Published in Nature Communications, 2026
Ecosystem engineers positive impacts biodiversity throughout the Phanerozoic.
Recommended citation: Cribb, A.T., Darroch, S.A.F., Gearty, W. (2026). "Marine biodiversity was greater in the presence of ecosystem engineers throughout the Phanerozoic" Nature Communications. 17(9166).
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Published in Nature Communications, 2026
New trace fossil evidence for complex ecological interactinos in the wake of the EPME.
Recommended citation: Feng, X., Chen, Z.Q., Benton, M., Bottjer, D.J., Cribb, A. T., Zhao, L., Jiang, Y., Zhao, H., Yan, P., Huang, Y. (2026). "Predator-prey interactions in the Early Triassic ocean" GSA Bulletin. 138(3807-3818).
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Published in Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 2025
New framework to describe ecosystem engineers that have profoundly outsized effects on the Earth system.
Recommended citation: Darroch, S.A.F., Casey, M.M., Cribb, A. T., Bates, A.E., Clapham, M.E., Contreras, D.L., Craffey, M., Duijnstee, I.A.P., Gearty, W., Gotelli, N.J., Hamilton, M.J., Hayes, R.F., Hull, P.M., Ibarra, D.E., Lee, J., Looy, C.V., Lyson, T.R., Muddiman, B., Roopnarine, P.D., Shupinski, A.B., Smith, F.A., Stigall, A.L., Tome, C.P., Turk, K.A., Viallaseñor, A., Wagner, P.J., Wang, S., Lyons, S.K. (2025). "Earth systems engineers and the lasting impact of organisms in deep time" Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 40, 1066-1076.
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Published in Science Advances, 2025
New Phanerozoic record of sedimentary mixed layer depth and transition layer from the global trace fossil record.
Recommended citation: Tarhan, L.G., Pippenger, K., Cribb, A. T., Zill, M., Phelps, W., Savrda, C.E., Droser, M.L., Bottjer, D.J., Clapham, M.E. (2025) "Tracking bioturbating through time: The evolution of the marine sedimentary mixed and transition layers." Science Advances, 11, eadu7719.
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Published in Palaeontology, 2024
The rise of bioturbating and reef-building ecosystem engineers
Recommended citation: Cribb, A.T., Darroch, S.A.F. (2024). "How to engineer a habitable planet: The rise of marine ecosystem engineers through the Phanerozoic" Palaeontology, 67(5).
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Published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 2023
New functional ecology framework for terrestrial fossils reveals decoupled terrestrial and marine biosphere responses to the end-Triassic mass extinction
Recommended citation: Cribb, A. T., Formoso, K., Woolley, H. C., Beech, J., Brophy, S., Byrne, P. J., Cassady, V. C., Godbold, A. L., Larina, E., Maxeiner, P., Wu, Y.H., Corsetti, F. A., and Bottjer, D. J. (2023). "Contrasting terrestrial and marine ecospace dynamics after the end-Triassic mass extinction event." Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 290, 20232232.
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Published in Geobiology, 2023
Sediment biogeochemistry modeling coupled with trace fossil record data gives no evidence for early bioturbation oxygenation effect.
Recommended citation: Cribb, A.T., van de Velde, S.J., Berelson, W.M., Bottjer, D.J., Corsetti, F.A. (2023) $quot;Ediacaran-Cambrian bioturbation did not extensively oxygenate sediments in shallow marine ecosystems." Geobiology 21(4).
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Published in Science Advances, 2022
Evidence from the trace fossil record of the Permian-Triassic boundary in China that benthic ecosystems were relatively resilient in the face of rapid climate change.
Recommended citation: Feng, X., Chen, Z., Benton, M. J., Su, C., Bottjer, D.J., Cribb, A. T., Li, Z., Zhao, L., Zhu, G., Huang, Y., and Guo, Z. (2022). "Resilience of infaunal ecosystems during the Early Triassic greenhouse Earth." Science Advances, 8, eabo0596.
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Published in Earth-Science Reviews, 2021
Recommended citation: Darroch, S. A. F., Cribb, A. T., Buatois, L. A., Germs, G. J. B., Kenchington, C. G., Smith, E. F., Mocke, H., O’Neil, G. F., Schiffbauer, J., Maloney, K., Racicot, R. A., Turk, K. A., Gibson, B. M., Koester, B. E., Boag, T. H., Tweedt, S., and Laflamme, M. (2021). "The trace fossil record of the Nama Group, Namibia: Exploring the Ediacaran roots of the Cambrian Explosion." Earth-Science Reviews, 103435.
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Published in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2020
Paleoenvironmental analysis of Ernietta from the Nama Group, Namibia
Recommended citation: Maloney, K. M., Boag, T. H., Facciol, A. J., Gibson, B. M., Cribb, A. T., Koester, B. E., Kenchington, C. G., Racicot, R. A., Darroch, S. A. F., and Laflamme, M. (2020). "Paleoenvironmental analysis of Ernietta-bearing Ediacaran deposits in southern Namibia.". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 556, 109884.
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Published in Scientific Reports, 2020
Evidence from the trace fossil record of the survival of complex ecosystem engineering bioturbators in the Early Triassic
Recommended citation: Cribb, A.T., Bottjer, D.J. (2020). "Complex bioturbation ecosystem engineering behaviors persisted in the wake of the end-Permian mass extinction." Scientific Reports, 10(203).
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Published in Royal Society Open Science, 2019
Complex trace fossils that appear prior to the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary in Namibia indicate early evolution of relatively high-impact ecosystem engineering
Recommended citation: Cribb, A. T., Kenchington, C. G., Koester, B. E., Gibson, B. G., Boag, T. H., Racicot, R. A., Mocke, H., Laflamme, M., and Darroch, S. A. F. (2019). "Increase in metazoan ecosystem engineering prior to the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary in the Nama Group, Namibia." Royal Society Open Science, 6, 190548.
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Published in Current Biology, 2024
Bioturbation, the mixing of sediment through the actions of organisms, is a crucial ecosystem engineering process that controls biogeochemical cycles and helps structure marine ecosystems. Machine learning is helping to develop global maps of the intensity and depth of bioturbation.
Recommended citation: Cribb, AT, Darroch, SAF. (2024) "Geobiology: Machine learning puts bioturbation on the map." Current Biology, 34(13), PR630-632.
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