Alex Liu

The Neoproterozoic–Cambrian origin and early evolution of animals, and the co-evolution of animals with the Earth System.

 

Research Area

I am a palaeobiologist whose research explores the origin and early evolution of animals, and particularly the Ediacaran biota, a group of organisms from ~579–539 million years ago that document the earliest stages of animal evolution and behavioural innovation.

My research attempts to refine knowledge of how and when major animal body plans and behaviours evolved and diversified, and investigate the causes and consequences of the appearance of animals for the Earth System. To this end, my group describes and interprets body and trace fossils from global localities, and investigates aspects of taphonomy (fossil preservation), sedimentology (to reconstruct the environments inhabited by ancient organisms), and macroevolution (to identify and explain large-scale trends in diversification and extinction). Other active research areas include reconstruction of Neoproterozoic–Cambrian palaeogeography and palaeoclimate (including the timing and extent of glacial events), and the role of microbial biofilms in early animal ecosystems.

Additional research interests include the fossil record of meiofaunal (<1mm in size) organisms, and conservation palaeobiology. My work is grounded in detailed field-based observations, but incorporates a variety of experimental, petrological, phylogenetic and big-data approaches, working in collaboration with an extensive network of national and international museums and research teams.

 

Project Interests

I am keen to co-develop palaeobiological projects on any aspect of early animal evolution, where research could include:

• tracking the radiation/extinction of specific clades (e.g. sponges, bilaterians);

• taxonomic and phylogenetic work describing new fossil material (with potential to work on exciting new sites in Namibia and Canada);

• palaeoecological investigation of organism interactions and behaviour (e.g. trace fossils, or filamentous connections between Ediacaran organisms);

• evaluation of broad-scale trends in the fossil record to identify interplay between life and the environment;

• application of new experimental/analytical techniques.

Projects relating to meiofaunal evolution or conservation palaeobiology are also welcomed.