Portal:Paleontology

The Palaeontology Portal

Introduction

Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geologic time, and assess the interactions between prehistoric organisms and their natural environment. While paleontological observations are known from at least the 6th century BC, the foundation of paleontology as a science dates back to the work of Georges Cuvier in 1796. Cuvier demonstrated evidence for the concept of extinction and how life of the past was not necessarily the same as that of the present. The field developed rapidly over the course of the following decades, and the French word paléontologie was introduced for the study in 1822, which was derived from the Ancient Greek word for "ancient" and words describing relatedness and a field of study. Further advances in the field accompanied the work of Charles Darwin who popularized the concept of evolution. Together, evolution and extinction can be understood as complementary processes which shaped the history of life.

Paleontology overlaps the most with the fields of geology and biology. It draws on technology and analysis of a wide range of sciences to apply them to the study of life and environments of the past, particularly for the subdisciplines of paleobiology and paleoecology that are analogous to biology and ecology. Paleontology also contributes to other sciences, being utilized for biostratigraphy to reconstruct the geologic time scale of Earth, or in studies on extinction to establish both external and internal factors that can lead to the disappearance of a species. Much of the history of life is now better understood because of advances in paleontology and the increase of interdisciplinary studies. Several improvements in understanding have occurred from the introduction of theoretical analysis to paleontology in the 1950s and 1960s that led to the rise of more focused fields of paleontology that assess the changing geography and climate of Earth, the phylogenetic relationships between different species, and the analysis of how fossilization occurs and what biases can impact the quality of the fossil record. (Full article...)

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Selected article on the prehistoric world and its legacies

Pterosaurs were flying reptiles of the clade or order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period (228 to 66 million years ago). Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight. Their wings were formed by a membrane of skin, muscle, and other tissues stretching from the ankles to a dramatically lengthened fourth finger. Early species had long, fully toothed jaws and long tails, while later forms had a highly reduced tail, and some lacked teeth. Many sported furry coats made up of hair-like filaments known as pycnofibres, which covered their bodies and parts of their wings. Pterosaurs spanned a wide range of adult sizes, from the very small Nemicolopterus to the largest known flying creatures of all time, including Quetzalcoatlus and Hatzegopteryx.

Pterosaurs are often referred to in the popular media and by the general public as flying dinosaurs, but this is incorrect. However, like the dinosaurs, pterosaurs are more closely related to birds than to any living reptile. Pterosaurs are also incorrectly referred to as pterodactyls, particularly by journalists. "Pterodactyl" refers specifically to members of the genus Pterodactylus, and more broadly to members of the suborder Pterodactyloidea of the pterosaurs. (see more...)

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Did you know?

... that biological anthropologist David Tab Rasmussen enjoyed working in the Neotropics because it allowed him to study both primates and birds, his two favorite subjects?
...that naturalist Remington Kellogg used his time serving in France during World War I to collect specimens for universities in the United States?
... that the extinct buthid scorpion Uintascorpio was first placed in the family Vaejovidae?
...that Cetartiodactyla is a hypothesis based on DNA that suggests whales and hippos are related?
... that the fossil maple species Acer kenaicum was suggested to be an ancestor of silver maples?

...that Archiinocellia is noted to be the only snakefly fossil genus from British Columbia and one of only two from Canada?
... that the extinct wasps Dryinus grimaldii and Dryinus rasnitsyni are distinguishable by the modified claws on their front legs?
... that the cat gap is a period in the fossil record (cat illustration pictured) of approximately 25 to 17 million years ago in which there were few cats or cat-like species?
... that the extinct horsetail Equisetum thermale grew in Jurassic hot springs?
... that Lepidotus was a genus of prehistoric fish that existed from the Late Triassic (Rhaetic) to the middle Cretaceous (Cenomanian)?

More did you know facts

General images - load new batch

The following are images from various paleontology-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Philippe-Charles Schmerling (from List of paleontologists)
Image 2Johann Jakob Scheuchzer tried to explain fossils using Biblical floods in his Herbarium of the Deluge (1709). (from History of paleontology)
Image 3Illustration of fossil Iguanodon teeth with a modern iguana jaw for comparison from Mantell's 1825 paper describing Iguanodon (from History of paleontology)
Image 4First mention of the word palæontologie, as coined in January 1822 by Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville in his Journal de physique (from History of paleontology)
Image 5Illustration from Steno's 1667 paper shows a shark head and its teeth along with a fossil tooth for comparison. (from History of paleontology)
Image 6A Spriggina fossil from the Ediacaran (from History of paleontology)
Image 7Photograph of the second Archaeopteryx skeleton to be found, taken in 1881 at the Natural History Museum, Berlin (from History of paleontology)
Image 8Fossil of the Taung child discovered in South Africa in 1924 (from History of paleontology)
Image 9A drawing comparing jaws was added in 1799 when Cuvier's 1796 presentation on living and fossil elephants was published. (from History of paleontology)
Image 10Elmer Riggs and H.W. Menke in Field Columbian Museum's paleontology lab, 1899 (from History of paleontology)
Image 11Diagram by O.C. Marsh of the evolution of horse feet and teeth, reproduced in T. H. Huxley's 1876 book, Professor Huxley in America (from History of paleontology)
Image 12Stephan Endlicher (from List of paleontologists)
Image 13A complete Anomalocaris fossil from the Burgess shale (from History of paleontology)
Image 14Illustration from William Smith's Strata by Organized Fossils (1817) (from History of paleontology)
Image 15Duria Antiquior – A more Ancient Dorset is a watercolor painted in 1830 by the geologist Henry De la Beche based on fossils found by Mary Anning. The late 18th and early 19th century was a time of rapid and dramatic changes in ideas about the history of life on earth. (from History of paleontology)
Image 16Geologic time scale from an 1861 book by Richard Owen shows the appearance of major animal types. (from History of paleontology)
Image 17Illustration of the fossil jaw of the Stonesfield mammal from Gideon Mantell's 1848 Wonders of Geology (from History of paleontology)

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Selected article on paleontology in human science, culture and economics

Charles Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist and geologist, best known for his contributions to evolutionary theory. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors, and in a joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding.

His five-year voyage on HMS Beagle established him as an eminent geologist whose observations and theories supported Charles Lyell's uniformitarian ideas. Darwin later published his theory of evolution with compelling evidence in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species, overcoming scientific rejection of earlier concepts of transmutation of species. By the 1870s the scientific community and much of the general public had accepted evolution as a fact. However, many favoured competing explanations and it was not until the emergence of the modern evolutionary synthesis from the 1930s to the 1950s that a broad consensus developed in which natural selection was the basic mechanism of evolution. In modified form, Darwin's scientific discovery is the unifying theory of the life sciences, explaining the diversity of life.

In recognition of Darwin's pre-eminence as a scientist, he was honoured with a major ceremonial funeral and buried in Westminster Abbey, close to John Herschel and Isaac Newton. Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history. (see more...)

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On this day...

August 10:

1886 - George Busk died in London, England at age 78.

A Subadult Specimen of Rubeosaurus ovatus (Dinosauria: Ceratopsidae), with Observations on Other Ceratopsids from the Two Medicine Formation

Andrew T. McDonald

published 10 Aug 2011

Variation, Variability, and the Origin of the Avian Endocranium: Insights from the Anatomy of Alioramus altai (Theropoda: Tyrannosauroidea)

Gabe S. Bever, Stephen L. Brusatte, Amy M. Balanoff, Mark A. Norell

published 10 Aug 2011

Earliest Example of a Giant Monitor Lizard (Varanus, Varanidae, Squamata)

Jack L. Conrad, Ana M. Balcarcel, Carl M. Mehling

published 10 Aug 2012

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Selected image

A cluster of fossils fossil of the trilobite Homotelus bromidensis. This specimen dates back to the Ordovician period and was discovered in Oklahoma, USA.
Photo credit: High Contrast