Centre for Palaeobiology Research
Our research is focussed on understanding the processes and patterns of the evolution of life, and the interactions between the biosphere and other elements of the Earth system, spanning Palaeozoic, Mesozoic and Recent organisms and exceptionally preserved fossil biotas (lagerstätten).
Leicester's Palaeobiology research has an international reputation for initiatives elucidating the taphonomy and palaeobiology of globally important Palaeozoic lagerstätten, especially the Cambrian Chengjiang (China), Ordovician Soom Shale (South Africa) and Silurian Herefordshire (UK) faunas. Staff are leaders in the fields of the palaeobiology and evolutionary relationships of conodonts and other early fish, ostracods and related arthropods, pterosaurs, and in determining preservational pathways for the decay and preservation of soft-bodied organisms.
Our members have acknowledged expertise in the application of microfossils, including phytoplankton, and macrofossils in high resolution biostratigraphy and in interpreting deep time (Palaeozoic and Cenozoic) ocean/atmosphere systems and palaeoclimate; they are centrally involved in work on the Anthropocene paradigm. Vertebrate research also includes 3D texture analysis of tooth microwear to investigate the trophic ecology of fishes, dinosaurs and mammals.
The Centre publishes in journals of the highest international quality, and has strong links with palaeontology laboratories and geological surveys world-wide. Its research is supported by NERC, The Royal Society, The Leverhulme Trust, the British Geological Survey and Industry, and its staff hold leading positions in learned Palaeontological societies and Stratigraphic Commissions.
Follow us on Twitter: @LeicesterPalaeo
Current PhD opportunities
Current advertised projects with the NERC CENTA DTP range across the taphonomy of surface texture, small carbonaceous fossils, corals and palaeoclimate, cichilid dietary responses to environmental change, anthropocene of the Great Barrier Reef, the Palaeozoic of Vietnam, and Pterosaur ecology.
- 3D quantitative analysis of textures in palaeobiology: environments, taphonomy and exceptional preservation
- A hidden record of early animal evolution? Exploring the Cambrian diversity of acritarchs and small carbonaceous fossils
- Drivers of seasonality contrasts in sea surface temperature and freshwater flux within the Intertropical and South Indian Ocean Convergence
- Organism responses to environmental change – testing hypotheses of dietary niche shifts in cichlid fishes over historical and longer timescales
Academic Staff
| Name | Name |
|---|---|
| Professor Sarah Gabbott | Professor Mark Williams |
| Dr Tom Harvey | Professor David Siveter (Emeritus) |
| Professor Mark Purnell | Dr David Unwin |
| Professor Jan Zalasiewicz (Emeritus) | Professor Jens Zinke |
Research Staff and Students
| Name | Name |
|---|---|
| Neil Adams | Michael Morton |
| Rachel Belben | Walid Naciri |
| Will Crabbe | Christopher Nedza |
| Stephen Himson | Christopher Stocker |
| Rachael Holmes | Chris Stockey |
| Hedwig Krawczyk | Yasmin Yonan |
| Anna McGairy | Manlin Zhang |
Research Visitors
| Name | Location |
|---|---|
| Dr Changshi Qi | Yunnan University, China |
| Professor Hou Xian-guang | Yunnan University, China |
| Dr Zheng Xiguang | Yunnan University, China |
| Prof Nigel Hughes | University of California Riverside |
Group Alumni
| Name | PhD Project Title | What are they doing now? |
|---|---|---|
| Dr Jordan Bestwick | Resolving pterosaur dietary ecology using tooth microwear and biomechanics | |
| Dr Thomas Wong Hearing | Constraining the marine environment of the Cambrian metazoan adaptive radiation | Research Fellow, Ghent University |
| Dr Laura McLennan | Tooth wear and microtextural analysis of diet and feeding in living and fossil condrichthyans | Lecturer, Derby University |
| Dr Leah Nolan | Equatorial sea surface temperature seasonality in the Mississippian (Carboniferous) derived from brachiopod shell carbonate | |
| Dr Zardasht Taha | Response of Ostracods to the end Ordovician extinction and early Silurian recovery | |
| Dr Mark Evans | Evolution of Jurassic Plesiosauria | British Antarctic Survey |
| Dr Jawad Afzal | Palaeocene-Eocene Foraminifera of the Indus Basin, Pakistan | Currently working as biostratigrapher for Fugro Robertson |
| Dr Irfan Jan | Investigating the palaeoenvironments and narrow palaeoclimate zones of the Palaeotethyan Permo-Carboniferous icehouse: the boulder beds of the Salt Range, Pakistan | Currently Assistant professor National Centre for Excellence in Geology, University of Peshawar, Pakistan |
| Dr David Baines | Tooth microwear in fishes | |
| Dr Carys Bennett | Lower Carboniferous ostracods and isotopes of the Midland Valley, Scotland: testing for the ecological shift into non-marine environments | Currently Postdoc at University of Lille |
| Ben Davies | Functional morphology and locomotion of early vertebrates (MPhil) | |
| Dr David Jones | Exploiting the palaeobiological potential of conodonts: evolutionary trends, patterns and processes (PhD). Tooth wear and ecological constraints on isotopic & biostratigraphic analyses using conodonts (PDRA) | Went on to postdoc positions in Leicester and Bristol |
| Dr Xiaoya Ma | The Lower Cambrian Chengjiang Biota, Yunnan, China | University of Exeter, Senior Research Fellow |
| Dr David Riley |
Taphonomy of the Herefordshire Lagerstätte | Currently working for Chemostrat Ltd |
| Dr Alex Page | Graptolitic mudrocks and the taphonomy of organic fossils | Currently teaching |
| Dr Rowan Whittle | Problematic fossils from the Late Ordovician Soom Shale lagerstätte, South Africa | Currently working for British Antarctic Survey |
| Dr Vince Williams | Tooth microwear, diet and feeding in ornithischian dinosaurs | Currently teaching |
Experimental/Technical Staff
| Name | Position |
|---|---|
| Lin Marvin-Dorland | Scanning Electron Microscope Technician |
Honorary Research Staff
| Name | Location |
|---|---|
| Dr Philip Donoghue | Bristol University |
| Dr Robert Goodall | |
| Dr Mike Howe | British Geological Survey |
| Dr Stewart Molyneux | British Geological Survey |
| Dr Victoria McCoy | |
| Dr Gary Mullins | Fugro Robertson Ltd |
| Dr Philip Wilby | British Geological Survey |
Current and Recent Projects
- Chengjiang Lagerstätte, Cambrian, China (Royal Society)
- Comley Lagerstätte, Cambrian, UK (NERC)
- Herefordshire Lagerstätte, Silurian, UK (NERC & Leverhulme Trust)
- Soom Shale Lagerstätte, Ordovician, South Africa
- Eramosa Lagerstätte, Silurian, Canada (Royal Ontario Museum and NERC)
- Experimental decay of onychophorans - lobopodian anatomy and arthropod origins (NERC)
- Decay and preservation of chordates, and vertebrate origins (NERC)
- Silurian phytoplankton and oceanic change (Leverhulme Trust)
- Origins, ecology and paleobiology of ostracods and related arthropods (Royal Society and Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science)
- Palaeobiology of conodonts
- Bridging the gap between ecological and evolutionary timescales: tooth wear, niche differentiation and speciation in living and fossil fishes (NERC)
- Systematics locomotion and palaeobiology of pterosaurs
- Palaeoclimate of the Neogene and Holocene (USGS PRISM paleoclimate group and the British Antarctic Survey)
- Tooth wear and ecological constraints on conodonts (NERC)
- Provenance of lowland Iron Age ceramics using micropalaeontology (Nuffield and NERC)
- Early Palaeozoic climates
- The Anthropocene – a new epoch of time characterised by humans (British Geological Survey)
Awards and Prizes
| Name | Medal/Award |
|---|---|
| Prof Richard J. Aldridge | Coke Medal, Geological Society of London, 2012 |
| Prof Richard J. Aldridge | Lapworth medal of Palaeontological Association, 2011 |
| Prof Mark Purnell and Dr Sarah Gabbott | Shortlisted for Times Higher Awards Research Project of the Year, 2011 |
| Dr Rob Sansom | SET for Britain, Bronze Medal (Biological Science) 2011 |
| Mr Laurent Darras | Palaeontological Association Best Poster prize, 2010 |
| Prof Mark Purnell and Prof Paul Hart (Biology) | Shortlisted for Times Higher Awards Research Project of the Year, 2008 |
| Prof Mark Purnell | Hinde Medal of the Pander Society, 2006 |
Collaborations
- Yunnan University, China
- China University of Geosciences, Wuhan
- Ulm University, Germany
- Lyon University, Lille University, France
- Ghent University, Belgium
- Tartu University; Institute of Geology, Tallin, Estonia
- Yale University, USA
- University of Bath, UK
- University of Bristol, UK
- University of Central London, UK
- Oxford University, UK
- British Geological Survey
- Stellenbosch University, South Africa
- Royal Ontario Museum, Canada
- United States Geological Survey, PRISM paleoclimate group
