information on the recovery of marine biotas in the aftermath of the Permian–Triassic extinction event. * A study on the recovery of marine level-bottom communities in the aftermath of the Permian–Triassic extinction event, focusing on recovery during the

Middle Triassic In the geologic timescale, the Middle Triassic is the second of three epoch (geology), epochs of the Triassic period (geology), period or the middle of three series (stratigraphy), series in which the Triassic system (stratigraphy), system is di ...

, is published by Friesenbichler, Hautmann & Bucher (2021). * Revision of the Triassic record of

tracks is published by Klein & Lucas (2021). * A study on the diversity dynamics and evolution of the functional morphology of tetrapod herbivores throughout the

and

Early Jurassic The Early Jurassic Epoch (geology), Epoch (in chronostratigraphy corresponding to the Lower Jurassic series (stratigraphy), Series) is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic Period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassic� ...

is published by Singh ''et al.'' (2021). * Marchetti ''et al.'' (2021) revise the tetrapod (including

dinosauromorph Dinosauromorpha is a clade of Avemetatarsalia, avemetatarsalians (archosaurs closer to birds than to crocodilians) that includes the Dinosauria (dinosaurs) and some of their close relatives. It was originally defined to include Dinosauriformes, d ...

) footprint assemblage from the Quarziti del Monte Serra Formation (

Ladinian The Ladinian is a stage and age in the Middle Triassic series or epoch. It spans the time between Ma and ~237 Ma (million years ago). The Ladinian was preceded by the Anisian and succeeded by the Carnian (part of the Upper or Late Triassic ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

), and interpret this assemblage and other findings of Ladinian dinosauromorph footprints as evidence of wide dispersal of dinosauromorphs as early as the

. * Description of a rich assemblage of marine taxa from the

Carnian The Carnian (less commonly, Karnian) is the lowermost stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Triassic series (stratigraphy), Series (or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Triassic Epoch (reference date), Epoch). It lasted from 237 to 227.3 ...

Polzberg ''

'' (

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

) is published by Lukeneder & Lukeneder (2021). * A study aiming to determine the relationship between the development of the

Jehol Biota The Jehol Biota includes all the living organisms – the ecosystem – of northeastern China between 133 and 120 million years ago. This is the Lower Cretaceous ecosystem which left fossils in the Yixian Formation and Jiufotang Formation. These d ...

in northeast China and the destruction of the North China Craton in the Early Cretaceous is published by Zhou ''et al.'' (2021). * The first evidence of a Late Cretaceous terrestrial community in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, including fossil material of a midsize

pterosaur Pterosaurs are an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 million to 66 million years ago). Pterosaurs are the earli ...

and remains of plants belonging to the families

Cupressaceae Cupressaceae or the cypress family is a family of conifers. The family includes 27–30 genera (17 monotypic), which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130–140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdioecious or (rarely) dioecio ...

and

Lauraceae Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant Family (biology), family that includes the bay laurel, true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genus (biology), genera worldwide. They are dicotyled ...

, is reported from three upper

–lower

localities in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

by Viñola-López ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the timing of the recovery of the

biological pump The biological pump (or ocean carbon biological pump or marine biological carbon pump) is the ocean's biologically driven Carbon sequestration, sequestration of carbon from the atmosphere and land runoff to the ocean interior and seafloor sedim ...

and marine plankton diversity in the aftermath of the

Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event, also known as the K–T extinction, was the extinction event, mass extinction of three-quarters of the plant and animal species on Earth approximately 66 million years ago. The event cau ...

is published by Birch ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the impact of tectonic evolution in the Tethyan region on the evolution and diversity patterns of Eurasian animals throughout the Cenozoic is published by Zhao, Hou & Li (2021). * Zouhri ''et al.'' (2021) describe a diverse vertebrate fauna from the Eocene (

Bartonian The Bartonian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geologic time scale, a stage or age in the middle of the Eocene Epoch or Series. The Bartonian Age spans the time between . It is preceded by the Lutetian and is follow ...

)

Aridal Formation The Aridal Formation in the Sahara, Sahara Desert of southwestern Morocco is a fossil formation with rocks dating to the Lutetian - Priabonian (47.8 - 33.9 million years ago), preserving a middle Eocene shallow coastal environment. The formatio ...

(

Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory in Maghreb, North-western Africa. It has a surface area of . Approximately 30% of the territory () is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is ...

), including 12 species of cartilaginous fishes, at least three species of turtles, at least two longirostrine crocodylian taxa, the oldest record of ''

Pelagornis ''Pelagornis'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric pseudotooth birds, a group of extinct seabirds. Species span from the Oligocene to the Early Pleistocene. Members of ''Pelagornis'' represent among the largest pseudotooth birds, with one species ...

'' reported to date, and a

proboscidea Proboscidea (; , ) is a taxonomic order of afrotherian mammals containing one living family (Elephantidae) and several extinct families. First described by J. Illiger in 1811, it encompasses the elephants and their close relatives. Three l ...

n possibly belonging to the genus ''

Barytherium ''Barytherium'' (meaning "heavy beast") is a genus of an extinct genus of large primitive proboscideans that lived during the late Eocene and early Oligocene in North Africa. The type species is ''Barytherium grave'', found at the beginning of th ...

''. * Garrouste ''et al.'' (2021) report the discovery of Cretaceous and Miocene fossil assemblages from

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

, providing new information on the diversity of fossil plants and insects from this island. * Synopsis of the fossil vertebrate assemblages of the

Pisco Formation The Pisco Formation is a geologic formation located in Peru, on the southern coastal desert of Ica, Peru, Ica and Arequipa. The approximately thick formation was deposited in the Pisco Basin, spanning an age from the Miocene, Late Miocene up to t ...

(

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

), and a study on their implications for the knowledge of the

Humboldt Current The Humboldt Current, also called the Peru Current, is a cold, low-salinity ocean current that flows north along the western coast of South America.Montecino, Vivian, and Carina B. Lange. "The Humboldt Current System: Ecosystem components and pro ...

Ecosystem during the Miocene, is published by Collareta ''et al.'' (2021). * Rich middle Miocene rainforest biome (the Zhangpu biota) preserved in amber and associated sedimentary rocks is reported from the Fotan Group (southeastern China) by Wang ''et al.'' (2021). * Description of non-mammal vertebrate fauna from the Miocene (

Messinian The Messinian is in the geologic timescale the last age or uppermost stage of the Miocene. It spans the time between 7.246 ± 0.005 Ma and 5.333 ± 0.005 Ma (million years ago). It follows the Tortonian and is followed by the Zanclean, the fir ...

) Monticino Quarry (Italy), including the oldest known records of the javelin sand boa or a related species, snakes belonging to the genus ''

Malpolon ''Malpolon'' is a genus of snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the ...

'' and an unambiguous

bustard Bustards, including floricans and korhaans, are large, terrestrial birds living mainly in dry grassland areas and in steppe regions. They range in length from . They make up the family Otididae (, formerly known as Otidae). Bustards are ...

reported to date, is published by Villa ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the age of escorias (glassy rock fragments similar to volcanic

scoria Scoria or cinder is a pyroclastic, highly vesicular, dark-colored volcanic rock formed by ejection from a volcano as a molten blob and cooled in the air to form discrete grains called clasts.Neuendorf, K.K.E., J.P. Mehl, Jr., and J.A. Jackso ...

e, likely products of extraterrestrial impacts) collected along the Pampean Atlantic coast from the "Irene" and Chapadmalal Formations (Argentina), and on their implications for the knowledge of the timing of late Miocene–Pliocene faunal succession in the Pampean Region, is published by Prevosti ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the age of the most recent Pleistocene

megafauna In zoology, megafauna (from Ancient Greek, Greek μέγας ''megas'' "large" and Neo-Latin ''fauna'' "animal life") are large animals. The precise definition of the term varies widely, though a common threshold is approximately , this lower en ...

l specimens from

Cloggs Cave Cloggs Cave is a limestone cave and rockshelter with significant Aboriginal archaeological deposits, located on a cliff along the Snowy River gorge near the town of Buchan, Victoria. The cave was within the country of the Krowathunkooloong (K ...

(

), and on its implications for the knowledge of the timing and causes of Late Pleistocene extinctions of Australian megafauna, is published by David ''et al.'' (2021). * A study aiming to determine whether a significant relationship can be detected between demographic susceptibility to extinction of members of Quaternary megafauna of

Sahul __NOTOC__ Sahul (), also called Sahul-land, Meganesia, Papualand and Greater Australia, was a paleocontinent that encompassed the modern-day landmasses of mainland Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea, and the Aru Islands. Sahul was in the south- ...

and their extinction chronology inferred from their fossil record is published by Bradshaw ''et al.'' (2021). * A study aiming to determine whether the fossil record indicates that the arrival of hominins on islands in the Pleistocene was coincident with the disappearance of insular taxa is published by Louys ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on ancient environmental DNA of plants and animals recovered from sediments from sites distributed across much of the Arctic, covering the past 50 thousand years, is published by Wang ''et al.'' (2021), who interpret their findings as indicative of a relatively homogeneous steppe–tundra flora dominating the Arctic during the Last Glacial Maximum, followed by regional divergence of vegetation during the Holocene, as well as providing evidence of the survival of the

woolly rhinoceros The woolly rhinoceros (''Coelodonta antiquitatis'') is an extinct species of rhinoceros that inhabited northern Eurasia during the Pleistocene epoch. The woolly rhinoceros was a member of the Pleistocene megafauna. The woolly rhinoceros was larg ...

in northeast

Kolyma Kolyma (, ) or Kolyma Krai () is a historical region in the Russian Far East that includes the basin of Kolyma River and the northern shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as the Kolyma Mountains (the watershed of the two). It is bounded to ...

as late as approximately 9.8 ka and the survival of mammoths in North America and Siberia into the Early Holocene (as late as approximately 3.9 ka in the area of the

Taymyr Peninsula The Taymyr Peninsula ( ) is a peninsula in the Far North of Russia, in the Siberian Federal District, that forms the northernmost part of the mainland of Eurasia. Administratively it is part of the Krasnoyarsk Krai Federal subject of Russia. Ge ...

), and providing evidence of a previously unsampled mitochondrial lineage of mammoths. * Murchie ''et al.'' (2021) present a 30,000-year sedimentary ancient DNA record from permafrost silts in the Klondike region of Yukon (Canada), and interpret their findings as indicative of a substantial turnover in ecosystem composition between 13,500 and 10,000 calendar years ago with the replacement of the steppe-tundra ecosystem by woody shrubs, as well as indicative of persistence of North American horses and woolly mammoths for thousands of years after their supposed disappearance from the fossil record. * A study on the chronology of Late Pleistocene shrub expansion and megafauna extinctions in eastern

Beringia Beringia is defined today as the land and maritime area bounded on the west by the Lena River in Russia; on the east by the Mackenzie River in Canada; on the north by 70th parallel north, 72° north latitude in the Chukchi Sea; and on the south ...

is published by Monteath ''et al.'' (2021), who interpret their findings as indicating that the postglacial expansion of shrub tundra preceded the regional decline of populations of large mammal grazers. * A study on the extinction dynamics of the

elephant bird Elephant birds are extinct flightless birds belonging to the Order (biology), order Aepyornithiformes that were native to the island of Madagascar. They are thought to have gone extinct around 1000 CE, likely as a result of human activity. Eleph ...

s and Malagasy hippos is published by Hansford ''et al.'' (2021), who interpret their findings as indicating that these animals persisted for millennia after first human arrival on Madagascar, that their communities collapsed suddenly ~1200-900 BP, and that their extinctions were closely correlated in time with intensive conversion of forests to grassland, probably resulting from human shift to

agro-pastoralism Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilizat ...

. * A study aiming to determine how observed extinctions in the geological past can be predicted from the interaction of long-term temperature trends with short-term climate change is published by Mathes ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the impact of the

and

Triassic–Jurassic extinction event The Triassic–Jurassic (Tr-J) extinction event (TJME), often called the end-Triassic extinction, marks the boundary between the Triassic and Jurassic periods, . It represents one of five major extinction events during the Phanerozoic, profoundly ...

on terrestrial and

freshwater ecosystem Freshwater ecosystems are a subset of Earth's aquatic ecosystems that include the biological communities inhabiting freshwater waterbodies such as lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, springs, bogs, and wetlands. They can be contrasted with marine ec ...

s, aiming to quantify community resistance during the extinction events and to determine ecological dynamics of communities before and after these extinctions, is published by Huang ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on correlations between fossilization potential and food web features, aiming to determine how fossilization impacts inferences of ancient community structure, is published by Shaw ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the drilling predation pressure on sea urchins across the Mesozoic and Cenozoic is published by Petsios ''et al.'' (2021), who present evidence indicative of the Cenozoic intensification of this predation, and argue that the

Mesozoic marine revolution The Mesozoic marine revolution (MMR) refers to the increase in shell-crushing (durophagy, durophagous) and drilling, boring predation in benthic organisms throughout the Mesozoic era (251 Mya (unit), Mya to 66 Mya), along with bulldozing and sed ...

was more likely a series of asynchronous processes with variable significance across different groups of predators and preys, rather than a single synchronized ecosystem-wide event. * A study on the spatial biodiversity dynamics of unicellular marine plankton throughout the

Cenozoic The Cenozoic Era ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three g ...

, aiming to test the generality of the "out of the tropics" hypothesis (positing that the tropics are both a cradle and source of biodiversity for extratropical regions), is published by Raja & Kiessling (2021). * A study on the evolution of ecophysiological adaptations to life in the sea in extant and fossil marine tetrapods (excluding birds) is published by Motani & Vermeij (2021).

Other research

* Mißbach ''et al.'' (2021) report the existence of indigenous organic molecules and gases in primary fluid inclusions in c. 3.5-billion-year-old

barite Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate (Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), ...

s from the

Dresser Formation The Dresser Formation is a Paleoarchean geologic formation that outcrops as a generally circular ring of hills in the North Pole Dome area of the East Pilbara Terrane of the Pilbara Craton of Western Australia. This formation is one of many fo ...

( Pilbara Craton,

), providing evidence of the organic composition of primordial fluids that were available for the early microbes. * A study on the 3.4-billion-year old organic films from the Buck Reef Chert ( Kaapvaal craton,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

) is published by Alleon ''et al.'' (2021), who interpret their findings as indicating that early

Archean The Archean ( , also spelled Archaean or Archæan), in older sources sometimes called the Archaeozoic, is the second of the four geologic eons of Earth's history of Earth, history, preceded by the Hadean Eon and followed by the Proterozoic and t ...

organic films carry chemical information directly related to their original molecular compositions, and evaluate the implications of their finding for the knowledge of the initial chemical nature of organic microfossils found in ancient rocks. * A study on the evolution of marine

dissolved organic carbon Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is the fraction of organic carbon Operational definition, operationally defined as that which can pass through a filter with a pore size typically between 0.22 and 0.7 micrometre, micrometers. The fraction remain ...

concentrations is published by Fakhraee ''et al.'' (2021), who interpret their findings as indicating that the overall size of the marine dissolved organic carbon reservoir has likely undergone very little variation through Earth's history, casting doubt on previously hypothesized links between marine dissolved organic carbon levels and the emergence and radiation of early animals. * A study on the age of the Ediacaran

stratigraphic Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithost ...

successions in South China, and on its implications for the knowledge of the timing of the rise and early evolution of complex macroscopic life, is published by Yang ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the carbon isotopic composition of marine carbonates and on the age of the Ediacaran Nama Group (

) and other geological formations from the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition around the world, and on their implications for the knowledge of the early radiation of animals, is published by Bowyer ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the timing and sequence of events through the early

Darriwilian The Darriwilian is the upper stage of the Middle Ordovician. It is preceded by the Dapingian and succeeded by the Upper Ordovician Sandbian Stage. The lower boundary of the Darriwilian is defined as the first appearance of the graptolite species ' ...

leading to the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event is published by Rasmussen, Thibault & Rasmussen (2021), who interpret their findings as refuting the proposed link between the

Ordovician meteor event The Ordovician meteor event was a dramatic increase in the rate at which L chondrite meteorites fell to Earth during the Middle Ordovician period, about 467.5±0.28 million years ago, lasting for about 40 million years. This rate increase is ind ...

and the icehouse conditions preceding the Ordovician radiation, and indicating that the meteorite fallout postdated both the onset of glaciation and the onset of the Ordovician radiation. * A study on the impact of volcanism-related delivery of the nutrient phosphorus to the Late Ordovician ocean on global cooling and

Late Ordovician mass extinction The Late Ordovician mass extinction (LOME), sometimes known as the end-Ordovician mass extinction or the Ordovician–Silurian extinction, is the first of the "big five" major mass extinction events in Earth's history, occurring roughly 445 mill ...

is published by Longman ''et al.'' (2021). * A study evaluating the validity of the Devonian bioregionalization first proposed by Boucot, Johnson & Talent (1969) is published by Dowding, Ebach & Madroviev (2021). * Evidence of prolonged and repeated oxygen stress in the Appalachian Basin associated with the

Late Devonian extinction The Late Devonian mass extinction, also known as the Kellwasser event, was a mass extinction event which occurred around 372 million years ago, at the boundary between the Frasnian and Famennian ages of the Late Devonian period.Racki, 2005McGh ...

s is presented by Boyer ''et al.'' (2021). * Rakociński ''et al.'' (2021) report very large anomalous mercury spikes from the south-western part of Tian Shan (

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

), and interpret this finding as evidence of intensive volcanic activity both predating and occurring during the Hangenberg Crisis. * Evidence from the

South China Block The Yangtze plate, also called the South China block or the South China subplate, comprises the bulk of southern China. It is separated on the east from the Okinawa plate by a rift that forms the Okinawa Trough which is a back-arc basin, on the ...

indicative of extensive

felsic In geology, felsic is a grammatical modifier, modifier describing igneous rocks that are relatively rich in elements that form feldspar and quartz.Marshak, Stephen, 2009, ''Essentials of Geology,'' W. W. Norton & Company, 3rd ed. It is contrasted ...

volcanic activity coincident with the Permian–Triassic extinction event is presented by Zhang ''et al.'' (2021), who interpret their findings as indicating that felsic volcanism in South China was a key contributor to the environmental deterioration that led to the Permian–Triassic extinction event. * Evidence from the southern Karoo Basin of South Africa indicative of at least four atmospheric carbon dioxide spikes coinciding with extinctions on land and at sea from the Late Permian to the Middle Triassic is presented by

Retallack Retallack village is near St Columb Major, in Cornwall, England, UK, and in the civil parish of St Wenn. Most of the village was turned into a 100 acre commercial theme park called "Spirit of the West". The theme park opened in 1989 under the n ...

(2021). * Lu ''et al.'' (2021) present a record of volcanism and environmental changes from

lake succession of the Jiyuan Basin (North China), and interpret their findings as indicative of four pulses of volcanism which were probably responsible for the global carbon isotope excursions that marked the

Carnian pluvial episode The Carnian pluvial episode (CPE), often called the Carnian pluvial event, was a period of major change in global climate that coincided with significant changes in Earth's biota both in the sea and on land. It occurred during the latter part of ...

and drove major environmental changes in the Jiyuan Basin. * A study evaluating whether fuel-driven changes to fire activity during the Cretaceous period had the ability to counteract rising atmospheric oxygen at this time is published by Belcher ''et al.'' (2021), who argue that alteration of fire feedbacks driven by the rise of the flowering plants likely lowered atmospheric oxygen levels from ~30% to 25% by the end of the Cretaceous. * White & Campione (2021) describe a workflow in which three-dimensional surface profiles of fragmentary fossils can be quantitatively compared to better-known exemplars in order to identify fragmentary fossils, and apply this workflow to megaraptorid

theropod Theropoda (; from ancient Greek , (''therion'') "wild beast"; , (''pous, podos'') "foot"">wiktionary:ποδός"> (''pous, podos'') "foot" is one of the three major groups (clades) of dinosaurs, alongside Ornithischia and Sauropodom ...

ungual An ungual (from Latin ''unguis'', i.e. ''nail'') is a highly modified distal toe bone which ends in a hoof, claw, or nail. Elephants and ungulates have ungual phalanges, as did the sauropod Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; ...

s from the Cretaceous of Australia. * A study aiming to test whether

histological Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology that studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissue (biology), tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at large ...

characters can be used to assign bones to individuals within a quarry, using

sauropod Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their b ...

dinosaur material from two adjacent

Morrison Morrison may refer to: People * Morrison (surname), people with the Scottish surname Morrison * Morrison Heady (1829–1915), American poet * Morrison Mann MacBride (1877–1938), Canadian merchant Places in the United States * Morrison, Colorad ...

quarries in the

Bighorn Basin The Bighorn Basin is a plateau region and intermontane basin, approximately 100 miles (160 km) wide, in north-central Wyoming in the United States. It is bounded by the Absaroka Range on the west, the Pryor Mountains on the north, the Bigho ...

(

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, United States) as a case study, is published by Wiersma-Weyand ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on diverse amniotic eggshells from the Wido Volcanics (Upper Cretaceous,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

), evaluating their utility for assessments of the paleothermometry of the sedimentary deposits, is published by Choi ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the age and duration of the Lower Cretaceous

Yixian Formation The Yixian Formation (; formerly Romanization of Chinese, transcribed as Yihsien Formation or Yixiang Formation) is a geological formation in Jinzhou, Liaoning, People's Republic of China, that spans the Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous. I ...

(China) is published by Zhong ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the age of the

Jiufotang Formation The Jiufotang Formation () is an Early Cretaceous geological formation in Chaoyang, Liaoning which has yielded fossils of feathered dinosaurs, primitive birds, pterosaurs, and other organisms (see Jehol Biota). It is a member of the Jehol group. T ...

outcrops in the Jianchang Basin (Liaoning, China) is published by Yu ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the elevation and mean annual temperature of the Sihetun area (Liaoning, China) in the Early Cretaceous, when the area was inhabited by feathered dinosaurs, is published by Zhang, Yin & Wang (2021), who interpret their findings as indicative of a high altitude and cold habitat with frozen winters for the Jehol Biota in this area, and evaluate possible implications of such habitat for the evolution of the feathered characteristic of the dinosaurs. * A study on possible impact of

taphonomic Taphonomy is the study of how organisms decay and become fossilized or preserved in the paleontological record. The term ''taphonomy'' (from Greek , 'burial' and , 'law') was introduced to paleontology in 1940 by Soviet scientist Ivan Efremov ...

biases on preservation of small-bodied dinosaurs and mammals from the

Hell Creek The Hell Creek Formation is an intensively studied division of mostly Upper Cretaceous and some lower Paleocene rocks in North America, named for exposures studied along Hell Creek, near Jordan, Montana. The formation stretches over portions o ...

and

Lance The English term lance is derived, via Middle English '' launce'' and Old French '' lance'', from the Latin '' lancea'', a generic term meaning a wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generic term meaning a spear">wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generi ...

formations, and on its implications for the knowledge of diversity and abundance of small-bodied taxa from these formations, is published by Brown ''et al.'' (2021). * Goderis ''et al.'' (2021) report new data revealing a positive

iridium Iridium is a chemical element; it has the symbol Ir and atomic number 77. This very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, is considered the second-densest naturally occurring metal (after osmium) with a density ...

anomaly within the peak-ring sequence of the

Chicxulub The Chicxulub crater is an impact crater buried underneath the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Its center is offshore, but the crater is named after the onshore community of Chicxulub Pueblo (not the larger coastal town of Chicxulub Puerto). I ...

impact structure, and interpret this finding as conclusively tying Chicxulub to the global iridium layer and Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary sections worldwide, confirming the link between crater formation and the iridium peak detected in these sections. * DePalma ''et al.'' (2021) present data from histological and histo-isotopic analyses of fossil fish from the Tanis fossil site (

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

, United States), interpreted as indicating that the end-Cretaceous Chicxulub impact occurred during boreal Spring/Summer, shortly after the spawning season for fish and most continental taxa. * A study on the

of marine vertebrate fossils from the Miocene

(

), aiming to determine possible causes of their exceptional preservation, is published by Bosio ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on Middle Miocene microfloral assemblages from ten localities in the Madrid Basin (Spain), providing evidence of prevalence of open habitats with grass-dominated, savannah-like vegetation under a warm and semi-arid climatic regime in the Iberian Peninsula in the Middle Miocene, is published by Casas-Gallego ''et al.'' (2021). * A study aiming to determine whether a strong link can be established between stable carbon isotopes of tooth enamel of herbivores and vegetation structure in present African ecosystems, and whether enamel stable carbon isotopes of fossil herbivores are useful for making inferences about Plio-Pleistocene vegetation structure in Africa and the environmental context of hominin evolution, is published by Robinson ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on environmental changes in East Africa at the time of the extinction of ''

Paranthropus boisei ''Paranthropus boisei'' is a species of australopithecine from the Early Pleistocene of East Africa about 2.5 to 1.15 million years ago. The holotype specimen, OH 5, was discovered by palaeoanthropologist Mary Leakey in 1959 at Olduvai Gorge, Ta ...

'' is published by Quinn & Lepre (2021), who report evidence of a significant reduction in C₄ grasslands during

Mid-Pleistocene Transition The Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT), also known as the Mid-Pleistocene Revolution (MPR), is a fundamental change in the behaviour of glacial cycles during the Quaternary glaciations. The transition lasted around 550,000 years, from 1.25 million ...

, and argue that this reduction might have escalated dietary competition amongst the abundant C₄-feeders and influenced ''P. boiseis demise; their conclusions are subsequently contested by Patterson ''et al.'' (2022). * Evidence from Chitimwe Beds (northern

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

), indicating that in the late Pleistocene early modern humans fundamentally altered local landscapes and ecology using fire, is presented by Thompson ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the climate and environments in the Guadix-Baza Basin (Spain) from the Pliocene to the Middle Pleistocene, aiming to reconstruct environments inhabited by some of the earliest humans who dispersed into Europe, is published by Saarinen ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the Early Pleistocene environment of the Nihewan Basin (China), as indicated by stable isotope data from tooth enamel of mammals from the Madigou site, is published by Xu ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on environmental changes in Southeast Asia at the time of the Pleistocene turnovers of hominin species culminating with the arrival of ''Homo sapiens'' in the area, based on data from mammal fossils from five faunas from

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

whose ages ranged from MIS 6–5 to MIS 3–2, and aiming to determine how the climate changes that occurred during the Late Pleistocene might have influenced the adaptation of the first ''H. sapiens'' in the area, is published by Bacon ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the relationship between the severity of late Quaternary megaherbivore extinctions and fire activity in grassy ecosystems is published by Karp ''et al.'' (2021). * Ellis ''et al.'' (2021) examine current biodiversity patterns in relation to distribution of human populations and land use over the past 12,000 years, and argue that as early as 12,000 years ago nearly three quarters of Earth's land was inhabited and shaped by human societies. * Alleon ''et al.'' (2021) revise reports of organic molecules in animal fossils, and argue that purported signatures of organic molecules are in reality instrumental artefacts resulting from intense background luminescence; their conclusions are subsequently contested by Wiemann & Briggs (2022). * A study aiming to assess how methods used to determine diversification rate variation through time perform when applied to entirely extinct groups, applying them to

ornithischia Ornithischia () is an extinct clade of mainly herbivorous dinosaurs characterized by a pelvic structure superficially similar to that of birds. The name ''Ornithischia'', or "bird-hipped", reflects this similarity and is derived from the Greek ...

n dinosaurs, is published by Černý, Madzia & Slater (2021). * A new method for estimating dimorphism levels in fossil assemblages is presented by Sasaki ''et al.'' (2021). * A methodological schema for investigating

evolvability Evolvability is defined as the capacity of a system for adaptive evolution. Evolvability is the ability of a population of organisms to not merely generate genetic diversity, but to generate '' adaptive'' genetic diversity, and thereby evolve thr ...

in the fossil record is proposed by Love ''et al.'' (2021). * Didier &

Laurin Laurin is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Anna-Lena Laurin (born 1962), Swedish composer * Camille Laurin (1922–1999), psychiatrist and politician in Quebec, Canada * Dan Laurin (born 1960), Swe ...

(2021) present a method to compute the distribution of the extinction time of a given set of taxa, and apply this method to the study of the extinction time of three Permo-Carboniferous synapsid taxa (

Ophiacodontidae Ophiacodontidae is an extinct family of early synapsids from the Carboniferous and Permian. '' Archaeothyris'', and '' Clepsydrops'' were among the earliest ophiacodontids, appearing in the Late Carboniferous. Ophiacodontids are among the most b ...

Edaphosauridae Edaphosauridae is a family of mostly large (up to or more) Late Carboniferous to Early Permian synapsids. Edaphosaur fossils are so far known only from North America and Europe. Characteristics They were the earliest known herbivorous amniotes ...

and

Sphenacodontidae Sphenacodontidae (Greek: "wedge point tooth family") is an extinct family (biology), family of sphenacodontoidea, sphenacodontoid synapsids. Small to large, advanced, carnivore, carnivorous, Late Pennsylvanian to Guadalupian, middle Permian "pelyc ...

). * A study assessing whether resin impregnation of sediment blocks interferes with the retrieval of ancient DNA from sediments, and evaluating ancient mammalian DNA preservation in Pleistocene sediment blocks from 13 archaeological sites in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America, is published by Massilani ''et al.'' (2021). * A study exploring the causal relationship between the global distribution of fossil occurrence data and the legacy of colonialism and associated socioeconomic factors, and evaluating the implications of that relationships for the knowledge of past biodiversity, is published by Raja ''et al.'' (2021).

Paleoclimate

* Scotese ''et al.'' (2021) estimate how global temperatures have changed during the last 540 million years. * A high-resolution proxy record of Late Cambrian and Ordovician climate is presented by Goldberg ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on changes in weathering intensity and temperature along a temperate to subpolar southeastern margin of

Gondwana Gondwana ( ; ) was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent. The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia (continent), Australia, Zea ...

(eastern margin of present-day Australia) across the end-Permian extinction is published by Frank ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on the atmospheric CO₂ levels during the Permian–Triassic transition, based on data from fossil plant remains from sedimentary successions in southwestern China, is published by Wu ''et al.'' (2021), who present evidence of a six-fold increase of atmospheric ''p''CO₂ during the Permian–Triassic mass extinction. * A study on the source, pace and total amount of CO₂ emissions during the Permian–Triassic transition is published by Cui ''et al.'' (2021), who interpret their findings as suggesting that rapid and massive amount of largely volcanic CO₂ emission was necessary to drive the observed pattern of carbon isotope excursions, the abrupt decline in surface ocean pH and global temperature increase, and was likely the main cause of the end-Permian mass extinction. * A study on the climate of the Lufeng area (China) during the

, and on the relationship between the global distribution of dinosaur fossils and climate during the Jurassic, is published by Shen ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration levels during the late

Albian The Albian is both an age (geology), age of the geologic timescale and a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early Cretaceous, Early/Lower Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch/s ...

, as indicated by

stoma In botany, a stoma (: stomata, from Greek language, Greek ''στόμα'', "mouth"), also called a stomate (: stomates), is a pore found in the Epidermis (botany), epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that controls the rate of gas exc ...

ta characteristics of conifers '' Pseudofrenelopsis gansuensis'' and ''Pseudofrenelopsis dalatzensis'' from the Dalazi Formation (China), is published by Li, Yang & Zhu (2021). * Evidence of the presence of a terrestrial climate barrier in the Western Interior Basin of North America during the final 15 million years of the Cretaceous, dividing the Western Interior Basin into warm southern and cool northern biomes, is presented by Burgener ''et al.'' (2021), who also report evidence indicating that the

biogeographical Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

distribution of plants was heavily influenced by the presence of this temperature transition zone. * De Winter ''et al.'' (2021) present reconstructions of monthly

sea surface temperature Sea surface temperature (or ocean surface temperature) is the ocean temperature, temperature of ocean water close to the surface. The exact meaning of ''surface'' varies in the literature and in practice. It is usually between and below the sea ...

s at around 50 °N latitude about 78 million years ago, based on data from oyster and

rudist Rudists are a group of extinct box-, tube- or ring-shaped marine heterodont bivalves belonging to the order Hippuritida that arose during the Late Jurassic and became so diverse during the Cretaceous that they were major reef-building organis ...

shells from the Kristianstad Basin (

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

). * A study on CO₂ contents of early

Deccan Traps The Deccan Traps are a large igneous province of west-central India (17–24°N, 73–74°E). They are one of the largest volcanic features on Earth, taking the form of a large shield volcano. They consist of many layers of solidified flood ...

lavas, aiming to determine whether early Deccan magmatism triggered the warming event during the latest

, is published by Hernandez Nava ''et al.'' (2021). * Vento ''et al.'' (2021) estimate parameters of the

Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...

Neogene The Neogene ( ,) is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period million years ago. It is the second period of th ...

climate on the basis of data from fossil leaves from the Río Turbio and Río Guillermo formations in southern South America (

). * A study aiming to evaluate the fit of molecular phylogenetic and

biogeographic Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

data from extant animals and models regarding the age of formation of the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

fluvial system is published by Méndez-Camacho, Leon-Alvarado & Miranda-Esquivel (2021). * 10-million-year long proxy record of Arabian climate is developed by Böhme ''et al.'' (2021), who report evidence indicative of a sustained period of hyperaridity in the Pliocene and a number of transient periods of hyperaridity in northern Arabia during the late Miocene which were out of phase with those in North Africa, and argue that these desert dynamics had a strong control on large-scale mammalian dispersals between Africa and Eurasia. * A study aiming to estimate the tolerance to low precipitation and aridity that would have been required for early humans to successfully exit Africa and to determine the timings of climatic windows out of Africa for humans, based on data from paleoclimate simulations of the last 300,000 years, is published by Beyer ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on climate changes in eastern Africa over the past 200,000 years, evaluating their possible impact on the mobility and dispersal of early ''Homo sapiens'', is published by Schaebitz ''et al.'' (2021). * A study aiming to reconstruct summer and winter temperatures in the Late Pleistocene when

Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...

s were using the site of

La Ferrassie La Ferrassie is an archaeological site in Savignac-de-Miremont, in the Dordogne department, France. The site, located in the Vézère valley, consists of a large and deep cave flanked by two rock shelters within a limestone cliff, under which ...

(

), based on data from oxygen isotope measurements of bovid

tooth enamel Tooth enamel is one of the four major Tissue (biology), tissues that make up the tooth in humans and many animals, including some species of fish. It makes up the normally visible part of the tooth, covering the Crown (tooth), crown. The other ...

, is published by Pederzani ''et al.'' (2021). * A study on local seasonal temperatures in the area of the

Bacho Kiro cave The Bacho Kiro cave () is situated west of the town Dryanovo, Bulgaria, only away from the Dryanovo Monastery. It is embedded in the canyons of the Andaka and Dryanovo River. It was opened in 1890 and the first recreational visitors entered ...

(

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

) in the Initial

Upper Paleolithic The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories ...

, and on its implications for the knowledge whether early presence of ''Homo sapiens'' in Europe was contingent on warm climates, is published by Pederzani ''et al.'' (2021). * Data from analyses and modelling of noble gases in groundwater, indicating that the low-altitude, low-to-mid-latitude land surface ( 45 degrees south to 35 degrees north) was about 6 °C cooler during the

Last Glacial Maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Last Glacial Coldest Period, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period where ice sheets were at their greatest extent between 26,000 and 20,000 years ago. Ice sheets covered m ...

than during the Late Holocene, is presented by Seltzer ''et al.'' (2021). * Osman ''et al.'' (2021) reconstruct surface temperature changes spanning the Last Glacial Maximum to present at 200-year resolution.

References

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