New research of brachiopod fossils from the Late Devonian (~370 Ma) mass extinction suggests extinction survivors stayed in similar ecological niches despite large environmental disturbances. Current and former researchers in the Department of Earth Sciences, including Sarah Brisson, Jaleigh Pier, Andrew Beard, Anjali Fernandes, and Andrew Bush, produced the study after examining over 20,000 brachiopod shells from the Appalachian Basin in New York and Pennsylvania. Their finding of niche conservatism across the Late Devonian is surprising given the magnitude of the extinction. These results improve the understanding of the Late Devonian mass extinction and may help identify a kill mechanism.