Staff profile

1980 — Postdoctoral Fellow (University of Oslo)

1981 – 1984  — Postdoctoral Fellow (University of Dundee)

1984 – 1998  — Lecturer — Reader in Palaeontology and Stratigraphy (University College, Galway)

1998 – 2011  — Professor in Palaeontology (University of Copenhagen) 

2002 – 2011  — Deputy Head — Head of Geology (Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen) 

2004 – present  — Elected Foreign Member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters

2008 – present  — Einstein Professor, Chinese Academy of Sciences

2011 – present  — Professor of Palaeontology, Principal of Van Mildert College, Durham University

2013 – present  — Honorary Research Fellow, The Natural History Museum

 

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2011 – 2013  — Deputy Head of Colleges (Research and Scholarly Activities)

2012 – 2017 — Deputy Director, Climate Impacts Research Centre, Durham University

Career Research Highlights

My initial research on the stratigraphy and palaeontology of the Ordovician rocks of the Girvan district was largely monographic and was recognised by the Clough Memorial Award from the Edinburgh Geological Society. The description of Palaeozoic Brachiopoda using both conventional and statistical methodologies continues to be a focus of my research. The former led to an invitation to jointly revise with Sir Alwyn Williams various groups of Brachiopoda for the 'Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology'; the latter has led to the development of microcomputer software - 'PALSTAT' package, which has now been completely rewritten and relaunched as 'PAST' in collaboration with Dr Øyvind Hammer (University of Oslo). The integration of such data into models of global biostratigraphy together with those for the environmental and spatial distributions of the phyla are continuing objectives within my research programme. This programme has been recognised with the award of the Lyell Fund from the Geological Society. Currently my main research interests have been modified regionally to include studies on the Lower Palaeozoic rocks in NE and N Greenland, Chile, China (including Tibet), Denmark, Estonia, Norway and Russia and my research in Greenland has been recognized by the award of Crown Prince Frederik's Fund. During the last ten years my focus has moved to target some of the larger scale processes in the history of life. Together with a range of colleagues, new models for biotic change and distributions through the Early Palaeozoic, particularly targeting the Cambrian Explosion, Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event and the end-Ordovician extinction, are being developed and their relationships to climatic and environmental changes are being assessed through a range of multidisciplinary techniques.

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Committee and Society Service

2018  — Member of Earth and Environmental Sciences panel, Portuguese Research Council

2015 — 2020 Member of advisory committee for School of Earth Space Sciences, Peking University

2015 — Member of evaluation panel, School of Earth Space Sciences, Peking University

2014 — Chair of evaluation panel, Paleontological Institute and Museum in the University of Zürich

2014 — Chair of evaluation panel, Earth Sciences programmes in the University of the West Indies

2014 —2016 President, Palaeontological Association

2012 – 2014  — Vice President, Palaeontographical Society

2012 – present  — NERC Peer Review College

2008 – present  — Voting member of the International Commission for Stratigraphy

2008 – present  — Chairman, International Subcommission on Ordovician Stratigraphy

2008 – 2009  — Member of evaluation panel of Earth Science Research Centres in Portugal

2007 – 2015  — Member of IGCP (UNESCO) scientific panel

2006 – 2010  — President, International Palaeontological Association

2005 – 2009; 2012  — Member of Earth Sciences panel, Swedish Research Council

2004 – 2009  — Co-leader IGCP (UNESCO) project 503

2004 – present  — Voting member of the International Ordovician Subcommission

2002 – 2004  — Vice President Palaeontological Association

1996 – 1998  — Vice President Irish Geological Association

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Conferences and Workshops (selected)

2018 — Co-convener ' IGCP 653' and 'Neogene tropical biotas and environments' sessions, 5th International Palaeontological Congress, Paris, France

2016 — Organiser, Opening Meeting of the 'Onset of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event'. International Geosciences Project 653, Van Mildert College, Durham University

2014 — Co-convener 'Ordovician biotas of Gondwana: responses to global climatic and eustatic events, and their biogeographic relationships within the Ordovician World’. 4^th International Palaeontological Congress, Mendoza, Argentina

2013 — Co-convener ‘The Cambrian Explosion – Understanding Earth systems at the origin of modern ecosystems’ Lyell Meeting, Geological Society, London

2012  — Co-convener 'International Subcommission on Ordovician stratigraphy: Ordovician intercontinental correlations: developing global and regional chronostratigraphy', International Geological Congress, Brisbane

2012  — Co-convener 'Out of Our Depth: The Paleontology, Ichnology, and Sedimentology of Deeper Water Environments in the Ancient Tropics', Annual Geological Society of America Meeting, Charlotte, North Carolina

2010  — Co-chair of science and vice-chair of executive committees for the 3rd International Palaeontological Congress, London

2009  — Organizer Final Meeting of IGCP 503, Copenhagen

2005  — Organizer 5th International Brachiopod Congress, Copenhagen

2003  — Co-convener 'Environmental and biological impact of the end Ordovician glaciation', EUG, Nice.

2002  — Co-organizer '4th Gilbert Larwood Symposium', Copenhagen

2001  — Organizer of the Annual Meeting of the Palaeontological Association, Copenhagen

2000  — Co-convener 'History of Biodiversity', Geosciences 2000, Manchester

2000  — Co-convener 'Biostratigraphy and Biogeography', Millennium Brachiopod Congress, London

2000  — Co-convener 'Tropics through Time', Annual Geological Society of America Meeting, Reno, Nevada

1998  — Co-organiser of Annual Irish Geological Research Meeting, University of Galway

1995  — Organiser of Annual Meeting of Palaeontological Association, University College, Galway

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Editorial Roles

2019 - present — Co editor-in-Chief, Palaeoworld

2017 - present — Associate Editor, Swiss Journal of Paleontology

2015 – 2019 — Member of Editorial Board, Nature Scientific Reports 

2014 - 2019 — Review Editor, Frontiers in Paleontology

2009 – 2017 — Advisory editor, Journal of the Geological Society, London

2008 – present  — Associate Editor, Paleontological Contributions

2005 – 2019 — Associate Editor, Palaeoworld

2004 – 2016  — Associate Editor, Swiss Journal of Geosciences

2004 – 2008  — Chair of Publications Board, Palaeontological Association

2003 – present  — Editor, Lethaia

1996 – 2012  — Associate Editor, Geological Journal

1996 – 2002  — Editor, for the Palaeontological Association's journal, Palaeontology

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Recent and Current Grants (Selected)

2006 – 2007  — Geocenter København (Geocenter Copenhagen): Mapping Denmark's and Greenland's palaeobiodiversity: An integrated database for Denmarks and Greenlands fossils. 400,000 DKK

2006  — Forskningsrådet for Natur og Univers (Danish Research Council): Rapid transitions from Greenhouse-Icehouse-Greenhouse climates 440 million year ago: New investigations of the palaeotropics in Early Palaeozoic North Greenland. 850,000 DKK

2006  — Forskningsrådet for Natur og Univers (Danish Research Council): Fossil microorganisms and ultrastructures in time and space (SEM equipment). 850,000 DKK

2006 – 2007  — INTERREG IIIA, Øresundsregionen: Integrated Higher Education in Geology (with Prof. Per Ahlberg, Lunds Universitet, Sverige). 500,000 SEK.

2007 – 2009  — Geocenter København (Geocenter Copenhagen): Monsters from deep time: Exhibition on Sirius Passet fossils. 450,000 DKK

2007  — TK-Foundation (Galathea III expedition). Ordovician in the roots of the Andes (with Prof. Lars Stemmerik). 300,000 DKK

2008 – 2012  — FNU (Danish Research Council) The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE). DKK 4,000,000 DKK

2009  — Geocenter Copenhagen: Expedition to Peary Land: Sirius Passet fauna and the Cambrian explosion. DKK 1,300,000

2010  — Carlsberg Foundation: Aspects of Modern and Ancient diversity on the Tibetan Plateau. 500,000 DKK

2011  — Carlsberg Foundation: The Dawn of Phanerozoic ecosystems. DKK 500,000

2011  — Agouron Institute: The Cambrian Explosion in the Sirius Pass, North Greenland. DKK 900,000. (co applicant with Prof. Don Canfield).

2012 – 2014  — FNU (Danish Research Council): Unravelling early animal evolution. DKK 2,000,000

2016 – SEK Wenner-Gren Foundation: Cambrian brachiopods ‒ diversity, distribution and evolution. SEK 106, 000 (co applicant with Prof. Per Ahlberg)

2016 – 2018 – Leverhulme Trust: Roots of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification. £49,000

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Research Interests

• Fossil brachiopods, their taxonomy, distribution, ecology and phylogeny.
• Major events in the history life, e.g. Cambrian Explosion, Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event and end Ordovician extinction
• Numerical methods in palaeontology

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• Climate and Environmental Change
• Palaeoclimate Research Group
• Palaeoecosystems Research Group

• Van Mildert College
• Van Mildert Research Activities

• 2016: The roots of the Ordovician Biodiversification: The brachiopod radiation(£48799.00 from Leverhulme Trust)
• 2012: Cambrian soft bodies from the Sirius Pass, North Greenland(£3000.00 from GEUS)

• 2019: Guest Research Professor, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing:
• 2019: Research Associate; National Museum of Scotland:
• 2017: Distinguished Visiting Professor, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan:
• 2016: Chair, International Commission on Stratigraphy:
• 2016: Leverhulme Fellow:
• 2014: Elected Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Physiographic Society:
• 2014: Guest Professor, University of Lund:
• 2014: Member of Scientific Advisory Board, Naturalis (State Museum of Natural History), The Netherlands:
• 2014: President, Palaeontological Association:
• 2014: Visiting Professor, CNRS - Université de Lille 1, France:
• 2014: William King Medal, National University of Ireland, Galway:
• 2013: Honorary Research Fellow, The Natural History Museum :
• 2008: Einstein Professor, Chinese Academy of Sciences:
• 2004: Elected Foreign Member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters:
• 2003: Crown Prince Frederik's Fund, Denmark :
• 1996: Lyell Fund from the Geological Society :
• 1986: Clough Memorial Award from the Edinburgh Geological Society :

Available for media contact about:

• The Earth: Rocks & natural forces: Palaeontology, evolution and the history of life
• The Earth: Animals: Palaeontology, evolution and the history of life

Authored book

• Benton, M.J. & Harper, D.A.T. (2020). Introduction to Paleobiology and the Fossil Record, 2nd edition. Wiley Blackwell.
• Liljeroth, M., Harper, D.A.T., Carlisle, H. & Nielsen, A.T. (2017). Ordovician rhynchonelliformean brachiopods from Co. Waterford, SE Ireland: Palaeobiogeography of the Leinster Terrane. John Wiley & Sons.
• Rong Jiayu, Huang Bing Zhan Ren-bin & Harper, D.A.T. (2013). Latest Ordovician and earliest Silurian brachiopods succeeding the Hirnantia fauna in south-east China. Palaeontological Association.
• Rasmussen, C.M.O., Harper, D.A.T. & Blodgett, R.B. (2012). Late Ordovician Brachiopods from West-Central Alaska: systematics, ecology and palaeobiogeography. Wiley-Blackwell.
• Benton, M.J. & Harper, D.A.T. (2009). Introduction to Paleobiology and the Fossil Record. John Wiley & Sons.

Chapter in book

• Harper, David A. T. (2021). Paleontology. In Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Vonk, J. & Shackelford, T. Springer. 1.
• Harper, David A.T. (2021). Brachiopoda. In Encyclopedia of Geology. Alderton, David & Elias, Scott A. Elsevier. 3: 273-282.
• Harper, David A.T. (2021). Late Ordovician Extinctions. In Encyclopedia of Geology. Alderton, David & Elias, Scott A. Elsevier. 3: 617-626.
• Armstrong, H.A. & Harper, D.A.T. (2014). An earth system approach to understanding the end-Ordovician (Hirnantian) mass extinction. In Volcanism, Impacts, and Mass Extinctions: Causes and Effects. Keller, G. & Kerr, A. The Geological Society of America. 287-300.
• Stouge, S., Boyce, W.D. Christiansen, J.L. Harper, D.A.T. & Knight, I. (2013). Development of the Lower Cambrian–Middle Ordovician Carbonate Platform: North Atlantic Region. In The great American carbonate bank: The geology and economic resources of the Cambrian-Ordovician Sauk megasequence of Laurentia. Derby, J. R., Fritz, R.D., Longacre, S.A. Morgan, W.A. & Sternbach, C.A. AAPG Memoir. 98: 597-626.

Edited book

• Harper, D.A.T. & Servais, T. (2013). Early Palaeozoic Biogeography and Palaeogeography. Memoirs. Geological Society, London.

Edited Journal

• Yuan-dong Zhang, Servais T. & Harper D.A.T. (2019). Onset of the GOBE. Palaeoworld, 28
• Harper D.A.T. & Servais T. (2018). Contextualizing the Onset of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event. Lethaia 51.
• Zhan, Renbin, Jin, Jisuo & Harper, D.A.T. (2015). Geologic and biotic events and their relationships during the Early to Middle Paleozoic. Palaeoworld, 24 (1-2).
• Calner, M., Albanesi, G., Babcock, L., Harper, D.A.T., Lehnert, O. & Melchin, M. (2013). Early Palaeozoic Global Change. GFF, 136 (1): Taylor & Francis.
• Donovan, S.K. & Harper, D.A.T. (2011). Early Palaeozoic ecosystems, environments and evolution. Geological Journal, 46
• Cusack, M. & Harper, D.A.T. (2008). Brachiopod Research into the Third Millennium. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth and Environmental Sciences, 98
• Harper, D.A.T., Nielsen, C. & Long, S.L. (2008). Brachiopoda: Fossil and Recent. Fossils and Strata, 54

Journal Article

• Harper, David A. T., Meidla, Tõnu & Servais, Thomas (2023). A short history of the Ordovician System: from overlapping unit stratotypes to global stratotype sections and points. Geological Society, London, Special Publications 532(1).
• Saleh, Farid, Vaucher, Romain, Vidal, Muriel, Hariri, Khadija El, Laibl, Lukáš, Daley, Allison C., Gutiérrez-Marco, Juan Carlos, Candela, Yves, Harper, David A. T., Ortega-Hernández, Javier, Ma, Xiaoya, Rida, Ariba, Vizcaïno, Daniel & Lefebvre, Bertrand (2022). New fossil assemblages from the Early Ordovician Fezouata Biota. Scientific Reports 12(1): 20773.
• Aubry, Marie-Pierre, Piller, Werner E. Gibbard, Philip L., Harper, David A. T. & Finney, Stanley C. (2022). Ratification of subseries/subepochs as formal rank/units in international chronostratigraphy. Episodes 45(1): 97-99.
• Hughes, Nigel C., Peng, Shanchi, Harper, David A. T., Myrow, Paul M., Phạm, Ngân Kim, Wernette, Shelly J. & Zhu, Xuejian (2022). Cambrian and earliest Ordovician fauna and geology of the Sông Đà and adjacent terranes in Việt Nam (Vietnam). Geological Magazine 159(1): 55-80.
• Harper, David A.T., Cascales-Miñana, Borja, Kroeck, David M. & Servais, Thomas (2021). The palaeogeographical impact on the biodiversity of marine faunas during the Ordovician radiations. Global and Planetary Change 207: 103665.
• Zhang, Min, Chen, Zhong-Qiang & Harper, David A.T. (2021). An atypical Burgess Shale-type fossil assemblage from Cambrian Stage 4 of the Jingshan area, South China: Taphonomy, palaeoecology, and global correlations. Global and Planetary Change 206: 103640.
• Guo, Zhen, Chen, Zhong-Qiang, Harper, David A. T. & Huang, Yuangeng (2021). Permian–Triassic phylogenetic and morphologic evolution of rhynchonellide brachiopods. Paleobiology
• Pereira, Sofia, Colmenar, Jorge, Mortier, Jan, Vanmeirhaeghe, Jan, Verniers, Jacques, Štorch, Petr, Harper, David Alexander Taylor & Gutiérrez-Marco, Juan Carlos (2021). Hirnantia Fauna from the Condroz Inlier, Belgium: another case of a relict Ordovician shelly fauna in the Silurian? Journal of Paleontology 6: 1189-1215.
• Harper, David A.T., Stouge, Svend, Christiansen, Jørgen L., Topper, Timothy P., Alwmark, Carl, Richoz, Sylvain & Ahlberg, Per (2021). Early Cambrian brachiopod-dominated shell concentrations from North-East Greenland: Environmental and taphonomic implications. Global and Planetary Change 204: 103560.
• Donovan, Stephen K., Jones, Stuart J., King, Abigail R. & Harper, David A.T. (2021). Pliocene trace fossils from oyster substrates in the Nijar Basin, Betic Cordillera, southern Spain. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association 132(3): 358-368.
• Simonet Roda, Maria, Griesshaber, Erika, Angiolini, Lucia, Harper, David A.T., Jansen, Ulrich, Bitner, Maria Aleksandra, Henkel, Daniela, Manzanero, Eloy, Müller, Tamás, Tomašových, Adam, Eisenhauer, Anton, Ziegler, Andreas & Schmahl, Wolfgang W. (2021). The evolution of thecideide microstructures and textures: traced from Triassic to Holocene. Lethaia 1-20.
• Servais, T., Cascales-Minana, B. & Harper, D.A.T. (2021). The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE) is not a single event. Paleontological Research
• Murray, J., Dingsdale, A. Nasheuer, H.P. & Harper, D.A.T. (2020). The awarding of the first honorary Doctor of Science by the Queen's University in Ireland to William King – a journey of scientific curiosity. Irish Journal of Earth Sciences 38: 73-90.
• Stouge, Svend, Harper, David A. T., Zhan, Renbin, Liu, Jianbo & Stemmerik, Lars (2020). Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian) conodonts from southern Tibet, the Indian passive margin: implications for the age and correlation of the roof of the world. Geological Magazine 1-25.
• Rønning, Knut J., Bruton, David L., Harper, David A.T., Høyberget, Magne, Maletz, Jörg & Nakrem, Hans Arne (2020). A Cambrian–Ordovician boundary section in the Rafnes–Herøya submarine tunnel, Skien–Langesund District, southern Norway. Norwegian Journal of Geology 100(1): 1-24.
• Guo, Zhen, Chen, Zhong-Qiang & Harper, David A. T. (2020). Phylogenetic and ecomorphologic diversifications of spiriferinid brachiopods after the end-Permian extinction. Paleobiology 1-16.
• Penn-Clarke, Cameron R. & Harper, David A.T. (2020). Early−Middle Devonian brachiopod provincialism and bioregionalization at high latitudes: A case study from southwestern Gondwana. GSA Bulletin
• Jiayu, Rong, Harper, D.A.T., Bing, Huang, Rongyu, Li, Xiaole, Zhang & Di, Chen (2020). The latest Ordovician Hirnantian brachiopod faunas: New global insights. Earth-Science Reviews 208: 103280.
• Zhen, Yong Yi, Zhang, Yuandong, Harper, David A.T., Zhan, Renbin, Fang, Xiang, Wang, Zhihao, Yu, Shenyang & Li, Wenjie (2020). Ordovician successions in southern-central Xizang (Tibet), China—Refining the stratigraphy of the Himalayan and Lhasa terranes. Gondwana Research 83: 372-389.
• Huang, Bing, Rong, Jiayu, Harper, David A.T. & Zhou, Hanghang (2020). A nearshore Hirnantian brachiopod fauna from South China and its ecological significance. Journal of Paleontology 94(2): 239-254.
• Guo, Zhen, Chen, Zhong-Qiang & Harper, David A. T. (2020). The Anisian (Middle Triassic) brachiopod fauna from Qingyan, Guizhou, south-western China. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 18(8): 647-701.
• Harper, David A.T., Cascales-Miñana, Borja & Servais, Thomas (2020). Early Palaeozoic diversifications and extinctions in the marine biosphere: a continuum of change. Geological Magazine 157: 5-21.
• Rong, Jia-Yu, Aung, Kyi Pyar, Zhan, Ren-Bin, Huang, Bing, Harper, David A.T., Chen, Di, Zhou, Hang-Hang & Zhang, Xiao-Le (2020). The latest Ordovician Hirnantia brachiopod fauna of Myanmar: Significance of new data from the Mandalay Region. Palaeoworld 29(1): 1-30.
• Huang, Bing, Zhou, Hang-Hang, Harper, David A.T., Zhan, Ren-Bin, Zhang, Xiao-Le, Chen, Di & Rong, Jia-Yu (2020). A latest Ordovician Hirnantia brachiopod fauna from western Yunnan, Southwest China and its paleobiogeographic significance. Palaeoworld 29(1): 31-46.
• Ling, Ming-Xing, Zhan, Ren-Bin, Wang, Guang-Xu, Wang, Yi, Amelin, Yuri, Tang, Peng, Liu, Jian-Bo, Jin, Jisuo, Huang, Bing, Wu, Rong-Chang, Xue, Shuo, Fu, Bin, Bennett, Vickie C., Wei, Xin, Luan, Xiao-Cong, Finnegan, Seth, Harper, David A.T. & Rong, Jia-Yu (2019). An extremely brief end Ordovician mass extinction linked to abrupt onset of glaciation. Solid Earth Sciences 4(4): 190-198.
• Huang, Bing, Harper, David A. T., Zhou, Hanghang & Rong, Jiayu (2019). From shallow to deep water: an ecological study of the Hirnantia brachiopod Fauna (Late Ordovician) and its global implications. Lethaia 1-13.
• Schmitz, Birger, Farley, Kenneth A., Goderis, Steven, Heck, Philipp R., Bergström, Stig M., Boschi, Samuele, Claeys, Philippe, Debaille, Vinciane, Dronov, Andrei, van Ginneken, Matthias, Harper, David A.T., Iqbal, Faisal, Friberg, Johan, Liao, Shiyong, Martin, Ellinor, Meier, Matthias M. M., Peucker-Ehrenbrink, Bernhard, Soens, Bastien, Wieler, Rainer & Terfelt, Fredrik (2019). An extraterrestrial trigger for the mid-Ordovician ice age: Dust from the breakup of the L-chondrite parent body. Science Advances 5(9): eaax4184.
• Servais, Thomas, Cascales-Miñana, Borja, Cleal, Christopher J., Gerrienne, Philippe, Harper, David A.T. & Neumann, Mareike (2019). Revisiting the Great Ordovician Diversification of land plants: Recent data and perspectives. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 534: 109280.
• Harper D.A.T., Hammarlund E.U., Topper T.P., Nielsen A.T., Rasmussen J.A., Park T-Y.S. & Smith M.P. (2019). The Sirius Passet Lagerstätte of North Greenland: a remote window on the Cambrian Explosion. Journal of the Geological Society 17(6): 1023-1037.
• Angiolini, Lucia, Crippa, Gaia, Azmy, Karem, Capitani, Giancarlo, Confalonieri, Giorgia, Della Porta, Giovanna, Griesshaber, Erika, Harper, David A. T., Leng, Melanie J., Nolan, Leah, Orlandi, Marco, Posenato, Renato, Schmahl, Wolfgang W., Banks, Vanessa J. & Stephenson, Michael H. (2019). The giants of the phylum Brachiopoda: a matter of diet? Palaeontology 62(6): 889-917.
• Harper, D.A.T. (2019). The Golden Spike Still Glitters: The (Re)construction of a Global Chronostratigraphy. Acta Geologica Sinica 93 (supplement)(S3): 24-27.
• Huang, Bing, Harper, David A. T., Zhou, Hang-Hang, Zhan, Ren-Bin, Wang, Yi, Tang, Peng, Ma, Jun-Ye, Wang, Guang-Xu, Chen, Di, Zhang, Yu-Chen, Luan, Xiao-Cong & Rong, Jia-Yu (2019). A new Cathaysiorthis (Brachiopoda) fauna from the lower Llandovery of eastern Qinling, China. Papers in Palaeontology 5(3): 537-557.
• Harper, David A.T., Topper, Timothy P., Cascales-Miñana, Borja, Servais, Thomas, Zhang, Yuan-Dong & Ahlberg, Per (2019). The Furongian (late Cambrian) Biodiversity Gap: Real or apparent? Palaeoworld 28(1-2): 4-12.
• Hammarlund, Emma U., Smith, M. Paul, Rasmussen, Jan A., Nielsen, Arne T., Canfield, Donald E. & Harper, David A. T. (2019). The Sirius Passet Lagerstätte of North Greenland—A geochemical window on early Cambrian low‐oxygen environments and ecosystems. Geobiology 17(1): 12-26.
• Drost, Kerstin, Chew, David, Petrus, Joseph A., Scholze, Frank, Woodhead, Jon D., Schneider, Joerg W. & Harper, David A. T. (2018). An Image Mapping Approach to U-Pb LA-ICP-MS Carbonate Dating and Applications to Direct Dating of Carbonate Sedimentation. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 19(12): 4631-4648.
• Bogolepova, Olga K., Donovan, Stephen K., Harper, David A.T., Suyarkova, Anna A., Yakupov, Rustem & Gubanov, Alexander P. (2018). New records of brachiopods and crinoids from the Silurian (Wenlock) of the southern Urals, Russia. GFF 140(4): 323-331.
• Hints, L., Harper, D.A.T. & Paškevičius, J. (2018). Diversity and biostratigraphic utility of Ordovician brachiopods in the East Baltic. Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences 67(3): 176-191.
• Strang, K.M., Harper, D.A.T., Donovan, S.K. & Portell, R.W. (2018). Silicification of low-magnesium mollusc shells from the Upper Oligocene of Antigua, Lesser Antilles. Caribbean Journal of Earth Sciences 50: 37-43.
• Harper, D.A.T. & Servais, T. (2018). Contextualizing the Onset of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event. Lethaia 51(2): 149-150.
• Park, Tae-Yoon S., Kihm, Ji-Hoon, Woo, Jusun, Park, Changkun, Lee, Won Young, Smith, M. Paul, Harper, David A. T., Young, Fletcher, Nielsen, Arne T. & Vinther, Jakob (2018). Brain and eyes of Kerygmachela reveal protocerebral ancestry of the panarthropod head. Nature Communications 9(1): 1019.
• Topper, Timothy P., Greco, Francesco, Hofmann, Axel, Beeby, Andrew & Harper, David A.T. (2018). Characterization of kerogenous films and taphonomic modes of the Sirius Passet Lagerstätte, Greenland. Geology 46(4): 359-362.
• Servais, Thomas & Harper, David A.T. (2018). The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE): definition, concept and duration. Lethaia 51(2): 151-164.
• Saleh, Farid, Candela, Yves, Harper, David A. T., Polechová, Marika, Lefebvre, Bertrand & Pittet, Bernard (2018). Storm-induced community dynamics in the Fezouata Biota (Lower Ordovician, Morocco). Palaios 33(12): 535-541.
• Topper, T.P., Zhang, Z., Gutiérrez-Marco, J.C. & Harper, D.A.T. (2018). The dawn of a dynasty: life strategies of Cambrian and Ordovician brachiopods. Lethaia 51(2): 254-266.
• Erlykin, Anatoly D., Harper, David A. T., Sloan, Terry & Wolfendale, Arnold W. (2018). Periodicity in extinction rates. Palaeontology 61(1): 149-158.
• Pohl, Alexandre, Harper, David A. T., Donnadieu, Yannick, Le Hir, Guillaume, Nardin, Elise & Servais, Thomas (2018). Possible patterns of marine primary productivity during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event. Lethaia 51(2): 187-197.
• Blake, Daniel B., Donovan, Stephen K. & Harper, David A.T. (2017). A new Silurian ophiuroid from the west of Ireland. Irish Journal of Earth Sciences 35: 57-66.
• Finnegan, S., Rasmussen, C.M.Ø. & Harper, D.A.T. (2017). Identifying the most surprising victims of mass extinction events: an example using Late Ordovician Brachiopods. Biology Letters 13(9): 2017400.
• Nielsen, M.L., Rasmussen, J.A. & Harper, D.A.T. (2017). Sexual dimorphism within the stem-group arthropod Isoxys volucris from the Sirius Passet Lagerstätte, North Greenland. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark 65: 47-58.
• Harper, David A. T., Popov, Leonid E. & Holmer, Lars E. (2017). Brachiopods: origin and early history. Palaeontology 60(5): 609–631.
• Harper, David A.T., Parkes, Matthew A. & Ren-Bin, Zhan (2017). Late Ordovician deep-water brachiopod fauna from Raheen, Waterford Harbour, Ireland. Irish Journal of Earth Sciences 35: 1-18.
• Donovan, Stephen K., Harper, David A.T., Portell, Roger W. & Toomey, James K. (2017). Echinoids as hard substrates: varied examples from the Oligocene of Antigua, Lesser Antilles. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association 128(3): 326-331.
• Huang, Bing, Harper, David A.T., Rong, Jiayu & Zhan, Renbin (2017). Brachiopod faunas after the end Ordovician mass extinction from South China: Testing ecological change through a major taxonomic crisis. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 138: 502-514.
• Erlykin, Anatoly D., Harper, David A. T., Sloan, Terry & Wolfendale, Arnold W. (2017). Mass extinctions over the last 500 myr: an astronomical cause? Palaeontology 60(2): 159-167.
• Donovan, S.K., Harper, D.A.T. & Portell, R.W. (2017). Shell-Filled Burrows in the Upper Oligocene Antigua Formation, Antigua, Lesser Antilles. Ichnos 24: 72-77.
• Strang, K.M., Armstrong, H.A. & Harper, D.A.T. (2016). Minerals in the gut: scoping a Cambrian digestive system. Royal Society Open Science 3(11): 160420.
• Tu Chenyi, Chen Zhong-Qiang & Harper D.A.T. (2016). Permian–Triassic evolution of the Bivalvia: Extinction-recovery patterns linked to ecologic and taxonomic selectivity. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 459: 53-62.
• Jakobsen, K.G., Brock, G.A., Nielsen, A.T. & Harper, D.A.T. (2016). A Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) bivalve-dominated molluscan fauna from the Stairway Sandstone, Amadeus Basin, central Australia. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 61(4): 897-924.
• Finnegan, S., Rasmussen, C.M.Ø. & Harper, D.A.T. (2016). Biogeographic and bathymetric determinants of brachiopod extinction and survival during the Late Ordovician mass extinction. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 283(1829): 20160007.
• Strang, K.M., Armstrong, H.A., Harper, D.A.T. & Trabucho-Alexandre, João P. (2016). The Sirius Passet Lagerstatte: silica death masking opens the window on the earliest matground community of the Cambrian explosion. Lethaia 49(4): 631-643.
• Rasmussen, C. M. Ø., Ullmann, C. V., Jakobsen, K. G., Lindskog, A., Hansen, J., Hansen, T. Eriksson, M. E., Dronov, A., Frei, R., Korte, C., Nielsen, A. T. & Harper, D. A. T. (2016). Onset of main Phanerozoic marine radiation sparked by emerging Mid Ordovician icehouse. Scientific Reports 6: 18884.
• Donovan, S.K., Jones, B. & Harper, D.A.T. (2016). Neogene echinoids from the Cayman Islands, West Indies: regional implications. Geological Journal 51(6): 864-879.
• Jensen, S., Harper, D.A.T. & Stouge, S. (2016). Trace fossils from the lower Cambrian Kløftelv Formation, Ella Ø, North-East Greenland. GFF 138(3): 369-376.
• Harper, D.A.T. & Hints, L. (2016). Hirnantian (Late Ordovician) brachiopod faunas across Baltoscandia: A global and regional context. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 444: 71-83.
• Stouge, S., Harper, D.A.T., Sevastopulo, G., O'Mahony, D. & Murray, J. (2016). Lower and Middle Ordovician conodonts of Laurentian affinity from blocks of limestone in the Rosroe Formation, South Mayo Trough, western Ireland and their palaeogeographic implication. Geological Journal 51(4): 584-599.
• Rohr, D.M., Harper, D.A.T., Stouge, S. & Christiansen, J.L. (2015). Ordovician Gastropoda from Northeast Greenland. Bulletin of Geosciences 90: 795-805.
• Jakobsen, K.G., Brock, G.A., Nielsen, A.T., Mathieson, D.K. & Harper, D.A.T. (2015). Brachiopods associated with stromatoporoid mounds from the Middle to Upper Ordovician Cashions Creek Limestone, Tasmania. Memoirs of the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists 45: 249-265.
• Zhan, Renbin, Jin, Jisuo & Harper, D.A.T. (2015). Ecosystem revolution and evolution in the Early–Mid Paleozoic. Palaeoworld 24(1-2): 1-4.
• Jin, J. & Harper, D.A.T. (2015). Occurrences of the cool-water dalmanelloid brachiopod Heterorthina in the Upper Ordovician of North America. Papers in Palaeontology 1: 237-253.
• Harper, D.A.T., Zhan, Renbin & Jin, Jisuo (2015). The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event: Reviewing two decades of research on diversity’s big bang illustrated by mainly brachiopod data. Palaeoworld 24(1-2): 75-85.
• Murray, J., Nasheuer, H.P., Seoighe, C., McCormick, G., Williams, D.M. & Harper, D.A.T. (2015). The contribution of William King to the early development of palaeoanthropology. Irish Journal of Earth Sciences 33: 1-16.
• Donovan, S.K., Harper, D.A.T. & Portell, R.W. (2015). In deep water: a crinoid–brachiopod association in the Upper Oligocene of Antigua, West Indies. Lethaia 48(3): 291-298.
• Hints, L. & Harper, D.A.T. (2015). The Hirnantian (Late Ordovician) brachiopod fauna of the East Baltic: Taxonomy of the key species. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 60(2): 395-420.
• Vinther, J. Stein, M. Longrich, N.R. & Harper, D.A.T. (2014). A suspension-feeding anomalocarid from the Early Cambrian. Nature 507(7493): 496-499.
• Servais, T., Danielian, T., Harper, D.A.T. & Munnecke, A. (2014). Possible oceanic circulation patterns, surface water currents and upwelling zones in the Early Palaeozoic. GFF 136(1): 229-233.
• Huang Bing, Harper, D.A.T. & Zhan Renbin (2014). Test of sampling sufficiency in palaeontology. GFF 136(1): 105-109.
• Harper, D.A.T., Jin Jisuo & Rasmussen, C.M.O. (2014). Late Ordovician carbonate mounds from North Greenland: a peri-Laurentian dimension to the Boda Event? GFF 136(1): 95-99.
• Jagt, J.W.M., Thuy, B., Donovan, S.K., Stohr, S., Portell, R.W., Pickerill, R.K., Harper, D.A.T., Lindsay, W. & Jackson, T.A. (2014). A starfish bed in the Middle Miocene Grand Bay Formation of Carriacou, The Grenadines (West Indies). Geological Magazine 151(3): 381-393.
• Harper, D.A.T., Hammarlund, E.U. & Rasmussen, C.M.Ø. (2014). End Ordovician extinctions a coincidence of causes. Gondwana Research 25(4): 1294-1307.
• Donovan, S.K., Harper, D.A.T., Portell, R.W. & Renema, W. (2014). Neoichnology and implications for stratigraphy of reworked Upper Oligocene oysters, Antigua, West Indies. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association 125(1): 99-106.
• Jakobsen, K.G., Nielsen, A.T., Harper, D.A.T. & Brock, G.A. (2014). Trilobites from the Middle Ordovician Stairway Sandstone, Amadeus Basin, central Australia. Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology 38: 70-96.
• Zhan Renbin, Harper, D.A.T., Jin Jisuo, Liang Yan, Liu Jianbo, Stemmerik, L. & Stouge, S. (2014). Middle Ordovician Aporthophyla brachiopod fauna from the roof of the World, Southern Tibet. Palaeontology 57(1): 141-170
• Colmenar, J., Harper, D.A.T. & Villas, E. (2014). Morphofunctional analysis of Svobodaina species (Brachiopoda, Heterorthidae) from South-Western Europe. Palaeontology 57(1): 193-214.
• Jakobsen, K.G., Brock, G.A., Nielsen, A.T., Topper, T.P. & Harper, D.A.T. (2013). Middle Ordovician brachiopods from the Stairway Sandstone, Amadeus Basin, central Australia. Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology 38: 190-208.
• Huang Bing, Harper, D.A.T. & Hammer, O. (2013). Introduction to PAST, a comprehensive statistics software package for paleontological data analysis. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica 52: 161-181.
• Topper, T.P., Harper, D.A.T. & Ahlberg, P. (2013). Reappraisal of the brachiopod Acrotreta socialis von Seebach, 1865: clarifying 150 years of confusion. GFF 135(2): 191-203.
• Topper, T.P., Skovsted, C.B, Peel, J.S. & Harper, D.A.T. (2013). Moulting in the lobopodian Onychodictyon from the lower Cambrian of Greenland. Lethaia 46: 490-495.
• Topper, T.P., Harper, D.A.T. & Brock, G.A. (2013). Ancestral billingsellides and the evolution and phylogenetic relationships of early rhynchonelliform brachiopods. Journal of systematic palaeontology 11(7): 821-833.
• Stein, M., Budd, G.E., Peel, J.S. & Harper, D.A.T. (2013). Arthroaspis n. gen., a common element of the Sirius Passet Lagerstätte (Cambrian, North Greenland), sheds light on trilobite ancestry. BMC Evolutionary Biology 13: 99.
• Smith, M.P. & Harper, D.A.T. (2013). Causes of the Cambrian Explosion. Science 341(6152): 1355-1356.
• Harper, D.A.T. & Servais, T. (2013). Early Palaeozoic biogeography and palaeogeography: towards a modern synthesis. Geological Society, London, Memoirs 38(1): 1-3.
• Frisk, Å & Harper, D.A.T. (2013). Late Ordovician brachiopod distribution and ecospace partitioning in the Tvären crater system, Sweden. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 369: 114-124.
• Jin Jisuo, Harper, D.A.T., Cocks, L.R.M., McCausland, P.J.A., Rasmussen, C.M.Ø. & Sheehan, P.M. (2013). Precisely locating the Ordovician equator in Laurentia. Geology 41(2): 107-110.
• Servais, T., Cecca, F., Harper, D.A.T., Isozaki, Y. & Mac Niocaill, C. (2013). Palaeozoic palaeogeographical and palaeobiogeographical nomenclature. Geological Society, London, Memoirs 38(1): 25-33.
• Zuykov, M., Pelletier, E. & Harper, D.A.T. (2013). Bivalve mollusks in metal pollution studies: from bioaccumulation to biomonitoring. Chemosphere 93: 201-208.
• Topper, T.P., Skovsted, C.B., Harper, D.A.T. & Ahlberg, P. (2013). A Bradoriid and Brachiopod Dominated Shelly Fauna from the Furongian(Cambrian) of Västergötland, Sweden. Journal of Paleontology 87(1): 69-83.
• Harper, D.A.T., Rasmussen, C.M.O., Liljeroth, M., Blodgett, R.B., Candela, Y., Jin Jisuo, Percival, I.G., Rong Jiayu, Villas, E. & Zhan Renbin (2013). Biodiversity, biogeography and phylogeography of Ordovician rhynchonelliform brachiopods. Geological Society, London, Memoirs 38(1): 127-144.
• Hammarlund, E.U., Dahl, T.W., Harper, D.A.T., Bond, D.P.G., Nielsen, A.T., Bjerrum, C.J., Schovsbo, N.H., Schönlaub, H.-P., Zalasiewicz, J.A. & Canfield, D.E. (2012). A sulfidic driver for the end-Ordovician mass extinction. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 331-332: 128-139.
• Topper, T.P., Holmer, L.E., Skovsted, C.B., Brock, G.A., Balthasar, U., Larsson, C.M., Stolk, S.P. & Harper, D.A.T. (2012). The oldest brachiopods from the lower Cambrian of South Australia. Acta palaeontologica polonica 58(1): 93-109.
• Zuykov, M., Vinarski, M. Pelletier, E. Demers, S. & Harper, D.A.T. (2012). Shell malformations in seven species of pond snail (Gastropoda, Lymnaeidae): analysis of large museum collections. Zoosystematics and Evolution 88(2): 365-368.
• Mangano, M.G., Bromley, R.G. Harper, D.A.T., Nielsen, A.T., Smith, M.P & Vinther, J. (2012). Nonbiomineralized carapaces in Cambrian seafloor landscapes (Sirius Passet, Greenland): Opening a new window into early Phanerozoic benthic ecology. Geology 40(6): 519-522.
• Jin J., Harper, D.A.T., Rasmussen, J.A. & Sheehan, P.M. (2012). Late Ordovician massive-bedded Thalassinoides ichnofacies along the palaeoequator of Laurentia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 367-368: 73-88.
• Donovan, S.K., Harper, D.A.T., Zhan Renbin, Stemmerik, L., Liu Jianbo & Stouge, S. (2012). A primitive cladid crinoid from the Jiacun Group, Tibet (Darriwilian, Middle Ordovician). Geological Journal 47: 653-660.
• Vinther, J., Eibye-Jacobsen, D. & Harper, D.A.T. (2011). An Early Cambrian stem polychaete with pygidial cirri. Biology Letters 7(6): 929-932.
• Stouge, S., Christiansen, J.L., Harper, D.A.T., Houmark-Nielsen, M., Kristiansen, K., MacNiocaill, C. & Buchard-Westergaard, B. (2011). Neoproterozoic (Cryogenian–Ediacaran) deposits in East and North-East Greenland. Geological Society, London, Memoirs 36(1): 581-592.
• Rasmussen, C.M.O. & Harper, D.A.T. (2011). Interrogation of distributional data for the End Ordovician crisis interval: where did disaster strike? Geological Journal 46: 478-500.
• Zuykov, M., Gudkov, D., Vinarski, M., Pelletier, E., Harper, D.A.T. & Demers, S. (2011). Does radioactive contamination affect the shell morphology of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis in the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl NPP (Ukraine)? The Environmentalist 31(4): 369-375.
• Vinther, J., Smith, M.P. & Harper, D.A.T. (2011). Vetulicolians from the Lower Cambrian Sirius Passet Lagerstatte, North Greenland, and the polarity of morphological characters in basal deuterostomes. Palaeontology 54(3): 711-719.
• Rasmussen, C.M.O. & Harper, D.A.T. (2011). Did the amalgamation of continents drive the end Ordovician mass extinctions? Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 311(1-2): 48-62.
• Zuykov, M., Harper, D.A.T. & Pelletier, E. (2011). Revision of the Ordovician brachiopod genus Noetlingia Hall and Clarke, 1893. Journal of Paleontology 85(3): 595-598.
• Hughes, N.C., Myrow, P.M., McKenzie, N.R. Harper, D.A.T. Bhargava, O.N., Tangri, S.K., Ghalley, K.S. & Fanning, C.M. (2011). Cambrian rocks and faunas of the Wachi La, Black Mountains, Bhutan. Geological Magazine 148(03): 351-379
• Frisk, Å. & Harper, D.A.T. (2011). Palaeoenvironmental aspects of Late Ordovician Sericoidea shell concentrations in an impact crater, Tvaren, Sweden. Lethaia 44(4): 383-396.
• Dahlqvist, P., Harper, D.A.T. & Wickstrom, L. (2010). Late Ordovician shelly faunas from Jamtland: palaeocommunity development along the margin of the Swedish Caledonides. Bulletin of Geosciences 85: 505-512.
• Servais, T., Owen, A.W., Harper, D.A.T., Kroger, B. & Munnecke, A. (2010). The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE): The palaeoecological dimension. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 294(3-4): 99-119.
• Harper, D.A.T., Parkes, M.A. & McConnell, B.J. (2010). Late Ordovician (Sandbian) brachiopods from the Mweelrea Formation, South Mayo, western Ireland: stratigraphic and tectonic implications. Geological Journal 45: 445-450
• Candela, Y. & Harper, D.A.T. (2010). Late Ordovician (Katian) brachiopods from the Southern Uplands of Scotland: biogeographic patterns on the edge of Laurentia. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 100(03): 253-274
• Rasmussen, C.M.O., Ebbestad, J.O.R. & Harper, D.A.T. (2010). Unravelling a Late Ordovician pentameride (Brachiopoda) hotspot from the Boda Limestone, Siljan district, central Sweden. GFF 132(3-4): 133-152.
• Munnecke, A., Calner, M., Harper, D.A.T. & Servais, T. (2010). Ordovician and Silurian sea-water chemistry, sea level, and climate: A synopsis. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 296(3-4): 389-413.
• Azmy, K., Stouge, S., Christiansen, J.L., Harper, D.A.T, Knight, I. & Boyce, D. (2010). Carbon-isotope stratigraphy of the Lower Ordovician succession in Northeast Greenland: Implications for correlations with St. George Group in western Newfoundland (Canada) and beyond. Sedimentary Geology 225(1-2): 67-81
• Munnecke, A., Calner, M. & Harper, D.A.T. (2010). How does sea level correlate with sea-water chemistry? A progress report from the Ordovician and Silurian. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 296(3-4): 213-216.
• Huang Bing, Harper, D.A.T., Zhan Renbin & Rong Jiayu (2010). Can the Lilliput Effect be detected in the brachiopod faunas of South China following the terminal Ordovician mass extinction? Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 285(3-4): 277-286.
• Jin, J., Harper, D.A.T. & Rasmussen, C.M.O. (2009). Sulcipentamerus (Pentamerida, Brachiopoda) from the Lower Silurian Washington Land Group, North Greenland. Palaeontology 52(2): 385-399.
• Rasmussen, C.M.O., Nielsen, A.T. & Harper, D.A.T. (2009). Ecostratigraphical interpretation of lower Middle Ordovician East Baltic sections based on brachiopods. Geological Magazine 146(05): 717-731.
• Schmitz, B., Harper, D.A.T., Peucker-Ehrenbrink, B., Stouge, S., Alwmark, C., Cronholm, A., Bergstrom, S.M., Tassinari, M. & Xiaofeng, W-F. (2008). Asteroid breakup linked to the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event. Nature Geoscience 1(1): 49-53.
• Harper, D.A.T. & Pickerill, R.K. (2008). Generation of brachiopod-dominated shell beds in the Miocene rocks of Carriacou, Lesser Antilles. Geological Journal 43(5): 573-581.