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Respected scientific international journal Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology dedicated a special issue (Vol. 294) to important results of the international team of Czech and Chinese palaeobotanists and palynologists at the Wuda locality, Inner Mongolia, China. The international team collaborated on six excavations (2011–2018) of a tropical forest 298 Myr old. Two members of the Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Palaeocology, Jiří Bek and Jana Votočková-Frojdová are co-authors of nine papers from this special volume describing important finds of fossil lycophytes, sphenophytes and ferns as they have been buried by volcanic ash after a huge volcanic eruption like in the legendary Roman city of Pompeii.

A recent paper in Geomorphology was also contributed by Michal Filippi of the Institute of Geology. It presents a newly recognized weathering style of sandstone outcrops. Its essence lies in a disconnection of smaller parts of rock along lithological and other discontinuities, which allows the material to dilate and damage the protective bio-crust on the cliff face. This results in a more effective function of erosion factors in the disconnected parts and their accelerated disintegration.

Anna Žigová was awarded the Bronze medal of the Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences on 4 March 2021. This medal was awarded for an exceptional contribution to the development of science and research in the field of agriculture. For additional information click here. Congratulations!

Trilobites are the most iconic inhabitants of the Paleozoic seas. These arthropods possess an exoskeleton that was hardened by calcium carbonate shortly after they hatched from the egg. Owing to this fact, their developmental stages are often preserved in the fossil record. In their new paper, Lukáš Laibl with his colleagues from Freie Universität Berlin described the development of trilobite Fritzolenellus lapworthi from Cambrian strata of Newfoundland, from tiny individuals smaller than one millimeter up to the nearly 20 cm long adults. Juveniles of Fritzolenellus show a large cephalon and distinct spines on their body. Based on a detailed comparison of Fritzolenellus babies with those of other Cambrian trilobites, the authors showed that features seen in Fritzolenellus have the original morphology inherited from the last common ancestor and can be thus used as a reference group when studying the ontogeny of other trilobites. For additional information click here.