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Vita

Dr. Simon Darroch 

Sektionsleiter Paläozoologie II

Dr. Simon Darroch 
Telefon +49 69 75421126

Paläozoologie II
Google Scholar ORCiD Research Gate
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Ich bin Geobiologe und Paläontologe mit einem Forschungsprogramm, das sich auf das Verständnis großer Veränderungen in der Komplexität der Systeme von Erde und Leben konzentriert. Unsere Gruppe befasst sich mit einer Vielzahl von Themen. Im Moment konzentrieren wir uns jedoch auf die Erforschung der Entwicklung, der Ökologie und des Verschwindens einiger der ältesten komplexen Eukaryoten (die „Ediacara-Biota“), die Ursachen und Folgen von Massenaussterbe-Ereignissen und die biogeografischen Reaktionen von Taxa auf große Intervalle des globalen Wandels. Außerdem sind wir derzeit Teil einer großen, von der NSF finanzierten Gruppe, die die Rolle von „Ökosystem-Ingenieuren“ – Organismen, die ihre Umwelt physikalisch modifizieren und Rückflussströme verändern – bei der Kontrolle von Prozessen der Gemeinschaftsbildung erforschen will, und was uns dies über die Auswirkungen menschlicher Aktivitäten auf die globale Biosphäre sagen könnte. Unsere Arbeit ist notwendigerweise interdisziplinär und verbindet Aspekte der Biologie, Ökologie und Geologie. Die Mitglieder unseres Labors führen Feldforschungen in der ganzen Welt durch, zuletzt in Südafrika, Namibia, Kanada und auf den Bahamas.

Siehe auch darrochlab.org

Publikationen

Publications in Peer-reviewed journals and volumes (*indicates Darroch lab students)

 

2026

 

  1. Cribb, A.T., Darroch, S.A.F., and Gearty, W. 2026. Marine biodiversity was greater in the presence of ecosystem engineers throughout the Phanerozoic. Nature Communications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73628-6.
  2. Qureshi, Z., Gibson, B.M.*, Darroch, S.A.F. and Laflamme, M. Functional Morphology of the Cambrian Archaeocyathan Sponge Yukonensis. In revision, PLoS One.
  3. Gibson, B.M.*, Davies, J.H.F.L., Darroch, S.A.F., Bissick, A., Boscaini, A., Halverson, G.P., Hilgen, F.J., Liberty, P.R., Sorrentino, J.A., Spiering, B.R., Vickers-Rich, P. and Laflamme, M. 2026. Possible dickinsoniomorphs from the latest Ediacaran Nama Group, southern Namibia. Precambrian Research 433:107981.
  4. Darroch S.A.F., Mocke H., Gibson B.M.*, Tingle K.*, Schiffbauer J.D., Nelson, L.L., and Laflamme M. 2026. Ediacaran soft-bodied fossils from the Nama Group. Journal of the Geological Society of London 183:jgs2024-288
  5. Kofranek, A-K, Boessenecker, R., Darroch, S.A.F., Ruf, I. and Racicot, R.A. 2026. First porpoise fossils (Cetacea: Phocoenidae) from the Pliocene of South Carolina Goose Creek Formation shed light on their sensory performance and biogeography. Journal of Paleontology 1–17.
  6. Nelson, L.L., Smith, E., Darroch, S.A.F., Baillie, I., Almond, J., Swart, R., Polomski, D. and Turk, K.A.T.* 2026. The Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary in the Nama Group, Kalahari Craton: a high-resolution record of early bilaterian radiation. American Journal of Science 326.

 

2025

 

  1. Gutarra, S., Mitchell, E.G., Surprenant, R.L., Droser, M., Dunn, F.S., Gibson, B.*, Racicot, R.A., Darroch, S.A.F. and Rahman, I.A. 2025. Community hydrodynamics created ecological opportunity in Ediacaran shallow marine ecosystems. PNAS Nexus 4:pgaf346
  2. 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., Korasidis, V.A., Lee, J., Looy, C.V., Lyson, T.R., Muddiman, B., Roopnarine, P.D., Shupinski, A.B., Smith, F.A., Stigall, A.L., Tomé, C.P., Turk, K.A., Villaseñor, A., Wagner, P.J., Wang, S., and Lyons, S.K. 2025. ‘Earth system engineers’ and the cumulative impact of organisms in deep time. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 40:1066-1076.
  3. Tingle, K.E.*, Anderson, R.P., Kelley, N.P and Darroch, S.A.F. 2025. Sustained shift in acritarch morphology over the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition. Royal Society Open Science 12:241966.

 

2024

 

  1. Craffey, M.*, Wagner, P.J., Watkins, D.J., Darroch, S.A.F. and Lyons, S.K. 2024. Co-occurrence structure of late Ediacaran communities and influence of emerging ecosystem engineers. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 291:20242029.
  2. Turk, K.A.*, Pulsipher, M.A., Mocke, H., Laflamme, M. and Darroch, S.A.F. 2024. Himatiichnus mangano n. isp., a scalidophoran trace fossil from the late Ediacaran of Namibia. Royal Society Open Science 11:240452.
  3. Cribb, A.T. and Darroch, S.A.F. 2024. How to engineer a habitable planet: the rise of marine ecosystem engineers through the Phanerozoic. Palaeontology 67:e12726
  4. Olaru, A.*, Gutarra, S., Racicot, R.A., Dunn, F.S., Rahman, I.A., Wang, Z., Darroch, S.A.F. and Gibson, B.M.* 2024. Functional morphology of the Ediacaran organism Tribrachidium heraldicum. Paleobiology 50:475-489.
  5. Turk, K.A.*, Wehrmann, A., Laflamme, M. and Darroch, S.A.F. 2024. Priapulid neoichnology, ecosystem engineering, and the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition. Palaeontology 67:e12721.
  6. Gutarra, S., Mitchell, E.G., Dunn, F.S., Gibson, B.M.*, Racicot, R.A., Darroch, S.A.F. and Rahman, I.A. 2024. Ediacaran marine animal forests and the ventilation of the oceans. Current Biology 34:2528-2534.
  7. Turk, K.A.*, Pulsipher, M.A., Bergh, E., Laflamme, M. and Darroch, S.A.F. 2024. Archaeichnium haughtoni: a robust burrow lining from the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition of Namibia. Papers in Palaeontology 10:e1546.
  8. Gibson, B.M.*, Chipman, M., Attanasio, P., Qureshi, Z., Darroch, S.A.F., Rahman, I.A. and Laflamme, M. 2024. Reconstructing the feeding ecology of Cambrian sponge reefs: the case for active suspension feeding in Archaeocyatha. Royal Society Open Science 10: 230766.

 

2023

 

  1. Spiering, B.R., Bissick, A., Darroch, S.A.F., Davies, J., Gibson, B.M., Halverson, G., Laflamme, L. and Hilgen, F. 2023. Initial cyclostratigraphy of the middle Nama Group (Schwarzrand Subgroup) in southern Namibia. Precambrian Research 397:107200.
  2. Darroch, S.A.F. Smith, E.F., Nelson, L.L., Craffey, M.*, Schiffbauer, J.D. and Laflamme, M. 2023. Causes and consequences of end-Ediacaran extinction – an update. Cambridge Prisms: Extinction 1:e15.
  3. Darroch, S.A.F. Gutarra, S., Masaki, H.*, Olaru, A.*, Gibson, B.M.*, Dunn, F.S., Mitchell, E.G., Racicot, R.A., Burzynski, G. and Rahman, I.A. 2023. Pectinifrons abyssalis, rangeomorphs, and hydrodynamic function at the dawn of animal life. iScience 26:105989
  4. Rodewald, B.M.*, Darroch, S.A.F. and Casey, M.M. 2023. Long-term changes in Unionid community stricture in Kentucky Lake: implications for understanding the effects of impoundment of river systems. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 38:2203712.
  5. Gibson, B.M.*, Schiffbauer, J.D., and Darroch, S.A.F. 2023. The role of iron in the formation of Ediacaran ‘death masks’. Geobiology 21:421-434.
  6. Laville, T., Hegna, T.A., Forel, M-B and Darroch, S.A.F. 2023. A new look at Concavicaris woodfordi (Euarthropoda: Pancrustacea?) using micro-computed tomography. Paleontologica Electronica, 26.1.a1

 

2022

 

  1. Darroch, S.A.F. Saupe, E.E., Casey, M.M. and Jorge, M.L.S.P. 2022. Integrating geographic ranges across temporal scales. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 37:851-860
  2. Dick, D., Novack-Gottshall, P., Darroch, S.A.F. and Laflamme, M. 2022. Does functional redundancy determine the ecological severity of a mass extinction event? Proceedings of the Royal Society B 289:20220440
  3. Nelson, L.L., Ramezani, J., Almond, J.E., Darroch, S.A.F., Taylor, W.L., Brenner, D.C., Furey, R.P., Turner, M. and Smith, E.F. 2022. Pushing the boundary: A calibrated Ediacaran–Cambrian stratigraphic record from the Nama Group in northwestern Republic of South Africa. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 580:117396.
  4. Turk, K.A.*, Maloney, K.M., Laflamme, M., and Darroch, S.A.F. 2022. Paleontology and ichnology of the Late Ediacaran Nasep-Huns transition (Nama Group, southern Namibia). Journal of Paleontology 96:753-769.
  5. Darroch, S.A.F., Gibson, B.M., Syversen, M.*, Rahman, I.A., Racicot, R.A., Dunn, F.S., Gutarra-Diaz, S., Schindler, E., Wehrmann, A. and Laflamme, M. 2022. The life and times of Pteridinium simplex. Paleobiology 48:527-556.

 

2021

 

  1. Gibson, B.M.*, Darroch, S.A.F., Maloney, K.M. and Laflamme, M. 2021. The importance of size and location within gregarious populations of Ernietta plateauensis. 2021. Frontiers in Earth Science 9:749150.
  2. Darroch, S.A.F., Fraser, D., and Casey, M.M. 2021. The preservation potential of terrestrial biogeographic patterns. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 288:20202927
  3. Cracknell, K., Ankor, M.J., García-Bellido, D.C., Gehling, J.G., Darroch, S.A.F. and Rahman, I.A. 2021. Pentaradial eukaryote suggests expansion of suspension feeding in White Sea-aged Ediacaran communities. Scientific Reports 11:4121.
  4. Darroch, S.A.F., Cribb, A.T.*, Luis A. Buatois, L.A., Germs, G.J.B. Kenchington, C.G., Smith, E.F., Mocke, H., O’Neil, G.R., Schiffbauer, J.D., Maloney, K.M., Racicot, R.A., Turk, K.A.*, Gibson, B.M.*, Almond, J., Koester, B.*, Boag, T.M., Tweedt, S.M. and Laflamme, M. 2021 The trace fossil record of the Nama Group, Namibia: exploring the terminal Ediacaran roots of the Cambrian explosion. Earth Science Reviews 212:103435.
  5. Gibson, B.M.*, Furbish, D.J., Rahman, I.A., Schmeeckle, M.W., and Darroch, S.A.F. 2021. Ancient life and moving fluids. Biological Reviews 96:129-152.

 

2020

 

  1. Vaziri, S., Majidifard, M., Darroch, S.A.F., and Laflamme, M. 2020. Ediacaran Diversity and Paleoecology from Central Iran. Journal of Paleontology 95:236-251.
  2. Maloney, K.M., Boag, T., Facciol, A., Gibson, B.*, Cribb, A.*, Koester, B.*, Kenchington, C., Racicot, R.A.R., Darroch, S.A.F. and Laflamme, M. 2020. Paleoenvironmental analysis of Ernietta bearing Ediacaran deposits in southern Namibia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 556:109884.
  3. Darroch, S.A.F., Michelle M. Casey, Gwen S. Antell, Amy Sweeney*, and Erin E. Saupe. 2020. High preservation potential of range size-extinction risk signals in deep time. The American Naturalist 194:454-471.

 

2019

 

  1. Cribb, A.T.*, Kenchington, C.G., Koester, B*., Gibson, B.M.*, 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.
  2. Gibson, B.M.*, Rahman, I., Maloney, K., Racicot, R., Mocke, H., Laflamme, M., and Darroch, S.A.F. 2019. Gregarious suspension feeding in a modular Ediacaran organism. Science Advances 5:eaaw0260.
  3. Racicot, R.A., Robert W. Boessenecker, Darroch, S.A.F., and Jonathan H. Geisler. 2019. Evidence for convergent evolution of ultrasonic hearing in toothed whales (Cetacea: Odontoceti). Biology Letters 15:20190083.
  4. Stöhr, S., Thuy, B., Clark, E.G. and Darroch, S.A.F. 2019. Exploring 3D imaging techniques for phylogenetic inference in brittle stars (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea). Zoosymposia 1:146-158.

 

2018

 

  1. Darroch, S.A.F., Laflamme, M., and Wagner, P.J. 2018. High ecological complexity in benthic Ediacaran ecosystems. Nature Ecology and Evolution 2:1541-1547.
  2. Darroch, S.A.F., Smith, E., Laflamme, M., and Erwin, D.H. Ediacaran extinction and Cambrian Explosion. 2018. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 33:653-663.
  3. Clark, E.G., Hutchinson, J.R., Darroch, S.A.F., Koch, N.M., Brady, T.R., Smith, S. and Briggs, D.E.G. 2018. Integrating morphology, skeletal mobility and in vivo behavioral observations with digital models to infer function in brittle star arms. Journal of Anatomy 233:696-714.
  4. Racicot, R.A., Darroch, S.A.F. and Kohno, N. 2018. Neuroanatomy and inner ear labyrinths of the narwhal, Monodon monoceros and beluga, Delphinapterus leucas (Cetacea: Monodontidae). Journal of Anatomy 233:421-439.
  5. Gibson, B.M.*, Schiffbauer, J.D., and Darroch, S.A.F. 2018. Ediacaran-style decay experiments using mollusks and sea anemones. Palaios 33:185-203.
  6. Darroch S.A.F., and Saupe, E.E. 2018. Reconstructing geographic range size dynamics from fossil data. Paleobiology 44:25-39.

 

2017

 

  1. Clark, E.G., Bhullar, B-A., S., Darroch, S.A.F., and Briggs, D.E.B. 2017. Water vascular system architecture in an Ordovician ophiuroid. Biology Letters 13:20170635.
  2. Xiao, S., Vickers-Rich, P., Narbonne, G., Laflamme, M., Darroch, S.A.F., Kaufinan, A.J., and Kriesfeld, L. 2017. Field workshop on the Ediacaran Nama Group of southern Namibia. Episodes 40:259-261
  3. Darroch, S.A.F., Rahman, I., Gibson, B.*, Racicot, R.A., and Laflamme, M. 2017. Inference of facultative mobility in the enigmatic Ediacaran organism Parvancorina. Biology Letters 13:20170033.
  4. Hegna, T.A., Martin, M.J., and Darroch S.A.F. 2017. Pyritized in situ trilobite eggs from the Ordovician of New York (Lorraine Group): Implications for trilobite reproductive biology. Geology 45:199-202

 

2016

 

  1. Darroch S.A.F., Boag, T., Racicot, R.A., Tweedt, S., Mason, S.J., Erwin, D.H., Laflamme, M. 2016. A mixed Ediacaran-metazoan assemblage from the Zaris Sub-basin, Namibia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 459:198-208.
  2. Darroch, S.A.F., Locatelli, E.R., McCoy, V.E., Clark, E.G., Anderson, R.P., Tarhan, L.G., and Hull, P.M. 2016. Taphonomic disparity in foraminifera as a paleo-indicator for seagrass. Palaios 31:242-258
  3. Schiffbauer, J.D., Huntley, J.W., O’Neil, G.R., Darroch, S.A.F., Laflamme, M., Cai, Y. 2016. The Latest Ediacaran Wormworld Fauna: Setting the Ecological Stage for the Cambrian Explosion. GSA Today 26:4-11.
  4. Boag, T.H., Darroch, S.A.F., and Laflamme, M. 2016. Ediacaran distributions in space and time: testing assemblage concepts of earliest macroscopic body fossils. Paleobiology 39:591-608.
  5. Cotroneo, S., Schiffbauer, J.D., Wortmann, U., Darroch, S.A.F., McCoy, V.E., and Laflamme, M. 2016. Isotope and mineralogical insights on the formation of Mazon Creek Lagerstätte Siderite Concretions. Geobiology 14:543-555.

 

2015

 

  1. Darroch, S.A.F., Sperling, E.A., Boag, T., Racicot, R.A., Mason, S.J., Morgan, A.S., Tweedt, S., Myrow, P., Erwin, D.H. and Laflamme, M. 2015. Biotic replacement and mass extinction of the Ediacara biota. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 282:20151003.
  2. Darroch, S.A.F., and Wagner, P.J. 2015, Responses of beta diversity to pulses of Ordovician-Silurian extinction. Ecology 96:532-549.
  3. Hull, P.M., Darroch, S.A.F., and Erwin, D.H. 2015. Rarity in mass extinctions and the future of ecosystems. Nature 528:345-351.
  4. Rahman, I., Darroch, S.A.F., Racicot, R.A., and Laflamme, M. 2015. Suspension feeding in the enigmatic Ediacaran organism Tribrachidium demonstrates complexity of Neoproterozoic ecosystems. Science Advances 1:1500800.

 

2014

 

  1. Darroch, S.A.F., Webb, A.E., Longrich, N., and Belmaker, J. 2014. Paleocene-Eocene evolution of beta-diversity among ungulate mammals in North America. Global Ecology and Biogeography 7:757-768.

 

2013

 

  1. Darroch, S.A.F., Laflamme, M., and Clapham, M.E. 2013. Population structure of the oldest known macroscopic communities from Mistaken Point, Newfoundland. Paleobiology, v.39, p. 591-608.
  2. Field, D.J., Brown, C., Lynner, C., and Darroch, S.A.F. 2013. Skeletal correlates for body mass estimation in flying birds. PLoS One 8(11):e82000
  3. Hull, P.M. and Darroch, S.A.F. 2013. Mass extinctions and the structure and function of ecosystems. GSA 2013 Short Course: Ecosystem Paleobiology and Geobiology, eds. Andrew Bush, Sarah Pruss, and Jonathan Payne, p. 115-157.
  4. Zamora, S., Darroch, S.A.F., and Rahman, I.A. 2013. Taphonomy and ontogeny of early pelmatozoan echinoderms: a case study of a mass mortality assemblage of Gogia from the Cambrian of North America. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 377:62-72.
  5. Laflamme, M., Darroch, S.A.F., Tweedt, S., Peterson, K.J., and Erwin, D.H. 2013. The end of the Ediacara biota: extinction, biotic replacement, or Cheshire cat? Gondwana Research 23:558-573.

 

2012

 

  1. Darroch, S.A.F., Laflamme, M., Schiffbauer, J.D. and Briggs, D.E.G. 2012. Experimental formation of a microbial death mask. Palaios 27:293-303
  2. Darroch, S.A.F. 2012. Carbonate facies control on the fidelity of surface-subsurface agreement in benthic foraminiferal communities – implications for index-based paleoecology. Palaios 27:137-150.

 

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