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Ryo Taniguchi, PhD
ryoxtan[at]gmail.com / v1rtanig[at]ed.ac.uk [at] > @
Field: Palaeobiology
Current Lab: MPEG, University of Edinburgh
Research
I’m fundamentally interested in the following: What characters are different or shared among extinct and extant life? When/Why have these differences/similarities evolved? To fulfil these interests, I’m focusing especially on arthropods, the most diverse organisms with relatively conservative body plans, developing novel fossil visualisation techniques. I always keep in mind what information is recorded in fossils, how it can be extracted, and how significant it is in the field of (palaeo-)biology, rather than just rare fossil discovery, statistical illusion or Sci-Fi-ish speculation.
Ecological reconstruction of fossil insects in amber based on their micro sensory organs
Amber is one of the best fossil archives with fragile 3D details, while most previous studies have only focused on macro characters with non-destructive and low-resolution methods (stereo-microscopy and X-ray CT). In my studies, I have visualised the micro-sensory organs of insects in amber and reconstructed their ecological function based on the neuroanatomical features. The primary materials are the model taxa in modern neurobiology since robust analogous information is necessary to estimate ancient insect ecology.
Potential for fossilising life of modern siliceous sinter
Siliceous sinter is one of the hot spring deposits, which incorporates and fossilises surrounding organisms. Physically and chemically stable silica can preserve fossils over billion-year scales, and its geological records and features have been discussed in large hydrothermal systems (e.g., Yellowstone National Park, US). Rather than these hot springs within wasteland, we have focused on Japanese forested siliceous sinter that can coexist with high biodiversity and fossilise the components.
Coming soon...?
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Careers
04.2025 – present JSPS Overseas Research Fellow (University of Edinburgh, UK)
04.2022 – 03.2025 JSPS Research Fellow DC1 (Hokkaido University, Japan)
Papers
You can download all my international publications on ResearchGate.
Peer-reviewed
Kubota, A., Taniguchi, R., Hikida, Y. & Iba, Y. (2026) A new amber Lagerstätte from the Lower Cretaceous of Japan. Cretaceous Research, 178, 106236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106236
Kubota, A., Taniguchi, R., Ueda, T. & Iba, Y. (2025) Modern silica sinter deposits from an island-arc setting and their potential for fossilizing plants. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 679, 113176. (All authors contributed equally) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2025.113176
Taniguchi, R., Fukuda, Y., Sugiura, K. & Iba, Y. (2025) Advanced stereopsis and predatory adaptation in a Cretaceous mantis. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 70 (1): 1–6. (Editors’ choice) https://doi.org/10.4202/app.01226.2024
Taniguchi, R., Grimaldi, D. A., Watanabe, H. & Iba, Y. (2024) Sensory evidence for complex communication and advanced sociality of early ants. Science Advances, 10, eadp3623. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adp3623
Taniguchi, R., Nishino, H., Watanabe, H., Yamamoto, S. & Iba, Y. (2021) Reconstructing the ecology of a Cretaceous cockroach: destructive and high-resolution imaging of its micro sensory organs. The Science of Nature, 108, 45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-021-01755-9
Non peer-reviewed
Taniguchi, R. (2023) Reconstructing the sensory system of extinct insects. The Nature & Insects, 58 (6), 37–40. (in Japanese; invited)
Conference presentations
Taniguchi, R., Fukuda, Y., Sugiura, K. & Iba, Y., ‘Reconstructing the binocular visual system of a stem-group mantis and its predatory function’, the 69th Annual Meeting of the Palaeontological Association, 6A-01, University of Portsmouth, UK, Dec 2025.
Kubota, A., Taniguchi, R., Hikida, Y. & Iba, Y., ‘A new amber Lagerstätte from the Lower Cretaceous (upper Aptian) of northern Japan’, the 12th International Cretaceous Symposium, 407, Leibniz University Hannover, Germany, Sep 2025. (Poster, presenter)
Taniguchi, R., Grimaldi, D. A., Watanabe, H., Nakamura, K. & Iba, Y., ‘Complex chemical communication and advanced sociality of 100-million-year-old ants’, the 12th International Cretaceous Symposium, 242, Leibniz University Hannover, Germany, Sep 2025.
Taniguchi, R., Grimaldi, D. A., Watanabe, H., Iba, Y. & Nakamura, K., ‘The fossilized sensory system reveals chemical communication and sociality in early ants’. The 95th Annual Meeting of the Zoological Society of Japan, 3E1130, Nagasaki, Japan, September 2024. (in Japanese)
Taniguchi, R., Iba, Y., Nishino, H., Watanabe, K. & Tateishi, K., ‘Micro sensory organs reveal the perception system and ecology of the Cretaceous cockroach’. Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2021, BPT02-03, online, June 2021. (in Japanese)
Taniguchi, R., Nishino, H. & Iba, Y., ‘Ecological reconstruction of a fossil cockroach based on high-resolution visualization of micro sensory organs’. The 170th Regular Meeting of the Palaeontological Society of Japan, B09, Yokohama, Japan, February 2021. (in Japanese)
Media reports
Kodomo no Kagaku (Science for Children) (Japan), July 2024.
Science (USA), June 2024.
Science News (USA), June 2024.
Interesting Engineering (USA), June 2024.
Globo (Brazil), June 2024.
Live Science (USA), February 2022.
Geo France (France), February 2022.
Asahi Shimbun (Asahi Newspaper) (Japan), November 2021.
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