Jakob Vinther
Jakob Vinther, Peter Van Roy and Derek E.G. Briggs. 2008. Machaeridians are palaeozoic armoured annelids. Nature 451:185-188. Online Version
I am from Denmark and have been interested in fossils and evolution
since I was a kid. My research focuses on the radiation of animals at
the beginning of the Cambrian (540 million years ago), on how mollusks
and annelids diversified to the groups we know today. I incorporate
both molecular biology and fossils from the Yale Peabody Museum
collections in my research to reconstruct the tempo and mode of
organismal evolution that took place in a rapidly changing biosphere
and understanding their functional adaptations to life in specialized
ecological niches. The machaeridians are an excellent example of the
adaptive radiations taking place in early animal evolution. These
annelid worms (relatives of earthworms and leeches) evolved a
mineralized armour, which gave them an ability to explore niches
similar to mollusks. The machaeridians went extinct, however, after an
existence in the world seas for more than 180 million years.
For information:
Sharon Rodriguez
Executive Assistant
Director’s Office
Peabody Museum of Natural History
Yale University
P.O. Box 208118
New Haven, CT 06520-8118 USA
peabody.director@yale.edu
Volunteer Opportunities | Support the Peabody
