Publications
Selected Publications (all available in pdf format).
J, Articles in refereed journals; V, refereed volumes; A, Abstracts (mostly omitted from this list); B, Books; C, Correspondence in journals; E, Essay reviews; R, Book Reviews; S, ISSN Published scientific reports of Royal Society and of IGCP (mainly omitted from this list).
In press and submitted:
BRASIER, M.D. Foreword. In Wacey, D. An Atlas of Early Life and its Habitat. Springer-Verlag.
Forthcoming Books
The Animal Ancestors. BRASIER, M.D., & ANTCLIFFE, J.B. Blackwells. In progress.
BRASIER, M.D. 2012. Secret Chambers: The story of cells and complex life. Oxford University Press.
Selected Publications
BRASIER, M.D., MATTHEWMAN, R., McMAHON, S. & WACEY, D. 2011. Pumice as a remarkable substrate for the origin of life. Astrobiology, 11(7) Early online, doi:10.1089/ast.2010.0546. (J)
WACEY D., KILBURN, M.R., SAUNDERS, M., CLIFF, J. & BRASIER, M.D. 2011. Microfossils of sulphur-metabolizing cells in 3.4-billion-year-old rocks of Western Australia. Nature Geoscience, Early online, doi:10.1038/ngeo1238 (J)
CALLOW, R.H.T., BATTISON, L. & BRASIER, M.D. 2011. Diverse microbially induced sedimentary structures from 1 Ga lakes of the Diabaig Formation, Torridon Group, northwest Scotland. Sedimentary Geology, Early online, doi: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2011.06.002 (J)
ANTCLIFFE, J.B., GOODAY, A.J. & BRASIER, M.D. 2011. Testing the Protozoan hypothesis for Ediacaran fossils: A developmental analysis of Palaeopascichnus. Palaeontology, Early Online. (J)
BRASIER, M.D., GREEN, O.R., LINDSAY, J.F., MCLOUGHLIN, N., STOAKES, C.A., BRASIER, A.T. & WACEY, D. 2011. Geology and putative microfossil assemblage of the c. 3460 Ma 'Apex chert', Chinaman Creek, Western Australia - A field and petrographic guide. Government of Western Australia, Department of Mines and Petroleum, Record 2011/7. 65 pp. (V)
STROTHER, P.K., BATTISON, L., BRASIER, M.D. & WELLMAN, C.H. 2011. Earth's earliest non-marine eukaryotes. Nature, 473, 505-509. (J)
LIU, A.G., McILROY, D., ANTCLIFFE, J.B. & BRASIER, M.D. 2011. Effaced
preservation in the Ediacara biota and its implications for the early
macrofossil record. Palaeontology, 54 (3), 607-630. (J)
ANTCLIFFE, J.B. & BRASIER, M.D. 2011. Fossils with little relief: Using lasers to conserve, image, and analyze the Ediacara biota. In: Laflamme, M., Schiffbauer, J.D. & Dornbos, S.Q., eds., Quantifying the Evolution of Early Life. Topics in Geobiology 36: 223-240. Springer, Dordrecht. (V)
WACEY, D., SAUNDERS, M., BRASIER, M.D. & KILBURN, M.R. 2011. Earliest microbially-mediated pyrite oxidation in ~3.4 billion-year-old sediments. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 301: 393-402. (J)
BRASIER, M.D., ANTCLIFFE, J.B. & CALLOW, R. 2011. Evolutionary trends in remarkable fossil preservation across the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition and the impact of metazoan mixing. In Allison, P. & Bottjer, D.J. (eds) Topics in Geobiology Series, Volume 32, Taphonomy: Process and Bias Through Time. 519-567. Springer, Dordrecht. (V)
BRASIER, M.D., WACEY, D. & McLOUGHLIN, N. 2011. Taphonomy in temporally
unique settings: an environmental traverse in search of the earliest
life on Earth. In Allison, P. & Bottjer, D.J. (eds) Topics in Geobiology Series, Volume 32, Taphonomy: Process and Bias Through Time. 487-518. Springer, Dordrecht. (V)
BRASIER, M.D. 2011. Towards a null hypothesis for stromatolites. In: Golding, S.D. & Glickson, M. (eds). Earliest Life on Earth: Habitats, environments and methods of detection. 115-125. Springer, Dordrecht. (V)
BRASIER, M.D., CALLOW, R.H.T., MENON, L.R. & LIU, A.G. 2010. Osmotrophic biofilms: from modern to ancient. In Seckbach, J. & Oren, A. (eds). Microbial Mats: Modern and Ancient Microorganisms in Stratified Systems: Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology Series, 14, 131-148. Springer Verlag, Berlin. (V)
BRASIER, M.D., DOOLITTLE, F., WILSON, D.S. & MAY, R. 2010. 50 Ideas to change Science Forever: Ecology. New Scientist, 208 (2781), 32-41. (E)
WACEY, D. McLOUGHLIN, N. STOAKES, C.A., KILBURN, M.R., GREEN, O.R. & BRASIER, M.D. 2010. The 3426-3350 Ma Strelley Pool Formation in the East Strelley Greenstone Belt - A Field and Petrographic Guide. Record of the Geological Survey of Western Australia, Perth. 2010/10, 71pp. (J)
LIU, A.G., McILROY, D. & BRASIER, M.D. 2010. First evidence for locomotion in the Ediacara biota from the 565 Ma Mistaken Point Formation, Newfoundland. Geology, 38 (2), 123-126. (J)
MCILROY, D., BRASIER, M.D. & LANG, A.S. 2009. Smothering of microbial mats by macrobiotic organisms: implications for the Ediacara biota. Journal of the Geological Society, 166 (6), 1117-1122. (J)
BRASIER, M., COTTON, L. & YENNEY, I. 2009. First report of amber with spider webs and microbial inclusions from the earliest Cretaceous (c.140 Ma) of Hastings, Sussex. Journal of the Geological Society, 166 (6), 989-998. (J)
CALLOW, R.H.T. & BRASIER, M.D. 2009. Remarkable preservation of microbial mats in Neoproterozoic siliciclastic settings: Implications for Ediacaran taphonomic models. Earth Science Reviews, 96 (3), 207-219. (J)
WACEY, D., McLOUGHLIN, N. & BRASIER, M. 2009. The search for windows into the earliest history of life on Earth and Mars. In: Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, Volume 11. From fossils to Astrobiology. pp.41-68. Sechbach, J. (Ed), Springer, Berlin.(V)
BRASIER, M.D. & ANTCLIFFE, J.B. 2009. Evolutionary relationships within the Avalonian Ediacara biota: new insights from Laser Analysis. Journal of the Geological Society, 166 (2), 363-384. (J).
BRASIER, M.D. 2009. Darwin’s Lost World: the hidden history of animal life. Oxford University Press,. 322pp. (Commissioned by Oxford University Press for the Darwin Bicentenary and the 150th anniversary of the ‘Origin of Species’.) (B)
CALLOW. R.H.T. & BRASIER, M.D. 2009. A solution to Darwin’s Dilemma of 1859: exceptional preservation in Salter’s material from the Ediacaran Longmyndian Supergroup, England. Journal of the Geological Society, 166 (1), 1-4. (J)
BRASIER, M.D., & ANTCLIFFE, J.B. 2008. Dickinsonia from Ediacara: a new look at morphology and body construction. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 270, 311-323. (J)
WACEY, D., KILBURN, M., STOAKES, C.A., AGGLETON, H. & BRASIER, M.D. 2008. Ambient inclusion trails: their recognition, age range and applicability to early life on Earth. In: Y. DILEK, et al., (Eds) Links Between Geological Processes, Microbial Activities and Evolution of Life. 113-134. Springer, Berlin (V).
ANTCLIFFE, J.B. & BRASIER, M.D. 2008. Review Article. Charnia at fifty: developmental models for Ediacaran fronds. Palaeontology, 51, 11-26. (J)
McLOUGHLIN, N., WILSON, L.A. & BRASIER, M.D. 2008. Growth of synthetic stromatolites and wrinkle structures in the absence of microbes: implications for the early fossil record. Geobiology. 6,95-105. (J)
WACEY, D., KILBURN, M., McLOUGHLIN, N., PARNELL, J. , STOAKES, C., GROSVENOR, C. & BRASIER, M.D. 2008.Use of NanoSIMS in the search for early life on Earth: ambient inclusion trails in a c, 3400 Ma sandstone. Journal of the Geological Society, 165,43-53. (V)
BRASIER. M.D. 2008. The Origins of Life. In Benton, M. (ed.),pp 23-26 The Seventy Great Mysteries of the Natural World. Thames & Hudson. (V)
McLOUGHLIN, N. BRASIER, M.D., WACEY, D., GREEN, O.R. & PERRY, R. 2007. On biogenicity criteria for endolithic microborings on early Earth and beyond. Astrobiology. 7. 10-26. (J)
ANTCLIFFE, J.B. & BRASIER, M.D. 2007. Charnia and seapens are poles apart. Journal of the Geological Society, London. 164, 49-52 (J)
SHIELDS, G. DEYNOUX, M., CULVER, S.J., BRASIER, M.D. AFFATON, P. & DIDIER, V. 2007. Neoproterozoic glaciomarine cap dolostone facies of the southwestern Taroudeni Basin (Walidiala Valley, Senegal/Guinea, NW Africa). Comptes Rendus Geosciences, 339, 186-199. (J)
ANTCLIFFE, J.B. & BRASIER, M.D. 2007. Towards a morphospace for the Ediacara biota. Special Publication of the Geological Society, London. 286, 377-386. (V)
BRASIER, M.D. & CALLOW, R.H.T. 2007. Changes in the patterns of phosphatic preservation across the Proterozoic-Cambrian transition. Memoirs of the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists,34, 377-389.
WOTTE, T., ALVARO, J.J., SHIELDS, G., BROWN. B., BRASIER, M. D. & VEIZER, J. 2007. C-, O- and Sr-isotope stratigraphy across the Lower-Middle Cambrian transition of the Cantabrian Zone (Spain) and the Montagne Noire (France). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 256, 47-70. (J)
BRASIER, M.D., McLOUGHLIN, N., GREEN, O., WACEY, D. 2006. A fresh look at the fossil evidence for early Archaean cellular life. In Cavalier-Smith, T., Brasier, M.D. & Embley, T..M. (Eds) Major Steps in Cell Evolution: Palaeontological, Molecular and Cellular evidence of their timing and global effects. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Series B, volume 361, 887-902. (J)
PERRY, R.S., LYNNE, B., SEPHTON, M., KOLB, V.M., PERRY, CC., BRASIER, M.D., McLOUGHLIN, N., AMONETTEM J.E., ADAMS, J.B., GILLESPIE, A.R. & STALEY, J.T. 2006. Baking Black Opal in the Desert Sun. The importance of silica in desert varnish. Geology, 34, 537-540. (J)
LINDSAY, J.F. & BRASIER, M.D. 2006. Impact craters as biospheric microenvironments, Lawn Hill structure, Northern Australia. Astrobiology, 6, 348-363.
WACEY, D., McLOUGHLIN, N., GREEN, O.R., PARNELL, J., STOAKES, C.A. & BRASIER, M.D. 2006. The ~3.4 billion year old Strelley Pool Sandstone: a new window into early life on Earth. International Journal of Astrobiology, Cambridge University Press, 5, 333-342. (J)
ROSE, E., McLOUGHLIN, N. & BRASIER, M.D. 2006. Ground truth: the epistemology of searching for the earliest life on Earth. In Sechbach, J. (Ed) Life As We Know It. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology. Volume 10, Springer Verlag, Berlin. 259-286 (V)
BRASIER, M.D., GREEN, O.R., LINDSAY, J.F., McLOUGHLIN, N., .F., STEELE, A. & STOAKES, C. 2005. Critical testing of Earth’s oldest putative fossil assemblage from the ~3.5 Ga Apex chert, Chinaman Creek, Western Australia. Precambrian Research 140,55-102, 22 plates. (J)
BRASIER, M., GREEN, O., LINDSAY, J. & STEELE, A. 2004. Earth's oldest (c. 3.5Ga) fossils and the 'Early Eden Hypothesis’: questioning the evidence. Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere 34, 257-260. (J)
ARMSTRONG, H.A. & BRASIER, M.D. 2004. 'Microfossils'. Second Edition. Blackwells, Oxford. (B)
BRASIER, M.D. 2004. Life on Earth: Precambrian and Prokaryotes. In Selley, R.C., Cocks, L.R.M. & Plimmer, I.R. (Eds) Encyclopedia of Geology, Volume 1. Academic Press. (V)
LINDSAY, J.F. & BRASIER, M.D. 2002. Did global tectonics drive early biosphere evolution? Carbon isotope record from 2.6 to 1.9 Ga carbonates of Western Australian basins. Precambrian Research, 114, 1-34. (J)
BRASIER, M.D., GREEN, O.R., JEPHCOAT, A.P., KLEPPE, A.K., VAN KRANENDONK, M.J., LINDSAY, J.F., STEELE, A. & GRASSINEAU, N.V. 2002. Questioning the evidence for Earth's oldest fossils. Nature 416, 76-81. (J)
BRASIER, M.D., McCARRON, G., TUCKER, R., LEATHER, J., ALLEN, P.A., SHIELDS, G. 2000. New U-Pb zircon dates for the Neoproterozoic Gubrah glaciation and for the top of the Huqf Supergroup, Oman. Geology, 28, 175-178. (J)
BRASIER, M.D. & SHIELDS, G. 2000. Neoproterozoic chemostratigraphy and correlation of the Port Askaig glaciation, Dalradian Supergroup of Scotland. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 157, 909-914. (J)
BRASIER, M.D. & LINDSAY, J.F. 1998. A billion years of environmental stability and the emergence of eukaryotes. New data from northern Australia. Geology, 26, 555-558. (J)
BRASIER, M., GREEN, O. & SHIELDS, G. 1997. Ediacarian sponge spicules from southwestern Mongolia and the origins of the Cambrian fauna. Geology 25, 303-306. (J)
BRASIER, M.D., SHIELDS, G., KULESHOV, V.V. & ZHEGALLO, E.A. 1996. Integrated chemo- and biostratigraphic calibration of earliest animal evolution: Neoproterozoic - early Cambrian of SW Mongolia. Geological Magazine 133, 445-485 (J)
BRASIER, M.D., COWIE, J.W. & TAYLOR, M.E. 1994. Decision on the Precambrian- Cambrian boundary stratotype. Episodes, 17, 3-8. (E)
BRASIER, M.D. , ROZANOV, A.Yu. & ZHURAVLEV, A.Yu., CORFIELD, R.M. & DERRY, L.A., 1994. A carbon isotope reference scale for the Lower Cambrian succession in Siberia: Report of IGCP Project 303. Geological Magazine, 131, 767-783. (J)
DERRY, L.A., BRASIER, M.D., CORFIELD, R.M., ROZANOV, A. Yu. & ZHURAVLEV, A.Yu. 1994. Sr and C isotopes in Lower Cambrian carbonates from the Siberian craton: a palaeoenvironmental record during the 'Cambrian excursion'. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 128, 671-681. (J)
McKERROW, W.S., SCOTESE, I. & BRASIER, M.D. 1992. Early Cambrian continental reconstructions. Journal of the Geological Society, 149, 599-606. (J)
BRASIER, M.D., MAGARITZ, M., CORFIELD, R., LUO, H., WU, X., OUYANG, L., JIANG, Z., HAMDI, B., HE, T. and FRASER, A.G. 1990. The carbon- and oxygen-isotope record of the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary interval in China and Iran and their correlation. Geological Magazine, 127, 319-332. (J)
COWIE, J.W. and BRASIER, M.D. (eds.) (1989) 'The Precambrian-Cambrian Boundary', Oxford Monographs in Geology and Geophysics, No. 12. (V).
BRASIER, M.D. 1982. Architecture and evolution of the foraminiferid test - a theoretical approach. In Banner, F.T. & Lord, A.R. (eds) 'Aspects of Micropalaeontology'. George Allen & Unwin, London, 1-41. (V)
BRASIER, M.D. 1979. The Cambrian radiation event. In House, M.R. (ed.) 'The Origin of Major Invertebrate Groups'. Systematics Association Special Volume, 12, 103-159. (V)
BRASIER, M.D. 1975. An outline history of seagrass communities. Palaeontology, 18, 681-702. (J)