at Uppsala University Department of Earth Sciences

UPPSALA UNIVERSITY : Department of Earth Sciences: Palaeobiology : Micropalaeontology

Micropalaeontology

At Uppsala University

Microbiota, representing Prokaryotes and Protoctists, are the most abundant organisms preserved in the fossil record and they record life on Earth for ca. 3.5 Ga. During this time, single-celled organisms have evolved into many different morphological, biochemical and ecological types. Their greatest diversification occurred in the Neoproterozoic and Cambrian (ca. 1.0 Ga - 490 Ma), a period of time when the Earth experienced severe global climatic and environmental changes. The causes of these biotic innovations, besides intrinsic genetic recombinations and mutations, which are unrecognisable in fossils, are closely related in time and space to environmental changes that can be detected in geological and geochemical records. Darwinian natural selection and adaptation of evolving biota to changing environments, and Lovelockian environmental feedback are integrated and are intriguing scientific targets that form a common interest in our studies.


Visingsö in Lake Vättern, Central Sweden	Upper Proterozoic rocks on Visingsö

Who we are...

Malgorzata Moczydlowska-Vidal
Professor, Head of group

Fieldwork in the Great Basin, Nevada, U.S.A-

Main interests: Neoproterozoic-Cambrian microbiota (acritarchs and bacteria), their palaeobiology, ecosystems and biochronology. Evolution of early life and Earth's environmental changes.

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Acritarch genus Skiagia

Acritarch genus Globosphaeridium

Acritarch species Polygonium gracile from Lower Ordovician, Jilin Province, China

Dr Sebastian Willman

Main interests: Ediacaran and Cambrian acritarchs. Origins and diversification of phytoplankton

Homepage & e-mail