| Bangiomorpha pubescens n. gen., n. sp.: implications for the evolution of sex, multicellularity, and the Mesoproterozoic/Neoproterozoic radiation of eukaryotes NJ Butterfield Paleobiology 26 (3), 386-404, 2000 | 881 | 2000 |
| Paleobiology of the neoproterozoic svanbergfjellet formation, Spitsbergen NJ Butterfield, AH Knoll, K Swett Paleobiology of the Neoproterozoic Svanbergfjellet Formation, Spitsbergen, 1-84, 1994 | 554 | 1994 |
| Co-evolution of eukaryotes and ocean oxygenation in the Neoproterozoic era TM Lenton, RA Boyle, SW Poulton, GA Shields-Zhou, NJ Butterfield Nature Geoscience 7 (4), 257-265, 2014 | 405 | 2014 |
| Exceptional fossil preservation and the Cambrian explosion NJ Butterfield Integrative and comparative biology 43 (1), 166-177, 2003 | 374 | 2003 |
| Origin of the Eumetazoa: testing ecological predictions of molecular clocks against the Proterozoic fossil record KJ Peterson, NJ Butterfield Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102 (27), 9547-9552, 2005 | 373 | 2005 |
| Organic preservation of non-mineralizing organisms and the taphonomy of the Burgess Shale NJ Butterfield Paleobiology 16 (3), 272-286, 1990 | 343 | 1990 |
| Strontium isotopic variations of Neoproterozoic seawater: implications for crustal evolution Y Asmerom, SB Jacobsen, AH Knoll, NJ Butterfield, K Swett Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 55 (10), 2883-2894, 1991 | 311 | 1991 |
| Oxygen, animals and oceanic ventilation: an alternative view NJ Butterfield Geobiology 7 (1), 1-7, 2009 | 293 | 2009 |
| Secular distribution of Burgess‐Shale‐type preservation NJ Butterfield Lethaia 28 (1), 1-13, 1995 | 289 | 1995 |
| Macroevolution and macroecology through deep time NJ Butterfield Palaeontology 50 (1), 41-55, 2007 | 281 | 2007 |
| Probable proterozoic fungi NJ Butterfield Paleobiology 31 (1), 165-182, 2005 | 274 | 2005 |
| Leanchoilia guts and the interpretation of three-dimensional structures in Burgess Shale-type fossils NJ Butterfield Paleobiology 28 (1), 155-171, 2002 | 252 | 2002 |
| A bangiophyte red alga from the Proterozoic of arctic Canada NJ Butterfield, AH Knoll, K Swett Science 250 (4977), 104-107, 1990 | 252 | 1990 |
| Plankton ecology and the Proterozoic-Phanerozoic transition NJ Butterfield Paleobiology 23 (2), 247-262, 1997 | 241 | 1997 |
| Early evolution of the Eukaryota NJ Butterfield Palaeontology 58 (1), 5-17, 2015 | 218 | 2015 |
| Animals and the invention of the Phanerozoic Earth system NJ Butterfield Trends in ecology & evolution 26 (2), 81-87, 2011 | 191 | 2011 |
| Fossil diagenesis in the Burgess Shale NJ Butterfield, UWE Balthasar, LA Wilson Palaeontology 50 (3), 537-543, 2007 | 187 | 2007 |
| A vaucheriacean alga from the middle Neoproterozoic of Spitsbergen: implications for the evolution of Proterozoic eukaryotes and the Cambrian explosion NJ Butterfield Paleobiology 30 (2), 231-252, 2004 | 183 | 2004 |
| Modes of pre-Ediacaran multicellularity NJ Butterfield Precambrian Research 173 (1-4), 201-211, 2009 | 161 | 2009 |
| A reassessment of the enigmatic Burgess Shale fossil Wiwaxia corrugata (Matthew) and its relationship to the polychaete Canadia spinosa Walcott NJ Butterfield Paleobiology 16 (3), 287-303, 1990 | 158 | 1990 |
