Plants
Sponges
Cnidarians
New taxa
Research
Revision of tabulate-like fossils from before the latest Middle Ordovician is published by Elias, Lee & Pratt (2020), who reject the interpretation of these fossils as true tabulate corals. Drake, Whitelegge & Jacobs (2020) report the first recovery, sequencing, and identification of fossil biomineral proteins from a Pleistocene fossil invertebrate (the stony coral Orbicella annularis).
Arthropods
Bryozoans
Brachiopods
New taxa
Research
A study on the mode of life of Paleozoic strophomenatans is published by Stanley (2020), who argues that nearly all strophomenatans lived infaunally. A study on the paleobiogeography of Early−Middle Devonian (Pragian−Eifelian) brachiopods from West Gondwana, aiming to determine any potential controls that may have driven bioregionalization, is published by Penn-Clarke & Harper (2020). A study on the phylogenetic relationships and ecomorphologic diversification of Mesozoic spiriferinids is published by Guo, Chen & Harper (2020).
Molluscs
Echinoderms
New taxa
Research
A study on morphological diversification of echinoderms and evolutionary mechanisms underlying the establishment of echinoderm body plans during the early Paleozoic is published by Deline et al. (2020). A study on the locomotion of cornute stylophorans, based on data from a specimen of Phyllocystis crassimarginata from the Ordovician (Tremadocian) Saint-Chinian Formation (France), is published by Clark et al. (2020). A study on the speciation and dispersal of the diploporan blastozoans through the Ordovician period is published by Lam, Sheffield & Matzke (2020). A study on the evolutionary history of eublastoid blastozoans is published by Bauer (2020). A study on the anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of Eumorphocystis is published by Guensburg et al. (2020), who consider this taxon to be a blastozoan far removed from crinoids, contrary to the results of the study of Sheffield & Sumrall (2019). A study on the phylogeny of the crown group of Echinoidea, based on both phylogenomic and paleontological data, is published by Koch & Thompson (2020). A study on the structure of the arms and on probable locomotion strategies of Devonian brittle stars from the Hunsrück Slate (Germany) is published by Clark, Hutchinson & Briggs (2020).
Conodonts
New taxa
Research
Evidence of variations in crystallography and microstructure due to both ontogeny and element type within the conodont feeding apparatus of Dapsilodus obliquicostatus is presented by Shohel et al. (2020), who evaluate the implications of their findings for the knowledge of the integrity of conodont apatite as a recorder of seawater chemistry. A study aiming to determine whether the repeated emergence of similar morphologies in the dental elements of Permian conodonts belonging to the genus Sweetognathus is an example of parallel evolution is published by Petryshen et al. (2020).