Past research projects
insights into ediacaran frondose taxa
The group has produced multiple publications in recent years relating to frond-shaped fossils of the late Ediacaran Period. Collaboration with Dr Frankie Dunn, initially as part of her PhD at the University of Bristol, has provided new insight into the rangeomorph taxon Charnia masoni (Dunn et al., 2019a; Dunn et al., 2021), and the arboreomorph Arborea arborea (Dunn et al., 2019b), proposing that both taxa may represent total group eumetazoans. Another recent paper demonstrated that individual Ediacaran fronds could be connected on bedding planes by filamentous structures (Liu & Dunn, 2020), which we interpret as evidence in support of the suggestion that some taxa could reproduce asexually via stolons (Mitchell et al., 2015). Our research into the taxonomy, palaeoecology, and phylogenetic placement of these organisms continues, with active projects investigating new frondose taxa from Newfoundland and China, the morphogenesis of Fractofusus, and new insights into rangeomorph reproductive strategies.
ediacaran fossil preservatioN
The processes by which soft-bodied organisms were frequently preserved in the late Ediacaran Period have been an area of long-standing interest for members of the group. Previous work has employed petrological techniques to demonstrate the presence of pyritic veneers on fossil-bearing bedding planes in Newfoundland (Liu, 2016) and Australia (Liu et al., 2019). Our current taphonomic work, led by PhD student Phil Vixseboxse, utilises petrography and experimental taphonomy to constrain the environmental conditions under which Ediacaran fossil preservation could operate, as part of our Leverhulme Research Project. Visiting PhD student Chengxi Wu is also currently investigating soft-tissue preservation in Ediacaran carbonates.
meiofaunal trace fossils from the latest EDIACARAN OF BRAZIL (2017)
Expanding on a project initiated by Prof. Martin Brasier of the University of Oxford and colleagues at the USP in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and in collaboration with Dr Dan Condon of the British Geological Survey, a project led by Dr Luke Parry (Oxford) described and dated the oldest examples of meiofaunal trace fossils from latest Ediacaran siltstones of the Guaicurus Formation, near Corumba, Mato Grosso do Sul (Parry et al., 2017). These Brazilian collaborations remain active, most notably with Prof. Paulo Boggiani and Prof. Juliana Leme.
initial forays into the ediacaran (2007-2011)
Alex's initial work on Ediacaran palaeontology, taphonomy and ichnology began during his doctoral degree at the University of Oxford. Under the supervision of Prof. Martin Brasier and Prof. Duncan McIlroy (Memorial University of Newfoundland), he described evidence for surface trace fossils from the Mistaken Point Formation in Newfoundland (Liu et al., 2010), proposed an 'effaced preservation' hypothesis to explain irregularly shaped ivesheadiomorph fossils (Liu et al., 2011), and described populations of juvenile frondose Ediacaran taxa (Liu et al., 2012). Much of this early work benefitted from regular interaction with other members of the Brasier research group, most notably Latha Menon, Jack Matthews, and Richard Callow.