TY - JOUR T1 - Fossil calibrations for the arthropod Tree of Life JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/044859 SP - 044859 AU - Joanna M. Wolfe AU - Allison C. Daley AU - David A. Legg AU - Gregory D. Edgecombe Y1 - 2016/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/03/21/044859.abstract N2 - Fossil age data and molecular sequences are increasingly combined to establish a timescale for the Tree of Life. Arthropods, as the most species-rich and morphologically disparate animal phylum, have received substantial attention, particularly with regard to questions such as the timing of habitat shifts (e.g., terrestrialisation), genome evolution (e.g., gene family duplication and functional evolution), origins of novel characters and behaviours (e.g., wings and flight, venom, silk), biogeography, rate of diversification (e.g., Cambrian explosion, insect coevolution with angiosperms, evolution of crab body plans), and the evolution of arthropod microbiomes. We present herein a series of rigorously vetted calibration fossils for arthropod evolutionary history, taking into account recently published guidelines for best practice in fossil calibration. These are restricted to Palaeozoic and Mesozoic fossils, no deeper than ordinal taxonomic level, nonetheless resulting in 79 fossil calibrations for 101 clades. This work is especially timely owing to the rapid growth of molecular sequence data and the fact that many included fossils have been described within the last five years. This contribution provides a resource for systematists and other biologists interested in deep-time questions in arthropod evolution.AMNHAmerican Museum of Natural HistoryAMSAustralian Museum, SydneyAUGDUniversity of AberdeenBGRBundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, BerlinBMNHThe Natural History Museum, LondonCNUKey Laboratory of Insect Evolutionary & Environmental Change, Capital Normal University, BeijingDEUlster Museum, BelfastEDIbaraki University, Mito, JapanFMNHField Museum of Natural HistoryGMCBGeological Museum of China, BeijingGSCGeological Survey of CanadaIRNSBInstitut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, BrusselsKSUKent State UniversityLdMusée Fleury, Lodève, FranceLWLLandschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe-Museum für Naturkunde, MünsterMACNMuseo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, Buenos AiresMBHumboldt Museum für Naturkunde, BerlinMBAHumboldt Museum für Naturkunde, BerlinMCNAMuseo de Ciencias Naturales de Álava, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, SpainMCZMuseum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard UniversityMGSBMuseo Geologico del Seminario de BarcelonaMNMuseu Nacional, Rio de JaneiroMNHNMuséum national d’Histoire naturelle, ParisNHMUKThe Natural History Museum, LondonNIGPNanjing Institute of Geology and PalaeontologyNMSNational Museum of ScotlandOUMOxford University Museum of Natural HistoryPBMPalaöbotanik MünsterPINPaleontological Institute, MoscowPRIPaleontological Research Institution, IthacaROMRoyal Ontario MuseumSMSedgwick Museum, University of CambridgeSMNKStaatliches Museum für Naturkunde, KarlsruheSMNSStaatliches Museum für Naturkunde, StuttgartTsGMF.N. Chernyshev Central Geologic Prospecting Research Museum, St. PetersburgUBUniversity of BonnUSNMUS National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian InstitutionUWGMUniversity of Wisconsin Geology MuseumYKLPYunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Yunnan UniversityYPMYale Peabody MuseumZPALInstitute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw ER -