Dr. Ben Slater
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I am a palaeontologist based in the department of Earth Sciences, University of Uppsala. I am interested in major transitions in the history of life and using the fossil record to understand revolutionary changes in the biosphere and the development of intricate interactions between organisms. Specific topics of interest include the Cambrian Explosion of animal life, and the development of complex terrestrial ecosystems. My research has primarily focused on using the rich record of organic-walled microfossils - Small Carbonaceous Fossils (SCFs) and mesofossils - to answer questions regarding arthropod–plant interactions in the Palaeozoic, the coal-forming Permian floras of the Southern Hemisphere, and the initial diversification of animals and assembly of Phanerozoic-style ecosystems during the Cambrian.
Web pages
Publications
Academic papers.
Slater, B.J., Harvey, T.H.P., Bekker, A., Butterfield, N.J., 2020. Cochleatina: an enigmatic Ediacaran–Cambrian survivor among small carbonaceous fossils (SCFs). Palaeontology, In Press.
Davies, N.S., Shillito, A.P., Slater, B.J., Liu, A.G. & McMahon, W.J., 2020. Evolutionary synchrony of Earth’s biosphere and sedimentary-stratigraphic record. Earth-Science Reviews 201, p.102979.
Slater, B.J. & Budd, G.E., 2019. Comment on: Tang et al. [2019]: A problematic animal fossil from the early Cambrian Hetang Formation, South China. Journal of Paleontology 93, 1276–1278.
Slater, B.J. & Willman, S., 2019. Early Cambrian small carbonaceous fossils (SCFs) from an impact crater in western Finland. Lethaia 52, 570–582.
Kesidis, G., Slater, B.J., Jensen, S., Budd, G.E., 2019. Caught in the act: priapulid burrowers in early Cambrian substrates. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 286, 20182505.
Slater, B.J., 2018. Opening a new window onto the Cambrian Explosion of animal life. Palaeontological Association Newsletter, 98, 85–87.
Guilbaud, R., Slater, B.J., Poulton, S.W., Harvey, T.H.P., Brocks, J.J., Nettersheim, B.J., Butterfield, N.J., 2018. Oxygen minimum zones in the early Cambrian ocean. Geochemical Perspectives Letters 6, 33–38.
Slater, B.J., Harvey, T.H.P., Butterfield, N.J., 2018. Small carbonaceous fossils (SCFs) from the Terreneuvian (lower Cambrian) of Baltica. Palaeontology 61, DOI: 10.1111/pala.12350.
Slater, B.J., Willman, S., Budd, G.E., Peel, J.S., 2018. Widespread preservation of small carbonaceous fossils (SCFs) in the early Cambrian of North Greenland. Geology https://doi.org/10.1130/G39788.1
Slater, B.J., Harvey, T.H.P., Guilbaud, R., Butterfield, N.J., 2017. A cryptic record of Burgess Shale-type diversity from the early Cambrian of Baltica. Palaeontology 60, 117–140.
Davies, N.S., Gibling, M.R., McMahon, W.J., Slater, B.J., Long, D.G.F., Bashforth, A.R., Berry, C.M., Falcon-Lang, H.J., Gupta, S., Rygel, M.C., Wellman, C.H., 2017. Discussion on ‘Tectonic and environmental controls on Palaeozoic fluvial environments: reassessing the impacts of early land plants on sedimentation’. Journal of the Geological Society https://doi. org/10.1144/jgs2016-063.
McLoughlin, S., Drinnan, A.N., Slater, B.J., Hilton, J., 2015. Paurodendron stellatum: a new Permian permineralized herbaceous lycopsid from the Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 220, 1–15.
Slater, B.J., McLoughlin, S., Hilton, J., 2015. A high-latitude Gondwanan lagerstätte: The Permian permineralised peat biota of the Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica. Gondwana Research http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2014.01.004.
Slater, B.J., McLoughlin, S., Hilton, J., 2013. Peronosporomycetes (Oomycota) from a Middle Permian permineralised peat within the Bainmedart Coal Measures, Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica. PLoS ONE 8, e70707.
Slater, B.J., McLoughlin, S., Hilton, J., 2012. Cryptic diversity of a Glossopteris forest: Permian silicified peats of the Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica. Japanese Journal of Palynology 58, 218.
Slater, B.J., McLoughlin, S., Hilton, J., 2012. Animal–plant interactions in a Middle Permian permineralised peat of the Bainmedart Coal Measures, Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 363, 109–126.
Womack, T., Slater, B.J., Stevens, L.G., Anderson, L.I., Hilton, J., 2012. First cladoceran fossils from the Carboniferous: palaeoenvironmental and evolutionary implications. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 344, 39–48.
Slater, B.J., Reolid, M., Schouten, R., Benton, M.J., 2011. A new Late Jurassic turtle from Spain: Phylogenetic implications, taphonomy and palaeoecology. Palaeontology 54, 1393–1414.
Slater, B.J., McLoughlin, S., Hilton, J., 2011. Guadalupian (Middle Permian) megaspores from a permineralised peat in the Bainmedart Coal Measures, Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 167, 140–155.
McLoughlin, S., Slater, B.J., Hilton, J., Prevec, R., 2011. New vistas on animal-plant-fungal interactions in the Permian-Triassic of Gondwana. GFF 133, 66–67.
Science communication and outreach articles
Slater, B.J., 2014. Fossil Focus: Arthropod–plant interactions. Palaeontology[online].
Slater, B.J., 2011. Fossil Focus: Coal Swamps. Palaeontology[online] 1, 1–9.
Books
Reolid, M., Benton, M.J., Slater, B., 2013. Hispaniachelys prebetica: una Tortuga de hace más de 155 millones de años. Universidad de Jaén, Spain, 176 pages. ISBN-10: 8484397378.
Selected conference presentations
Slater, B.J., McLoughlin, S., Hilton, J. 2010. The Mid-Permian Prince Charles Mountains Floras, Antarctica. 8th European Palaeobotanical and Palynological Conference (Budapest, Hungary).
Slater, B.J., McLoughlin, S., Hilton, J. 2011. Animal-plant interaction in the Middle Permian of Antarctica. Palaeontological Association annual meeting (Plymouth, UK).
Slater, B.J., McLoughlin, S., Hilton, J. 2012. Cryptic diversity of a Glossopteris forest: Permian silicified peats of the Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica. IPC/IOPC conference (Tokyo, Japan).
Buttler, C., Rahman, I.A., Slater, B. 2012. Three-dimensional computer reconstruction of a lower Palaeozoic trepostome bryozoan. Palaeontological Association annual meeting (University College Dublin, Republic of Ireland).
Slater, B.J., McLoughlin, S., Hilton, J. 2012. The Glossopteris component community: Permian silicified peats of the Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica. Palaeontological Association annual meeting (University College Dublin, Republic of Ireland).
Slater, B.J., McLoughlin, S., Hilton, J., 2013. The Toploje Member chert: A terrestrial Permian Lagerstätte from East Antarctica. Palaeontological Association annual meeting (University of Zurich, Switzerland).
Slater, B.J. 2014. Oomycetes and their role in Late Palaeozoic – Early Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems. Invited speaker at 10th New Phytologist Workshop (Natural History Museum, London, UK).
The Blue Lagoon, Abereiddi Bay, Pembrokeshire