Arthropod research

Arthropoda has been the most diverse animal phylum for 520 million years, and remains so today. Arthropod research in the Museum covers the early Cambrian to the present day.

Our arthropod research has 4 main themes:

  1. The evolutionary relationships between the main arthropod groups (arthropod phylogeny)
  2. The palaeobiology, systematics, evolution and biogeography of trilobites
  3. Ostracod taxonomy and palaeobiology
  4. Centipede systematics
  • The arthropod fossil specimen Waptia fieldensis
    Arthropod phylogeny

    We explore the evolutionary relationships between the main arthropod groups using a combination of morphological and molecular data from fossil and living species. Find out about current projects.

  • Ogygiocarella, a trilobite from the Ordovician
    Trilobite research

    Trilobites provide an unparalleled sample for understanding evolutionary patterns in Palaeozoic marine rocks. Find out about current departmental research which spans the Cambrian to the Devonian.

  • Silicified ostracod Beyrichia (Beyrichia) marssae
    Ostracod research

    Our current projects focus on Silurian ostracods from the Canadian Arctic and Iran. We are also engaged in imaging and palaeobiology studies on Cretaceous non-marine ostracods.

  • The centipede Scolopendra oraniensis
    Centipede systematics

    Centipedes have a geological record that extends back to the Silurian and there are around 3,500 species living today. Learn about current Museum research which includes taxonomic studies of most major groups as well as the palaeontology of amber fossils from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic.