Victoria E. McCoy

TL;DR: This work shows exceptionally slow racemisation rates during thermal degradation experiments of resin enclosed feathers, relative to previous thermal degradation experiment of ostrich eggshell, coral skeleton, and limpet shell, and recovers amino acids from two specimens of fossil feathers in amber.

TL;DR: A process of positive feedback promotes exceptional preservation where early cementation results in a rapid decrease in permeability during concretion formation, and a relatively constant δ13C trend suggests that certain patterns of concretion growth, pervasive growth or concentric growth with one growth layer, are more conducive to fossilization than others.

TL;DR: The results show that the visual acuity of A. cummingsi is poor compared with that of co-occurring Eurypterus sp.

TL;DR: Vision in Erettopterus osiliensis and Slimonia acuminata is more acute than in Acutiramus cummingsi, but not to the same degree as in modern active predators, and the morphology of the chelicerae in these genera suggests a grasping function.

TL;DR: Solid phase microextraction–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry is used to investigate the volatile and semi-volatile composition of amber, copal and resin from Africa and the Americas and indicates that within this genus, resin similarity does not correspond closely with phylogenetic relationships.