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. Homepage & e-mail Research Profile
	Acritarch genus Skiagia	Acritarch genus Globosphaeridium

	Globosphaeridium under the SEM	Close-up of Globosphaeridium


Sebastian Willman Doctoral Student		Acritarch species Polygonium gracile from the Lower Ordovician, Jilin Province, China
Main interests: Ediacaran and Cambrian acritarchs. Origins and diversification of phytoplankton Homepage & e-mail