Publications
Lab Publications
While we continue to populate this page, please enjoy some of our favorites!
Frey, L., Coates, M.I., Tietjen, K.A., Rücklin, M., Klug, Christian. (2020). A symmoriiform from the Late Devonian of Morocco demonstrates a derived jaw function in ancient chondrichthyans. Communications Biology 3 (1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-01394-2 [PDF]
Rocha, M, Beiriger, A, Kushlowski, E E, Miyashita, T, Singh, Noor, Venkataraman, V, Prince, Victoria E. (2020). From head to tail: regionalization of the neural crest. Development 147 (20). https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.193888 [PDF]
Frey L, Coates M, Ginter M, Hairapetian V, Rücklin M, Jerjen I, Klug C. (2019). The early elasmobranch Phoebodus: phylogenetic relationships, ecomorphology and a new time-scale for shark evolution. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 286 (1912): 20191336. PMID: 31575362
Coates MI, Tietjen K, Olsen AM, Finarelli JA. High-performance suction feeding in an early elasmobranch. Sci Adv. 2019 09; 5(9):eaax2742. PMID: 31535026
Miyashita, T., Coates, M. I., Farrar, R., Larson, P., Manning, P. L., Wogelius, R. A., … Currie, P. J. (2019). Hagfish from the Cretaceous Tethys Sea and a reconciliation of the morphological–molecular conflict in early vertebrate phylogeny. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(6), 2146–2151. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.
Coates, M. I., & Tietjen, K. (2018). ‘This strange little palaeoniscid’’: A new early actinopterygian genus, and commentary on pectoral fin conditions and function.’ Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1–17. Published online ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1017/
Friedman, M., Pierce, S. E., Coates, M., & Giles, S. 2018. Feeding structures in the ray-finned fish Eurynotus crenatus (Actinopterygii: Eurynotiformes): Implications for trophic diversification among Carboniferous actinopterygians. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1–15. Published online ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1017/
Coates, M. I., Finarelli, J. A., Sansom, I. J., Andreev, P. S., Criswell, K. E., Tietjen, K., … La Riviere, P. J. (2018). An early chondrichthyan and the evolutionary assembly of a shark body plan. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 285(1870), 20172418. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.
Coates, M. I., & Tietjen, K. (2018). The neurocranium of the Lower Carboniferous shark Tristychius arcuatus (Agassiz, 1837). Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 108(1), 19–35. https://doi.org/10.1017/
Otoo, B. K. A., Clack, J. A., Smithson, T. R., Bennett, C. E., Kearsey, T. I., & Coates, M. I. (2018). A fish and tetrapod fauna from Romer’s Gap preserved in Scottish Tournaisian floodplain deposits. Palaeontology. Published online ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.
Andreev, P. S., Coates, M. I., Karatajūtė-Talimaa, V., Shelton, R. M., Cooper, P. R., & Sansom, I. J. (2017). Elegestolepis and its kin, the earliest monodontode chondrichthyans. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 37(1), e1245664. https://doi.org/10.1080/
Coates, M. (2017). Amphibian evolution – The life of early land vertebrates. Rainer R.Schoch, Topics in Paleobiology, Series Editor Michael J.Benton, Wiley Blackwell, Chichester, UK ISBN 978-0-470-67177-1. ActaZoologica, 98(3), 326–327. https://doi.org/10.1111/azo.
Coates, M. (2017). Palaeontology: Plenty of fish in the tree. Nature, 549(7671), 167–169. https://doi.org/10.1038/
Coates, M. I., Gess, R. W., Finarelli, J. A., Criswell, K. E., & Tietjen, K. (2017). A symmoriiform chondrichthyan braincase and the origin of chimaeroid fishes. Nature, 541(7636), 208–211. https://doi.org/10.1038/
Criswell, K. E., Coates, M. I., & Gillis, J. A. (2017). Embryonic development of the axial column in the little skate, Leucoraja erinacea. Journal of Morphology, 278(3), 300–320. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.
Criswell, K. E., Coates, M. I., & Gillis, J. A. (2017). Embryonic origin of the gnathostome vertebral skeleton. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 284(1867), 20172121. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.
Andreev, P., Coates, M. I., Karatajūtė-Talimaa, V., Shelton, R. M., Cooper, P. R., Wang, N.-Z., & Sansom, I. J. (2016). The systematics of the Mongolepidida (Chondrichthyes) and the Ordovician origins of the clade. PeerJ, 4, e1850. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.
Miyashita, T., & Coates, M. I. (2016). The embryology of hagfishes and the evolution and development of vertebrates. In S. L. Edwards & G. G. Goss (Eds.), Hagfish Biology (pp. 95–127). Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Andreev, P. S., Coates, M. I., Shelton, R. M., Cooper, P. R., Smith, M. P., & Sansom, I. J. (2015). Upper Ordovician chondrichthyan-like scales from North America. Palaeontology, 58(4), 691–704. https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.
Gess, R. W., & Coates, M. I. (2015). Fossil juvenile coelacanths from the Devonian of South Africa shed light on the order of character acquisition in actinistians. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 175(2), 360–383. https://doi.org/10.1111/zoj.
Gess, R. W., & Coates, M. I. (2015). High-latitude chondrichthyans from the Late Devonian (Famennian) Witpoort Formation of South Africa. Paläontologische Zeitschrift, 89(2), 147–169. https://doi.org/10.1007/
Giles, S., Coates, M. I., Garwood, R. J., Brazeau, M. D., Atwood, R., Johanson, Z., & Friedman, M. (2015). Endoskeletal structure in Cheirolepis (Osteichthyes, Actinopterygii), An early ray-finned fish. Palaeontology,58(5), 849–870. https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.
Long, J. A., Burrow, C. J., Ginter, M., Maisey, J. G., Trinajstic, K. M., Coates, M. I., … Senden, T. J. (2015). First shark from the Late Devonian (Frasnian) Gogo Formation, Western Australia sheds new light on the development of tessellated calcified cartilage. PLoS ONE, 10(5), e0126066. https://doi.org/10.1371/
Xu, G.-H., Gao, K.-Q., & Coates, M. I. (2015). Taxonomic revision of Plesiofuro mingshuica from the Lower Triassic of northern Gansu, China, and the relationships of early neopterygian clades. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 35(6), e1001515. https://doi.org/10.1080/
Finarelli, J. A., & Coates, M. I. (2014). Chondrenchelys problematica (Traquair, 1888) redescribed: A Lower Carboniferous, eel-like holocephalan from Scotland. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 105(1), 35–59. https://doi.org/10.1017/
Sallan, L. C., & Coates, M. I. (2014). The long-rostrumed elasmobranch Bandringa Zangerl, 1969, and taphonomy within a Carboniferous shark nursery. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 34(1), 22–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/
Stewart, T. J., Smith, W. L., & Coates, M. I. (2014). The origins of adipose fins: An analysis of homoplasy and the serial homology of vertebrate appendages. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 281(1781), 20133120. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.
Xu, G.-H., Zhao, L.-J., & Coates, M. I. (2014). The oldest ionoscopiform from China sheds new light on the early evolution of halecomorph fishes. Biology Letters, 10(5), 20140204. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.
Sallan, L. C., & Coates, M. I. (2013). Styracopterid (Actinopterygii) ontogeny and the multiple origins of post-Hangenberg deep-bodied fishes. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 169(1), 156–199. https://doi.org/10.1111/zoj.
Coates, M. (2012). Fish rising. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 27(1), 10–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
Davis, S. P., Finarelli, J. A., & Coates, M. I. (2012). Acanthodes and shark-like conditions in the last common ancestor of modern gnathostomes. Nature, 486(7402), 247–250. https://doi.org/10.1038/
Finarelli, J. A., & Coates, M. I. (2012). First tooth-set outside the jaws in a vertebrate. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279(1729), 775–779. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.
Sansom, I. J., Davies, N. S., Coates, M. I., Nicoll, R. S., & Ritchie, A. (2012). Chondrichthyan-like scales from the Middle Ordovician of Australia. Palaeontology, 55(2), 243–247. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.
King, H. M., Shubin, N. H., Coates, M. I., & Hale, M. E. (2011). Behavioral evidence for the evolution of walking and bounding before terrestriality in sarcopterygian fishes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(52), 21146–21151. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.
Sallan, L. C., & Coates, M. I. (2010). End-Devonian extinction and a bottleneck in the early evolution of modern jawed vertebrates. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(22), 10131–10135. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.
Coates, M. I. (2009). Palaeontology: Beyond the Age of Fishes. Nature, 458(7237), 413–414. https://doi.org/10.1038/
Coates, M. (2008). In Retrospect: Diagnosing deep similarity in nature. Nature, 451, 631. https://doi.org/10.1038/
Coates, M. I., & Ruta, M. (2008). Skeletal changes in the transition from fins to limbs. In B. K. Hall (Ed.), Fins into Limbs: Evolution, Development, and Transformation (pp. 15–38). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Coates, M. I., Ruta, M., & Friedman, M. (2008). Ever since Owen: Changing perspectives on the early evolution of tetrapods. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 39(1), 571–592. https://doi.org/10.1146/
Coates, M. I. (2007). Origin of tetrapods. In Palaeobiology II (pp. 74–79). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/
Coates, M. I., & Gess, R. W. (2007). A new reconstruction of Onychoselache Traquairi, Comments on early chondrichthyan pectoral girdles and hybodontiform phylogeny. Palaeontology, 50(6), 1421–1446. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.
Coates, M. I., Ruta, M., & Wagner, P. J. (2007). Using patterns of fin and limb phylogeny to test developmental-evolutionary scenarios. In G. R. Bock & J. A. Goode (Eds.), Tinkering: The Microevolution of Development(pp. 245–261). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Friedman, M., Coates, M. I., & Anderson, P. (2007). First discovery of a primitive coelacanth fin fills a major gap in the evolution of lobed fins and limbs. Evolution & Development, 9(4), 329–337. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.
Hurley, I. A., Mueller, R. L., Dunn, K. A., Schmidt, E. J., Friedman, M., Ho, R. K., … Coates, M. I. (2007). A new time-scale for ray-finned fish evolution. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 274(1609), 489–498. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.
Ruta, M., & Coates, M. I. (2007). Dates, nodes and character conflict: Addressing the Lissamphibian origin problem. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 5(1), 69–122. https://doi.org/10.1017/
Friedman, M., & Coates, M. I. (2006). A newly recognized fossil coelacanth highlights the early morphological diversification of the clade. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 273(1583), 245–250. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.
Gess, R. W., Coates, M. I., & Rubidge, B. S. (2006). A lamprey from the Devonian period of South Africa. Nature, 443(7114), 981–984. https://doi.org/10.1038/
Ruta, M., Wagner, P. J., & Coates, Michael I. (2006). Evolutionary patterns in early tetrapods. I. Rapid initial diversification followed by decrease in rates of character change. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 273(1598), 2107–2111. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.
Wagner, P. J., Ruta, M., & Coates, M. I. (2006). Evolutionary patterns in early tetrapods. II. Differing constraints on available character space among clades. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 273(1598), 2113–2118. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.
Friedman, M., & Coates, M. I. (2005). The last word on a lost world? Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 20(8), 425–426. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
Jeffery, J. E., Bininda-Emonds, O. R. P., Coates, M. I., & Richardson, M. K. (2005). A new technique for identifying sequence heterochrony. Systematic Biology, 54(2), 230–240. https://doi.org/10.1080/
Coates, M. I., Shubin, N. H., & Daeschler, E. B. (2004). Response to comment on “the early evolution of the tetrapod humerus.” Science, 305(5691), 1715–1715. https://doi.org/10.1126/
Shubin, N. H., Daeschler, E. B., & Coates, M. I. (2004). The early evolution of the tetrapod humerus. Science, 304(5667), 90–93.
Coates, M. I. (2003). The evolution of paired fins. Theory in Biosciences, 122(2–3), 266–287. https://doi.org/10.1007/
Ruta, M., & Coates, M. I. (2003). Bones, molecules, and crown-tetrapod origins. In P. C. J. Donoghue & M. P. Smith (Eds.), Telling the Evolutionary Time (pp. 224–262). Boca Raton: CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/
Ruta, M., Coates, M. I., & Quicke, D. L. J. (2003). Early tetrapod relationships revisited. Biological Reviews, 78(2), 251–345. https://doi.org/10.1017/
Ruta, M., Jeffery, J. E., & Coates, M. I. (2003). A supertree of early tetrapods. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 270(1532), 2507–2516. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.
Bininda-Emonds, O. R. P., Jeffery, J. E., Coates, M. I., & Richardson, M. K. (2002). From Haeckel to event-pairing: The evolution of developmental sequences. Theory in Biosciences, 121(3), 297–320. https://doi.org/10.1007/
Coates, M. I., Jeffery, J. E., & Ruta, M. (2002). Fins to limbs: What the fossils say. Evolution & Development, 4(5), 390–401. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.
Coates, M. I., & Raff, R. A. (2002). Obituary: Farewell to Steve Gould. Evolution & Development, 4(6), 403–404. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.
Cohn, M. J., Lovejoy, C. O., Wolpert, L., & Coates, M. I. (2002). Branching, segmentation and the metapterygial axis: Pattern versus process in the vertebrate limb. BioEssays, 24(5), 460–465. https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.
Jeffery, J. E., Bininda‐Emonds, O. R. P., Coates, M. I., & Richardson, M. K. (2002). Analyzing evolutionary patterns in amniote embryonic development. Evolution & Development, 4(4), 292–302. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.
Jeffery, J. E., Richardson, M. K., Coates, M. I., & Bininda-Emonds, O. R. P. (2002). Analyzing developmental sequences within a phylogenetic framework. Systematic Biology, 51(3), 478–491. https://doi.org/10.1080/
Coates, M. I., & Sequeira, S. E. K. (2001). A new stethacanthid chondrichthyan from the Lower Carboniferous of Bearsden, Scotland. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 21(3), 438–459. https://doi.org/10.1671/0272-
Coates, M. I., & Sequeira, S. E. K. (2001). Early sharks and primitive gnathostome interrelationships. In P. E. Ahlberg (Ed.), Major Events in Early Vertebrate Evolution (pp. 241–262). London: Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.1201/
Richardson, M. K., Jeffery, J. E., Coates, M. I., & Bininda-Emonds, O. R. P. (2001). Comparative methods in developmental biology. Zoology, 104(3), 278–283. https://doi.org/10.1078/0944-
Ruta, M., Milner, A. R., & Coates, M. I. (2001). The tetrapod Caerorhachis bairdi Holmes and Carroll from the Lower Carboniferous of Scotland. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 92(3), 229–261. https://doi.org/10.1017/
Smith, M. M., & Coates, M. I. (2001). The evolution of vertebrate dentitions: Phylogenetic pattern and developmental models. In P. E. Ahlberg (Ed.), Major Events in Early Vertebrate Evolution: Palaeontology, Phylogeny and Development (pp. 223–240). London: Taylor & Francis.
Basden, A. M., Young, G. C., Coates, M. I., & Ritchie, A. (2000). The most primitive osteichthyan braincase? Nature, 403(6766), 185–188. https://doi.org/10.1038/
Coates, M. I., Ruta, M., & Milner, A. R. (2000). Early tetrapod evolution. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 15(8), 327–328. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-
Coates, M., & Ruta, M. (2000). Nice snake, shame about the legs. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 15(12), 503–507. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-
Sequeira, S. E. K., & Coates, M. I. (2000). Reassessment of ‘Cladodus’ neilsoni Traquair: A primitive shark from the Lower Carboniferous of East Kilbridge, Scotland. Palaeontology, 43(1), 153–172. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-
Smith, M. M., & Coates, M. I. (2000). Evolutionary origins of teeth and jaws: Developmental models and phylogenetic patterns. In M. F. Teaford, M. M. Smith, & M. W. J. Ferguson (Eds.), Development, Function and Evolution of Teeth (pp. 133–151). New York: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/
Coates, M. I. (1999). Birds, trees, and stems. Evolution & Development, 1(3), 137–137. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.
Coates, M. I. (1999). Endocranial preservation of a Carboniferous actinopterygian from Lancashire, UK, and the interrelationships of primitive actinopterygians. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.Series B: Biological Sciences, 354(1382), 435–462. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.
Coates, M. I., & Cohn, M. J. (1999). Vertebrate axial and appendicular patterning: The early development of paired appendages. American Zoologist, 39(3), 676–685. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/
Raff, R. A., Arthur, W., Carroll, S. B., Coates, M. I., & Wray, G. (1999). Chronicling the birth of a discipline. Evolution & Development, 1(1), 1–2. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.
Richardson, M. K., Minelli, A., & Coates, M. I. (1999). Some problems with typological thinking in evolution and development. Evolution & Development, 1(1), 5–7. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.
Coates, M. I. (1998). Actinopterygians from the Namurian of Bearsden, Scotland, with comments on early actinopterygian neurocrania. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 122(1–2), 27–59. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.
Coates, M. I., & Cohn, M. J. (1998). Fins, limbs, and tails: Outgrowths and axial patterning in vertebrate evolution. BioEssays, 20(5), 371–381. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)
Coates, M. I., & Sequeira, S. E. K. (1998). The braincase of a primitive shark. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 89(2), 63–85. https://doi.org/10.1017/
Coates, M. I., Sequeira, S. E. K., Sansom, I. J., & Smith, M. M. (1998). Spines and tissues of ancient sharks. Nature, 396(6713), 729–730. https://doi.org/10.1038/25467
Richardson, M. K., Minelli, A., Coates, M., & Hanken, J. (1998). Phylotypic stage theory. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 13(4), 158. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-
Smith, M. M., & Coates, M. I. (1998). Evolutionary origins of the vertebrate dentition: Phylogenetic patterns and developmental evolution. European Journal of Oral Sciences, 106(S1), 482–500. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.
Ahlberg, P. E., & Coates, M. I. (1997). There’s a ratfish in our cellar! Geology Today, 13(1), 20–23. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.
Coates, M. I. (1996). The Devonian tetrapod Acanthostega gunnari Jarvik: Postcranial anatomy, basal tetrapod interrelationships and patterns of skeletal evolution. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 87(3), 363–421. https://doi.org/10.1017/
Clack, J. A., & Coates, M. I. (1995). Romer’s gap: Tetrapod origins and terrestriality. Bulletin du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, 4ème série – section C – Sciences de la Terre, Paléontologie, Géologie, Minéralogie, 17(1–4), 373–388.
Coates, M. I. (1995). Limb evolution: Fish fins or tetrapod limbs — a simple twist of fate? Current Biology, 5(8), 844–848. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0960-
Coates, M. I., & Clack, J. A. (1995). Acanthostega gunnari, a primitive, aquatic tetrapod. Bulletin du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, 4ème série – section C – Sciences de la Terre, Paléontologie, Géologie, Minéralogie, 17(1–4), 357–372.
Lebedev, O. A., & Coates, M. I. (1995). The postcranial skeleton of the Devonian tetrapod Tulerpeton curtum Lebedev. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 114(3), 307–348. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.
Coates, M. I. (1994). The origin of vertebrate limbs. Development, 1994(Supplement), 169–180.
Clarkson, E. N. K., Milner, A. R., & Coates, M. I. (1993). Palaeoecology of the Viséan of East Kirkton, West Lothian, Scotland. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 84(3–4), 417–425. https://doi.org/10.1017/
Coates, M. (1993). Hox genes, fin folds and symmetry. Nature, 364(6434), 195. https://doi.org/10.1038/
Coates, M. I. (1993). Actinopterygian and acanthodian fishes from the Viséan of East Kirkton, West Lothian, Scotland. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 84(3–4), 317–327. https://doi.org/10.1017/
Coates, M. I. (1993). Ancestors and homology. Acta Biotheoretica, 41(4), 411–424. https://doi.org/10.1007/
Coates, M. I. (1993). New actinopterygian fish from the Namurian Manse Burn Formation of Bearsden, Scotland. Palaeontology, 36(1), 123–146.
Coates, M. (1991). New palaeontological contributions to limb ontogeny and phylogeny. In J. R. Hinchliffe, J. M. Hurle, & D. Summerbell (Eds.), Developmental Patterning of the Vertebrate Limb (pp. 325–337). Boston, MA: Springer US. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-
Coates, M. I., & Clack, J. A. (1991). Fish-like gills and breathing in the earliest known tetrapod. Nature, 352(6332), 234. https://doi.org/10.1038/
Coates, M. I., Clack, J. A., & Joysey, K. A. (1991). Elizabethan snobbery? Nature, 349(6305), 98. https://doi.org/10.1038/
Coates, M. I., & Clack, J. A. (1990). Polydactyly in the earliest known tetrapod limbs. Nature, 347(6288), 66. https://doi.org/10.1038/
Joysey, K. A., Clack, J. A., Coates, M. I., Disney, R. H. L., Foster, W. A., Friday, A. E., … Preece, R. C. (1990). Museum’s plans beyond belief. Nature, 345(6276), 568. https://doi.org/10.1038/
Dick, J. R. F., Coates, M. I., & Rolfe, W. D. I. (1986). Fossil sharks. Geology Today, 2(3), 82–85. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.
Milner, A. R., Smithson, T. R., Milner, A. C., Coates, M. I., & Rolfe, W. D. I. (1986). The search for early tetrapods. Modern Geology, 10(1), 1–28.
Otoo, B. K., Clack, J. A., Smithson, T. R., Bennett, C. E., Kearsey, T. I., & Coates, M. I. (2018). A fish and tetrapod fauna from Romer’s Gap preserved in Scottish Tournaisian floodplain deposits. Palaeontology. https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12395 [PDF]
Coates, Michael I. (1996) The Devonian tetrapod Acanthostega gunnari Jarvik: postcranial anatomy, basal tetrapod interrelationships and patterns of skeletal evolution. Transactions of the Royal Society Edinburgh Earth and Environmental Sciences 87 (3), 363-421. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0263593300006787 [PDF]
Clack, Jennifer A., Carys E. Bennett, David K. Carpenter, Sarah J. Davies, Nicholas C. Fraser, Timony I. Kearsey, John E. A. Marshall, David Millward, Benjamin K. A. Otoo, Emma J. Reeves, Andrew J. Ross, Marcello Ruta, Keturah Z. Smithson, Timothy R. Smithson, and Stig A. Walsh. 2016. Phylogenetic and environmental context of a Tournaisian tetrapod fauna. Nature Ecology & Evolution 1:1–11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-016-0002 [PDF]
Miyashita, T., Coates, M. I., Farrar, R., Larson, P., Manning, P. L., Wogelius, R. A., … & Currie, P. J. (2019). Hagfish from the Cretaceous Tethys Sea and a reconciliation of the morphological–molecular conflict in early vertebrate phylogeny. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201814794. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1814794116 [PDF]
Sallan, L. C., & Coates, M. I. (2010). End-Devonian extinction and a bottleneck in the early evolution of modern jawed vertebrates. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(22), 10131-10135. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0914000107 [PDF]
Frey, L., Coates, M.I., Tietjen, K.A., Rücklin, M., Klug, Christian. (2020). A symmoriiform from the Late Devonian of Morocco demonstrates a derived jaw function in ancient chondrichthyans. Communications Biology 3 (1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-01394-2 [PDF]
Coates, M. I., Finarelli, J. A., Sansom, I. J., Andreev, P. S., Criswell, K. E., Tietjen, K., … & La Riviere, P. J. (2018). An early chondrichthyan and the evolutionary assembly of a shark body plan. Proc. R. Soc. B, 285 (1870), 20172418. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.2418 [PDF]
Coates, M. I., Gess, R. W., Finarelli, J. A., Criswell, K. E., & Tietjen, K. (2017). A symmoriiform chondrichthyan braincase and the origin of chimaeroid fishes. Nature, 541 (7636), 208. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature20806 [PDF]
Criswell, K. E., Coates, M. I., & Gillis, J. A. (2017). Embryonic development of the axial column in the little skate, Leucoraja erinacea. Journal of morphology, 278 (3), 300-320. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.20637 [PDF]
Rocha, M, Beiriger, A, Kushlowski, E E, Miyashita, T, Singh, Noor, Venkataraman, V, Prince, Victoria E. (2020). From head to tail: regionalization of the neural crest. Development 147 (20). https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.193888 [PDF]
Criswell, K. E., Coates, M. I., & Gillis, J. A. (2017). Embryonic development of the axial column in the little skate, Leucoraja erinacea. Journal of morphology, 278(3), 300-320. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.20637 [PDF]