PeerJ Section
Paleontology and Evolutionary Science
Anthropology Evolutionary Studies Paleontology Taxonomy
Welcome to your community’s home at PeerJ. Sections are community led and exemplify a research community’s shared values, norms and interests. The citation average is 5.8 (view impact metrics).
Submit
17,976 Followers

Section Highlights View all Paleontology and Evolutionary Science articles arrow right

accompanying article image
15 December 2020
Canines and carnassials as indicators of sociality in durophagous hyaenids: analyzing the past to understand the present
"The authors provide a large and useful dataset for analyzing the evolution of canine shape in fossil and extant hyaenid taxa. A new hypothesis regarding hyaenid tooth functional morphology is proposed with reference to social behavior."
Brandon Hedrick, Handling Editor
accompanying article image
4 December 2020
The phylogeny and systematics of Xiphosura
"Fossil horseshoe crabs have enduring interest because they supposedly demonstrate extraordinary evolutionary stasis in the group "as living fossils." Evaluating this idea requires a great deal of careful comparative systematics, and this paper makes significant advances in the area by carefully defining a large suite of important fossils phylogenetically and systematically. It is a valuable paleontological contribution to a famous problem in invertebrate evolution."
Peter Wilf, Handling Editor
accompanying article image
20 November 2020
The cranial morphology of Tanystropheus hydroides (Tanystropheidae, Archosauromorpha) as revealed by synchrotron microtomography
"An excellent osteological description of an unusual Triassic reptile, using CT data to investigate the endocranial anatomy."
Mark Young, Section Editor
accompanying article image
7 October 2020
Effects of taphonomic deformation on geometric morphometric analysis of fossils: a study using the dicynodont Diictodon feliceps (Therapsida, Anomodontia)
"An interesting study quantifying shape change, and the impact of taphonomy."
Mark Young, Handling Editor
accompanying article image
18 September 2020
Endocranial anatomy of the ceratopsid dinosaur Triceratops and interpretations of sensory and motor function
"Very useful to workers studying dinosaur neurobiology."
Brandon Hedrick, Handling Editor
accompanying article image
8 September 2020
Climatic influence on the growth pattern of Panthasaurus maleriensis from the Late Triassic of India deduced from paleohistology
"An interesting study, albeit with a small sample size, on a poorly understood group of fossil tetrapods. It provides insight into growth history and distribution patterns."
Mark Young, Section Editor
accompanying article image
2 September 2020
Extreme dispersal or human-transport? The enigmatic case of an extralimital freshwater occurrence of a Southern elephant seal from Indiana
"Whether the elephant seal in question made it to Indiana under its own power or was transported by humans, it's an amazing find and a reminder that the world is often bigger and stranger than we realize."
Mathew Wedel, Handling Editor
accompanying article image
24 August 2020
A new ophiacanthid brittle star (Echinodermata, Ophiuroidea) from sublittoral crinoid and seagrass communities of late Maastrichtian age in the southeast Netherlands
"This is an important paper that presents new interpretations of ophiuroid fossil specimens."
Mark Young, Handling Editor
accompanying article image
15 July 2020
Decomposition of dinosaurian remains inferred by invertebrate traces on vertebrate bone reveal new insights into Late Jurassic ecology, decay, and climate in western Colorado
"No-one has done an analysis on this scale for a Morrison Formation dinosaur quarry, or possibly for any dinosaur quarry. It should set a new standard for this type of study."
Mathew Wedel, Handling Editor
accompanying article image
4 June 2020
A high-resolution growth series of Tyrannosaurus rex obtained from multiple lines of evidence
"This publication is a major step forward for investigating ontogenetic trends in a fossil animal, and will no doubt be a hallmark paper others will follow. Moreover, it will undoubtedly help those working on Tyrannosaurus rex and tyrannosaurids untangle issues surrounding 'dwarf taxa' vs ontogenetic morphs."
Mark Young, Section Editor

Collections View all

Top Cell Biology Papers - May 2015
The 4th Mediterranean Seagrass Workshop - MSW ’15
The 5th Turtle Evolution Symposium
Top Animal Behavior Papers - November 2014
Top Paleontology Papers - October 2014
Submit
17,976 Followers

Section Editors

Section Editors provide editorial oversight and community leadership, ensuring a fair and consistent peer review process, and the highest standards of scientific practice in their fields.
Virginia Abdala
Kenneth De Baets

Discussion

A new ophiacanthid brittle star named after Floor Jansen
https://www.floorjansen.com/news/a-new-ophiacanthid-brittle-star-named-after-floor-jansen

Prehistoric brittle star named after Nightwish singer Floor Jansen | NOW
https://www.archyde.com/prehistoric-brittle-star-named-after-nightwish-singer-floor-jansen-now/

Fossil rock: paleontologists named ancient marine animal after Nightwish singer
https://www.tellerreport.com/tech/2020-08-24-fossil-rock--paleontologists-named-ancient-marine-animal-after-nightwish-singer.rJCoh2jWQv.html

Scientists Unveil New Species of Cretaceous Brittle Star
https://www.courthousenews.com/scientists-unveil-new-species-of-cretaceous-brittle-star/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=scientists-unveil-new-species-of-cretaceous-brittle-star

Here's exactly how T. rex grew from a slender tot into a massive carnivore
https://www.livescience.com/tyrannosaurus-rex-size-age.html

Why showing just a cladogram?