Is clustering of extinctions really an increase in extinction rate or is it merely generated by reduced sedimentation rates that reduce the spacing between individual extinctions with long breaks between each other? Niklas Hohmann, Paleobiology Master student, has examined this question in his Bachelor thesis, which is now published in PALAIOS (Hohmann 2021). Continue

Abrupt changes in environmental signals recorded in an interval of strata can be the result of (1) fast changes in environmental conditions and average sedimentation rate or (2) average changes in environmental conditions and slow sedimentation rate. The new study by Dr. Emilia Jarochowska and co-authors, published in Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, proposes a method to estimate relative changes in depositional rates and test it in a sedimentary section Continue

To bring us all together in these difficult times, the Annual Meeting of The Palaeontological Association 2020 ended with the Palaeovision Fossil Contest. This is an online, interactive, international competition to decide the Annual Meeting’s favourite fossil for this year. The master students of ... Continue

For his excellent teaching in 2019, Prof. Dr. Axel Munnecke receives the “Prize for Good Teaching”! Science Minister Bernd Sibler announces the winners and congratulates them: “Your work is crucial for the success of the studies of students and thus for the training of smart minds who shape our ... Continue

Dr. Erik Sperling from Stanford University will give a talk on the subject "Understanding the role of environmental change in early animal evolution: New insights from geochemistry, physiology, and ocean modeling". Continue