2026 Nicholas J. Butterfield: Earth Science Researcher – H-Index, Publications & Awards

Discipline name	D-Index	World Ranking	Current World Ranking	National Ranking	Current National Ranking	Publications	Citations
Earth Science	53	2857	2608	320	296	103	10575

Overview

Nicholas J. Butterfield is affiliated with the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Their research primarily focuses on Earth and Planetary Sciences, with a significant concentration on paleontology. Their work extends into subfields such as paleontology, oceanography, atmospheric science, ecology, and biomaterials.

Their main research topics include:

Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
Marine Biology and Ecology Research
Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology
Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
Marine Invertebrate Physiology and Ecology
Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
Marine Ecology and Invasive Species

Butterfield has published in several scientific journals, with frequent contributions to the following venues:

Palaeontology
Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
Geological Magazine
Papers in Palaeontology
Physical Review B

Their recent papers include:

Constructional and functional anatomy of Ediacaran rangeomorphs, 2020, Geological Magazine
Cochleatina: an enigmatic Ediacaran-Cambrian survivor among small carbonaceous fossils (SCFs), 2020, Palaeontology
A new species of early Cambrian arthropod reconstructed from exceptionally preserved mandibles and associated small carbonaceous fossils (SCFs), 2022, Papers in Palaeontology
A peritidal Burgess-Shale-type fauna from the middle Cambrian of western Canada, 2025, Palaeontology
A microscopic Burgess Shale: small carbonaceous fossils from a deeper water biota and the distribution of Cambrian non-mineralized faunas, 2025, Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

Their research collaborations frequently involve:

Giovanni Mussini
Thomas H. P. Harvey
Yorick P. Veenma
Ben J. Slater
Andrey Bekker

Best Publications

Bangiomorpha pubescens n. gen., n. sp.: implications for the evolution of sex, multicellularity, and the Mesoproterozoic/Neoproterozoic radiation of eukaryotes

Nicholas J. Butterfield

859
Citations
Paleobiology of the Neoproterozoic Svanbergfjellet Formation, Spitsbergen

Nicholas J. Butterfield;Andrew H. Knoll;Keene Swett

487
Citations
The Geology of Svalbard

W. B. Harland;L. M. Anderson;D. Manasrah;N. J. Butterfield

429
Citations
Co-evolution of eukaryotes and ocean oxygenation in the Neoproterozoic era

Timothy M. Lenton;Richard A. Boyle;Simon W. Poulton;Graham A. Shields-Zhou

427
Citations
Exceptional Fossil Preservation and the Cambrian Explosion

Nicholas J. Butterfield

381
Citations
Origin of the Eumetazoa: Testing ecological predictions of molecular clocks against the Proterozoic fossil record

Kevin J. Peterson;Nicholas J. Butterfield

371
Citations
Organic preservation of non-mineralizing organisms and the taphonomy of the Burgess Shale

Nicholas J. Butterfield

344
Citations
Strontium isotopic variations of Neoproterozoic seawater: implications for crustal evolution.

Yemane Asmerom;Stein B Jacobsen;Andrew H Knoll;Nicholas J Butterfield

313
Citations
Secular distribution of Burgess-Shale-type preservation

Nicholas J. Butterfield

302
Citations
Oxygen, animals and oceanic ventilation: an alternative view.

N. J. Butterfield

293
Citations
MACROEVOLUTION AND MACROECOLOGY THROUGH DEEP TIME

Nicholas J. Butterfield

283
Citations
Plankton ecology and the Proterozoic-Phanerozoic transition

Nicholas J. Butterfield

252
Citations
Leanchoilia guts and the interpretation of three-dimensional structures in Burgess Shale-type fossils

Nicholas J. Butterfield

250
Citations
A bangiophyte red alga from the Proterozoic of arctic Canada

Nicholas J. Butterfield;Andrew H. Knoll;Keene Swett

236
Citations
Early evolution of the Eukaryota

Nicholas J. Butterfield

207
Citations
Animals and the invention of the Phanerozoic Earth system

Nicholas J. Butterfield

196
Citations
Fossil diagenesis in the Burgess Shale

Nicholas J. Butterfield;Uwe Balthasar;Lucy A. Wilson

189
Citations
A vaucheriacean alga from the middle Neoproterozoic of Spitsbergen: implications for the evolution of Proterozoic eukaryotes and the Cambrian explosion

Nicholas J. Butterfield

184
Citations
A reassessment of the enigmatic Burgess Shale fossil Wiwaxia corrugata (Matthew) and its relationship to the polychaete Canadia spinosa Walcott

Nicholas J. Butterfield

162
Citations
Modes of pre-Ediacaran multicellularity

Nicholas J. Butterfield

161
Citations
Burgess Shale-type fossils from a Lower Cambrian shallow-shelf sequence in northwestern Canada

Nicholas J. Butterfield

152
Citations
Diverse organic-walled fossils, including “possible dinoflagellates,” from the early Neoproterozoic of arctic Canada

Nicholas J. Butterfield;Robert H. Rainbird

140
Citations

Frequent Co-Authors

Andrew H. Knoll Harvard University

Simon W. Poulton University of Leeds

Jochen J. Brocks Australian National University

Robert H. Rainbird Geological Survey of Canada

Søren Holdt Jensen University of Extremadura

Hwan Su Yoon Sungkyunkwan University

Michael J. Sanderson University of Arizona

Mark L. Skidmore Montana State University

Timothy M. Lenton University of Exeter

Debashish Bhattacharya Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

External Links

Personal website of Nicholas J. Butterfield

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