Phosphatized animals and animal embryos of the Neoproterozoic Doushantuo Formation of Southwest China provide what is likely the earliest fossil evidence for animals, including bilaterians. This research utilizes field and petrographic analyses of the animal-fossil-bearing interval of the Doushantuo Formation and general observations of animal and animal-embryo preservation in order to gain insight into the taphonomic processes involved in the preservation of these fossils. Results indicate that there are two genetically related phosphatic lithofacies within the animal- and animal-embryo-bearing Weng'an Phosphorite Member: a lower black facies and an upper gray facies. Within each of these facies, phosphogenesis and phosphatization took place under different environmental conditions. The black facies is a pyrite-rich bituminous phosphorite that lacks dolomite in its lowermost two meters and contains evidence for lower levels of reworking than the gray facies. Deposited on top of a karstic sequence boundary, the black facies is interpreted as a condensed, sediment-starved deposit that shallows upward into the higher-energy gray facies. Abundant matrix-forming dolomite and greater levels of reworking characterize the gray facies. Both facies were deposited in shallow, nearshore-marine environments. The environmental differences between these two members are of great taphonomic importance because of the resulting difference in reworking levels. Lower levels of reworking in the black facies indicate the presence of a larger taphonomic window in this member because fewer phosphatized fossils were destroyed during reworking. The search for future significant Doushantuo fossils should focus on this black facies.

Naraoiids in the Kaili biota (Taijiangian Stage, Wulingian Series, lower Middle Cambrian) are preserved in a variety of taphonomic states. Decomposition, entombment, and fossil diagenesis of Kaili naraoiid specimens (n = 69) are described. The decay rates of appendages, internal organs, and dorsal sclerites are different, and should be treated as separate taphonomic elements. A classification scheme to delineate the preservational states is proposed here to distinguish carcasses from molts in deposits with exceptional preservation. For example, at least 35% of Kaili naraoiids represent carcasses. Among them, ∼21% of individuals are interpreted as having been buried alive (Type A preservational state) and 79% showed some evidence of decay prior to burial (Type B preservational state). 65% of naraoiids can be either molts or decayed carcasses, and molts typically are articulated (Type C preservational state). Disarticulated (Type D preservational state) specimens are rare.

Kaili naraoiids were buried in three orientations with respect to bedding: (1) parallel, (2) oblique, and (3) folded-over (specimens with noticeably shortened anterior shields). Due to the nature of the naraoiid bauplan, most specimens (∼77%) tend to be buried parallel to bedding. All naraoiid specimens with folded-over anterior shields (10%) represent carcasses.

Identified taphonomic modifications caused by post-burial processes include extruded gut contents, three-dimensionally preserved internal organs, and sclerite fractures. Preservation of three-dimensional soft-parts accompanied by flattened hard-parts is interpreted here as the result of syndiagenetic anaerobic microbial decay. The relief and size of preserved midguts depend on: (1) availability of volatile tissues, (2) abundance and types of microbes, and (3) duration of anaerobic microbial decay prior to compactional dewatering.

Clay-rich units, locally termed “butter shales,” contain the best-preserved trilobites in the richly fossiliferous Cincinnatian Series and likely provide the highest temporal resolution available within these rocks. Sedimentological and taphonomic evidence indicates that the 0.46-m-thick Mt. Orab “butter shale” bed of the Arnheim Formation is composed of a series of stacked event beds, each representing rapid deposition from a flow bearing fine-grained sediment, most likely associated with distal storm processes below storm-wave base. It contains sedimentary structures similar to those of distal mud turbidites, and comprises a total of at least seven, and possibly many more, alternating silt and clay couplets. These clay and silt layers are interpreted to represent the products of different energetic regimes in a series of discrete depositional events accumulated within a common depositional regime. Trilobites within individual clay beds represent census assemblages of animals alive at the same time, and evidence from sedimentology, taphonomy, and stratigraphic architecture are consistent with accumulation of the whole bed within a period from 10¹ to 10³ years. Silt layers of the Mt. Orab events beds are interpreted to represent parautochthonous assemblages, while clay layers, although displaying reorientation of specimens, are interpreted as autochthonous assemblages. Both layers are deposited in a shallower-water environment than the comparable “granulosa” trilobite cluster of the Kope Formation, which represents an autochthonous assemblage with in-situ burial of trilobites.

The Late Silurian Ringerike Group of southern Norway is a lower Old Red Sandstone megasequence that marks the regressive culmination of Cambro–Silurian marine deposition in the Oslo Region. The basal Sundvollen Formation represents deposition in a number of sub-environments of a broad, muddy coastal-plain setting, and is succeeded by fluvial deposition of the Stubdal and Store Arøya Formations. The terminal formation of the Ringerike Group, the Holmestrand Formation, represents deposition in sub-environments of a sandy beach setting. Both the marginal-marine Sundvollen and Holmestrand formations contain a wide variety of trace fossils (Arenicolites, Cruziana, Didymaulichnus, Diplichnites gouldi, Diplocraterion, Gordia marina, Margaritichnus, “Merostomichnites,” Oniscoidichnus, Paleohelcura, Palmichnium stoermeri, ?Polarichnus garnierensis, Rusophycus, Siskemia bipediculus, Skolithos, Steinsfjordichnus brutoni, Taenidium) that are discussed and analyzed, comprising the first complete Late Silurian study from the Baltic area. The trace fossils, which occur in facies-controlled assemblages, are combined with sedimentologic evidence to perform a high-resolution paleoenvironmental analysis of the Ringerike Group. Multivariate cluster analysis of the bulk Ringerike ichnofauna with similar-aged ichnofaunas from other paleocontinents supports the hypothesis that localized environmental factors outweighed provincialism as the dominant control on the composition of arthropod-trackway-dominated trace-fossil assemblages during the Siluro–Devonian.

Microfacies analysis and point counts of thin sections from 608 hand samples were used to track changes in the abundance and diversity of fossil grains through the extended recovery interval following end-Permian mass extinction on the Great Bank of Guizhou (GBG)—an isolated Late Permian to Late Triassic carbonate platform in south China. Exposure of a two-dimensional cross-section of the platform permits the comparison of faunal patterns along an environmental gradient from shallow to deep water. The diverse Late Permian biota was dominated by calcareous sponges, crinoids, articulate brachiopods, foraminifera, and calcareous algae. In contrast, Early Triassic communities were dominated by mollusks, with increasing abundance of crinoids beginning in the Spathian. Increase in the diversity and abundance of fossils on the GBG was confined to a brief interval near the Spathian–Anisian boundary and concentrated along the platform margin. Later Middle Triassic diversification, the return of calcareous algae and calcareous sponges, and the appearance of scleractinian corals did not substantially alter the mollusk-crinoid-Tubiphytes assemblage before the end of the Middle Triassic. The low abundance of skeletal grains in Lower Triassic strata implies: (1) similarities in the relative contributions of micrite, microbialites, and oolites to Neoproterozoic carbonates result, at least in part, from the temporary removal of skeletal sinks for calcium carbonate; and (2) animals with hard skeletons remained at low abundance from the time of the end-Permian extinction through much of the Early Triassic.

New Zealand has the most complete Cenozoic molluscan fossil record in the Southern Hemisphere. In order to understand the true marine faunal history of the region, it is necessary first to identify apparent biodiversity changes that result simply from variations in the quality of the fossil record. The present study uses a range of methods to quantify both long-term, secular changes and short-term patterns of variation in sampling probability for New Zealand Cenozoic shelf molluscs. Overall, about one-third of all once-living Cenozoic species have been sampled, and average per-stage sampling probabilities are between 20% and 50%. Increase in per-stage sampling probability through time reflects the increase in outcrop area and ease of fossil recovery from older to younger stages. Short-term patterns of variation apparently are related to second-order sequence stratigraphic controls of preservation potential. Once the effects of stage duration are eliminated, patterns of stage-to-stage sampling probability reflect enhanced preservation in mid-cycle positions and, perhaps to a lesser extent, secondary post-depositional loss of stratigraphic record above and below sequence boundaries. Although this result mirrors patterns observed in Europe, it is possible that enhanced preservation mid-cycle is relatively more important at active margins, such as New Zealand, whereas secondary loss of record at the sequence boundary is more important at passive margins. Finally, it is worth noting that different methods and data compilations yield rather consistent estimates of short-term variation in sampling probability, lending confidence to the methods and suggesting that the patterns identified are likely to reflect true underlying features of the New Zealand marine fossil record.