Mr Dave Marshall

Research summary

To an arthropod, the exoskeleton is truly vital. It is the surface through which all of its ecological interactions occur. It provides a defensive barrier and an offensive weapon; it protects the animal from the environment whilst still allowing it to sense it; and it enables morphological alteration through ontogeny. It's therefore surprising to realise that even though preservation of chelicerate cuticle is relatively common in some groups, little work has been done on looking at what information we can get from it.

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Biography

I am a part-time student looking to better understand the early evolution of the chelicerate clade through comparative cuticluar analysis. I also work within the oil industry as a consultant micropalaeontologist and have a keen interest in science communication. 

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Recent publications

• Lamsdell, JC, Marshall, DJ & Briggs, DE, 2018, ‘Hit and miss (A comment on persons and acorn, “a sea scorpion’s strike: New evidence of extreme lateral flexibility in the opisthosoma of eurypterids”)’. American Naturalist, vol 191., pp. 352-354

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View complete publications list in the University of Bristol publications system