| Genome duplication, extinction and vertebrate evolution PCJ Donoghue, MA Purnell Trends in ecology & evolution 20 (6), 312-319, 2005 | 315 | 2005 |
| Orientation and anatomical notation in conodonts MA Purnell, PCJ Donoghue, RJ Aldridge Journal of Paleontology 74 (1), 113-122, 2000 | 265 | 2000 |
| Non-random decay of chordate characters causes bias in fossil interpretation RS Sansom, SE Gabbott, MA Purnell Nature 463 (7282), 797-800, 2010 | 238 | 2010 |
| Microwear on conodont elements and macrophagy in the first vertebrates MA Purnell Nature 374 (6525), 798-800, 1995 | 187 | 1995 |
| Dietary specializations and diversity in feeding ecology of the earliest stem mammals PG Gill, MA Purnell, N Crumpton, KR Brown, NJ Gostling, M Stampanoni, ... Nature 512 (7514), 303-305, 2014 | 173 | 2014 |
| Architecture and functional morphology of the skeletal apparatus of ozarkodinid conodonts MA Purnell, PCJ Donoghue Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B …, 1997 | 138 | 1997 |
| Distinguishing heat from light in debate over controversial fossils PCJ Donoghue, MA Purnell BioEssays 31 (2), 178-189, 2009 | 130 | 2009 |
| Quantitative analysis of dental microwear in hadrosaurid dinosaurs, and the implications for hypotheses of jaw mechanics and feeding VS Williams, PM Barrett, MA Purnell Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106 (27), 11194-11199, 2009 | 107 | 2009 |
| Decay of vertebrate characters in hagfish and lamprey (Cyclostomata) and the implications for the vertebrate fossil record RS Sansom, SE Gabbott, MA Purnell Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 278 (1709), 1150-1157, 2011 | 105 | 2011 |
| The conodont controversies RJ Aldridge, MA Purnell Trends in Ecology & Evolution 11 (11), 463-468, 1996 | 98 | 1996 |
| The interrelationships of ‘complex’conodonts (Vertebrata) PCJ Donoghue, MA Purnell, RJ Aldridge, S Zhang Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 6 (2), 119-153, 2008 | 95 | 2008 |
| Mammal-like occlusion in conodonts PCJ Donoghue, MA Purnell Paleobiology 25 (1), 58-74, 1999 | 92 | 1999 |
| Accuracy and precision of silicon based impression media for quantitative areal texture analysis RH Goodall, LP Darras, MA Purnell Scientific reports 5 (1), 10800, 2015 | 90 | 2015 |
| Quantitative three-dimensional microtextural analyses of tooth wear as a tool for dietary discrimination in fishes M Purnell, O Seehausen, F Galis Journal of the Royal Society Interface 9 (74), 2225-2233, 2012 | 86 | 2012 |
| Taphonomy and affinity of an enigmatic Silurian vertebrate, Jamoytius kerwoodi White RS Sansom, KIM Freedman, SE Gabbott, RJ Aldridge, MA Purnell Palaeontology 53 (6), 1393-1409, 2010 | 83 | 2010 |
| Feeding mechanisms in conodonts and the function of the earliest vertebrate hard tissues MA Purnell Geology 21 (4), 375-377, 1993 | 81 | 1993 |
| Feeding in extinct jawless heterostracan fishes and testing scenarios of early vertebrate evolution MA Purnell Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences …, 2002 | 78 | 2002 |
| The apparatus architecture and function of Promissum pulchrum Kovács-Endrödy (Conodonta, Upper Ordovician) and the prioniodontid plan RJ Aldridge, RJ Purnell, SE Gabbott, JN Theron Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B …, 1995 | 78 | 1995 |
| The Mazon Creek Lagerstätte: a diverse late Paleozoic ecosystem entombed within siderite concretions T Clements, M Purnell, S Gabbott Journal of the Geological Society 176 (1), 1-11, 2019 | 75 | 2019 |
| The eyes of Tullimonstrum reveal a vertebrate affinity T Clements, A Dolocan, P Martin, MA Purnell, J Vinther, SE Gabbott Nature 532 (7600), 500-503, 2016 | 74 | 2016 |
