• Zhang (2026) presents a new hypothesis on causes of the rise of organismal complexity that made the Cambrian radiation possible in favorable environmental conditions, linking it to predator–prey interactions among unicellular holozoans that drove genomic novelty, and to motility acting as an evolutionary filter, with high-motility forms retaining unicellularity and low-motility ones ultimately evolving multicellularity. • Wang et al. (2026) report the discovery of a new assemblage of late Ediacaran organisms (the Dongpo biota) from the
Dongpo Formation (China), expanding known geographic distribution of the Ediacaran macrofossils. • Kolesnikov et al. (2026) determine precise minimum age of the Ediacaran biota from the Chernyi Kamen Formation in Central Urals (Russia). • Becker-Kerber et al. (2026) describe new filamentous fossils from the Ediacaran strata of the
Tamengo Formation (Brazil), compare their structure to those of purported trace fossils produced by animals from the Ediacaran–Cambrian Corumbá Group reported by Parry et al. (2017), and interpret the studied structures as more likely representing microbial consortia composed of filamentous algae and bacteria rather than animal burrows. • McIlroy et al. (2026) report the discovery of a new fossil site at
Inner Meadow (Newfoundland, Canada) determined to be approximately 550.78-million years old and including most the
Avalon assemblage biota, and interpret this finding as indicating that the Avalon assemblage and the
White Sea assemblage were contemporaneous, and that both were affected by the first pulse of the
End-Ediacaran extinction (the Kotlin Crisis). • Li et al. (2026) report the discovery of a new assemblage of late Ediacaran organisms from the strata of the
Dengying Formation from the Qingshuigou and Shanglijiao localities (Yunnan, China), preserving remains of Ediacaran macrobionts as well as vermiform animals and the oldest
deuterostomes (
stem-group ambulacrarians) reported to date. • Zhuravlev &
Wood (2026) report evidence from the study of the fossil record of
Cloudina and earliest Cambrian archaeocyaths indicating that early animals were ecological generalists that were not preferentially associated with reefs, and link the distribution of reefs throughout the evolutionary history of reef-building animals to the presence of suitable environmental conditions and availability of substrates. • Malanoski et al. (2026) report evidence from the study of the fossil record of shallow-marine taxa, indicating that throughout the
Phanerozoic taxa with geographical distribution allowing easier access to north-south dispersal pathways were more resilient compared to taxa living along east-west–oriented coastlines, islands or inland seaways. • Evidence of long-term northward shifts in marine biodiversity centers throughout the Phanerozoic, interpreted as linked to northward drift of major continental plates, is presented by Zhang & Shen (2026). • Dantes & Nagovitsin (2026) provide a general morphological classification of Cambrian cone-shaped microfossils. • Song et al. (2026) study the composition of the
small shelly fauna associated with archaeocyath reefs from the Cambrian
Xiannüdong Formation (Shaanxi, China), interpreted as indicative of presence of a diverse benthic assemblage with reef-dwelling organisms distinct from those in other reef environments. • Zeng et al. (2026) report a diverse biota dominated by arthropods, sponges and cnidarians and including soft-bodied forms preserved with cellular tissues (the Huayuan biota) from a
Cambrian Stage 4 Burgess Shale-type Lagerstätte from the Yangtze Block (Hunan, China). • Gass & Noffke (2026) describe new trace fossils from the Cambrian strata from the
Blackberry Hill site (Wisconsin, United States), including trace fossil evidence of an animal feeding on a
scyphozoan, and name new ichnotaxa
Seilacherichnus and
Climactichnites blackberriensis. • Shi et al. (2026) reconstruct high-resolution patterns of changes of marine biodiversity from
Miaolingian to
Furongian, reporting evidence of three significant biodiversity pulses and evidence of declines of biodiversity coinciding with carbon isotope excursions. • Evidence from the study of the invertebrate fossil material from the Cincinnati Arch (United States), indicating that the appearance of invasive species during the Late Ordovician (the Richmondian Invasion) resulted in composition of the benthic invertebrate assemblage from the studied area but did not significantly change its functional diversity, is presented by Ess et al. (2026). • Kundladi & Stigall (2026) study diversification and interaction dynamics of marine invertebrates from the Nashville Basin across the Richmondian Invasion, providing evidence of changes of community structure that negatively impacted some of the native taxa but overall resulted in the emergence of a more stable and complex ecosystem. • Cyanobacterial, fungal and algal remains interpreted as record of a Devonian biota inhabiting a highly saline, sulphate lake and associated playa mudflat are described from the Lower Old Red Sandstone) deposits of the Northern Highlands (Scotland, United Kingdom) by Wellman (2026). • A new Devonian biota, including clam shrimps, scorpions, juvenile eurypterids and possible euthycarcinoids and velvet worms, is reported from a new site in Luxembourg (the Consthum
Lagerstätte) by Poschmann et al. (2026). • Calábková, Březina & Nádaskay (2026) study the composition of a diverse assemblage of tetrapod trace fossils from the Carboniferous (
Gzhelian) Semily Formation (Czech Republic). • Henderson, Angiolini & Beauchamp (2026) study the composition of the Permian (
Asselian) fauna from the
Strathearn Formation (Nevada, United States) dominated by brachiopods and bryozoans, interpreted as benefiting from intermittent nutrient supply brought in by upwelling, and interpreted as repeatedly recovering after disruptions caused by storm events. • Marchetti et al. (2026) determine the Permian biota from the Bromacker locality (
Tambach Formation, Germany) to be latest
Asselian in age. • A
regurgitalite produced by a predator (possibly
Dimetrodon teutonis or
Tambacarnifex unguifalcatus), preserving remains of
Thuringothyris mahlendorffae,
Eudibamus cursoris and an unidentified
diadectid, is described from the Permian Tambach Formation (Germany) by Rebillard et al. (2026). • Tooth marks produced by large carnivores, as well as boring likely produced by arthropod larvae, are identified in skeletons of juvenile specimens of
Diadectes sp. from the Permian strata of the
Vale Formation (Texas, United States) by Young, Maho & Reisz (2026). • Gastaldo et al. (2026) reevalute evidence of replacement of Permian terrestrial vertebrate assemblages from the Karoo Basin by taxa from the
Lystrosaurus declivis Assemblage Zone during the Permian-Triassic transition on the basis of data from localities in and around
Wapadsberg Pass (South Africa), and interpret the stratigraphic record from the Wapadsberg Pass area as inconsistent with the model of turnover of vertebrate assemblages that was coeval with the end-Permian marine extinction. • Liu et al. (2026) compare the recovery of ostracods, brachiopods and ammonites in the aftermath of the
Permian–Triassic extinction event, and find that brachiopods and ammonites refilled the vacated morphospace with limited innovation, while ostracods underwent a adaptive radiation, expanding morphospace and ecological niches. • A study on the diverse coprolite assemblage from the Lower Triassic
Vikinghøgda Formation (Svalbard, Triassic), providing the first evidence of presence of invertebrates (cephalopods and sponges) in the Grippa bonebed and evidence of the coprolite producers feeding on ray-finned fishes and juvenile
ichthyopterygians, is published by Simonsen et al. (2026). • Trace fossil evidence of predation of horseshoe crabs on polychaetes is reported from the Lower Triassic
Daye Formation (China) by Feng et al. (2026), who also report evidence indicative of enhanced
infaunalization coinciding with diversification of marine predators during the Early Triassic. • Woolley et al. (2026) describe the first vertebrate assemblage from the middle member of the
Fremouw Formation (Antarctica), including capitosaurian, therocephalian, procolophonid and archosauromorph fossil material and interpreted as likely to be Early Triassic in age. • Casts of burrows likely produced by ground-dwelling crayfish, as well as casts of burrows produced by tetrapods (possibly procolophonids, trirachodontids or bauriids) that might have been feeding on crayfish, are reported from the Middle Triassic Burgersdorp Formation (South Africa) by Wolvaardt et al. (2026). • Zhang et al. (2026) determine the age and duration of the
Ladinian Xingyi Fauna on the basis of the study of astrochronology and cyclostratigraphy of the Nimaigu Section of the Falang Formation (China), and interpret the environment of the studied fauna as driven by a combination of
orbital forcing and volcanic activity. • Trinidad et al. (2026) study the bone histology of Late Triassic vertebrates from the
Pebbly Arkose Formation (Zimbabwe), reporting evidence of frequent interrupted growth in rhynchosaurs and suchians as well as evidence of faster and more continuous growth in cynodonts and dinosaurs, and interpret the studied vertebrates as likely living in a more arid resource-poor environment with less seasonal variation compared to their contemporaries from assemblages from Argentina, Brazil and India. • Numberger-Thuy et al. (2026) describe fossil material of late-surviving plagiosaurs and a diverse reptile assemblage from the Rhaetian strata of the
Exter Formation (Germany). • Rosin et al. (2026) study the composition of the palynomorph assemblages from the Westbury, Lilstock and Redcar Mudstone formations in the Cheshire Basin (United Kingdom), recording changes of composition of vegetation and aquatic microorganism assemblages in response to environmental changes during the latest Triassic and Early Jurassic. • Stone et al. (2026) reconstruct timing and phases of reef recovery in the High Atlas Basin of Morocco in the aftermath of the
Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event, interpreted as determined by tolerances of different framework builders to environmental conditions at the time. • A study on the composition of the Early Cretaceous (Valanginian) microvertebrate fauna from the Cliff End Bone Bed (
Ashdown Formation; United Kingdom) is published by Clavo Yamahuchi et al. (2026). • García-Cobeña et al. (2026) report the discovery of new fossil material of cartilaginous fishes, turtles, crocodylomorphs and dinosaurs from the Lower Cretaceous
El Castellar Formation (Spain), expanding known vertebrate diversity from the studied formation. • Fiorelli et al. (2026) report discovery of well-preserved fossil material of diverse Late Cretaceous microorganisms encrusted in microbialites from paleogeysers and hot springs from the Sanagasta GeoPark (La Rioja, Argentina). • Evidence from the study of the fossil record of reef-building corals and of the evolutionary history of reef-associated fishes inferred from molecular phylogenies, indicating that formation of the Great Indo-Australian Miocene Reef System in the Miocene coincided with and likely influenced diversification of corals and reef-associated fish lineages, is presented by Siqueira et al. (2026). • Moretti & Young (2026) describe new fossil material of mammals and tortoises from Bender's Cave (Texas, United States), including the first records of
Hesperotestudo sp. and
Holmesina septentrionalis from the Late Pleistocene of the
Edwards Plateau, and argue that the assemblage from Bender's Cave might include animals dating to interglacial intervals of the Late Pleistocene. • Pillay et al. (2026) conduct a survey of ancient DNA from subfossil remains from
Nuku Hiva (
French Polynesia), identify a wide range of vertebrate taxa on the basis of bulk bone metabarcoding, and report the identification of remains of three seabird taxa new to the archaeological record of the
Marquesas Islands. • Evidence from the study of approximately 7,000-year-old corals and fish otoliths from coral reef deposits from Panama and the Dominican Republic and from the study of the trophic structure of nearby modern reefs, indicative of reduction of length and complexity of food webs in the Caribbean reef ecosystems throughouth the Holocene, is presented by Lueders-Dumont et al. (2026). • Evidence from the study of the Neogene to Holocene record of marine anthozoans, bivalves, gastropods, sea urchins, cartilaginous fishes and mammals, indicating that neither absolute range nor range change in isolation is sufficient to predict extinction of members of the studied groups, is presented by Straube et al. (2026). ==Other research==