Paleobiology Content

How Did Animals Eat Before Mouths?

Andy Fell — September 12, 2025 - 11:09am

More than half a billion years ago, during the Ediacaran Period, animal life looked nothing like today. Strange cup- and disk-shaped creatures sat and crawled along an ocean floor covered in thick microbial mats made of bacteria and algae. The only clues these organisms left to their lifestyles exist in the fossil record.

No Evidence of a Common Set of Regeneration Genes

Andy Fell — August 19, 2024 - 2:57pm

Some animals, especially those that have been around for a long time in evolutionary terms, possess extraordinary abilities to regenerate lost limbs or organs. These animals, such as flatworms, salamanders and zebrafish, are not at all closely related, suggesting that the ability to regenerate goes far back in evolutionary time. Is it possible to find a common set of genes for regeneration, that could unlock a new understanding of this process?

Modern Plants Show More Insect Damage Than Fossilized Plants

Andy Fell — October 14, 2022 - 4:26pm

Despite widespread insect declines, plants are experiencing “unprecedented levels of insect damage” in comparison to their fossilized counterparts, according to new research by a trio of scientists including UC Davis entomologist Emily Meineke.

Discovering Sirtuin Longevity Proteins in Early Branches of Animal Life

Andy Fell — September 22, 2022 - 11:45am

Animals on the early branches of the tree of life, such as jellyfish and sea sponges, defy the usual conventions of aging.

First Jellyfish Genome Reveals Ancient Beginnings of Complex Body Plan

Andy Fell — December 03, 2018 - 11:31am

Jellyfish undergo an amazing metamorphosis, from tiny polyps growing on the seafloor to swimming medusae with stinging tentacles. This shape-shifting has served them well, shepherding jellyfish through more than 500 million years of mass extinctions on Earth.

“Whatever they’re doing has really worked for them,” said David Gold, an assistant professor of paleobiology in the University of California, Davis, College of Letters and Science.