Portal:Paleontology

The Palaeontology Portal

Introduction

Paleontology (/ˌpeɪliɒnˈtɒlədʒi, ˌpæli-, -ən-/ PAY-lee-on-TOL-ə-jee, PAL-ee-, -⁠ən-), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossils to classify organisms and study their interactions with each other and their environments (their paleoecology). Paleontological observations have been documented as far back as the 5th century BC. The science became established in the 18th century as a result of Georges Cuvier's work on comparative anatomy, and developed rapidly in the 19th century. The term has been used since 1822 formed from Greek παλαιός ('palaios', "old, ancient"), ὄν ('on', (gen. 'ontos'), "being, creature"), and λόγος ('logos', "speech, thought, study").

Paleontology lies on the border between biology and geology, but it differs from archaeology in that it excludes the study of anatomically modern humans. It now uses techniques drawn from a wide range of sciences, including biochemistry, mathematics, and engineering. Use of all these techniques has enabled paleontologists to discover much of the evolutionary history of life, almost back to when Earth became capable of supporting life, nearly 4 billion years ago. As knowledge has increased, paleontology has developed specialised sub-divisions, some of which focus on different types of fossil organisms while others study ecology and environmental history, such as ancient climates. (Full article...)

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Selected article on the prehistoric world and its legacies

The Ediacaran biota were ancient lifeforms representing the earliest known complex multicellular organisms. They appeared soon after the Earth thawed from the Cryogenian period's extensive glaciers, and largely disappeared soon before the rapid appearance of biodiversity known as the Cambrian explosion, which saw the first appearance in the fossil record of the basic patterns and body-plans that would go on to form the basis of modern animals. Little of the diversity of the Ediacaran biota would be incorporated in this new scheme, with a distinct Cambrian biota arising and usurping the organisms that dominated the Ediacaran fossil record.

Some Ediacaran organisms might have been closely related to groups that would rise to prominence later, but most non-microscopic fossils are morphologically distinct from later lifeforms, resembling discs, mud-filled bags, or quilted mattresses. Classification is difficult, and the assignment of some species even at the level of kingdom — animal, fungus, protist or otherwise — is uncertain: one paleontologist has even gained support for a separate kingdom Vendobionta. Their strange form and apparent disconnectedness from later organisms have led some to consider them a "failed experiment" in multicellular life, with later multicellular life independently re-evolving from unrelated single-celled organisms. (more...)

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Did you know?

... that the Cretaceous ant Haidomyrmodes mammuthus is named for the similarity between its mandible shape and mammoth tusks?
... that the fossil scorpion fly Holcorpa was described in 1878 but the family Holcorpidae not until 1989?
... that the possibly extinct wall crab spider species Garcorops jadis was named for C.S. Lewis' Jadis, the White Witch?
... that the oldest known member of the mayfly family Neoephemeridae is the Eocene species Neoephemera antiqua?
... that Entropezites, Mycetophagites, and Palaeoagaracites present the oldest evidence of fungal parasitism and hyperparasitism by other fungi in the fossil record?

... that although the first Callawayasaurus fossil was discovered in 1962, it was not until 1999 that they were recognized as a separate genus?
... that Nanoraphidia electroburmica, known from a fossil in amber, is the smallest known snakefly species, living or extinct?
... that it may not be possible to determine what ?Oryzomys pliocaenicus is?
... that the paleobotanists David P. Penhallow and Chester A. Arnold both published studies on the extinct water-fern Azolla primaeva?
... that the name Ginkgo dissecta was first coined in 1974 but not formalized until 2002?

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General images - load new batch

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

Image 1Johann Jakob Scheuchzer tried to explain fossils using Biblical floods in his Herbarium of the Deluge (1709). (from History of paleontology)
Image 2Diagram 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 3Photograph of the second Archaeopteryx skeleton to be found, taken in 1881 at the Natural History Museum, Berlin (from History of paleontology)
Image 4A drawing comparing jaws was added in 1799 when Cuvier's 1796 presentation on living and fossil elephants was published. (from History of paleontology)
Image 5A Spriggina fossil from the Ediacaran (from History of paleontology)
Image 6Illustration from Steno's 1667 paper shows a shark head and its teeth along with a fossil tooth for comparison. (from History of paleontology)
Image 7Illustration from William Smith's Strata by Organized Fossils (1817) (from History of paleontology)
Image 8Illustration of fossil Iguanodon teeth with a modern iguana jaw for comparison from Mantell's 1825 paper describing Iguanodon (from History of paleontology)
Image 9First 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 10Illustration of the fossil jaw of the Stonesfield mammal from Gideon Mantell's 1848 Wonders of Geology (from History of paleontology)
Image 11Duria 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 12Fossil of the Taung child discovered in South Africa in 1924 (from History of paleontology)
Image 13A complete Anomalocaris fossil from the Burgess shale (from History of paleontology)
Image 14Geologic time scale from an 1861 book by Richard Owen shows the appearance of major animal types. (from History of paleontology)
Image 15Stephan Endlicher (from List of paleontologists)
Image 16Elmer Riggs and H.W. Menke in Field Columbian Museum's paleontology lab, 1899 (from History of paleontology)
Image 17Philippe-Charles Schmerling (from List of paleontologists)

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Selected article on paleontology in human science, culture and economics

William Beebe was an American naturalist, ornithologist, marine biologist, entomologist, explorer, and author. He is remembered for the numerous expeditions he conducted for the New York Zoological Society, his deep dives in the Bathysphere, and his prolific scientific writing for both academic and popular audiences.

Born in Brooklyn, New York Beebe left college before obtaining a degree in order to work at the then newly opened New York Zoological Park, where he was given the duty of caring for the zoo's birds. Beebe participated in a series of research expeditions, including one intended to document the world's pheasants. He published an account of his pheasant expedition titled A Monograph of the Pheasants.

During the course of his expeditions Beebe gradually developed an interest in marine biology, ultimately leading to his 1930s dives in the Bathysphere off the coast of Bermuda. These dives represented the first time a biologist observed deep-sea animals in their native environment. Later, Beebe returned to the tropics and founded a tropical research station which remains in operation as part of the Asa Wright Nature Centre. Beebe's research there continued until his death in 1962.

He is also remembered for several theories he proposed about avian evolution which are now regarded as having been ahead of their time, particularly his 1915 hypothesis that the evolution of bird flight passed through a four-winged or "Tetrapteryx" stage, which has been supported by the 2003 discovery of Microraptor gui. (see more...)

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On this day...

June 1:

1860 - Vladimir Prokhorovich Amalitskii was born.
1897 - Yang Zhongjian was born in Huaxian, Shaanxi, China.
2015 - Phillip L. Manning, Victoria M. Egerton, and Mike Romano reported the oldest known sauropod fossil discovered in Britain from the Aalenian Saltwick Formation of Whitby, England.

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Selected image

A cast of the holotype cranium of the Sahelanthropus tchadensis in semi-profile view. This specimen is catalogued as TM 266-01-060-1 and popularly known by the nickname Toumaï.
Photo credit: Didier Descouens