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 Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, often referred to as the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event, was the large-scale mass extinction of animal and plant species in a geologically short period of time, approximately 66 million years ago (mya). The K–Pg extinction event is associated with a geological signature, usually a thin band dated to that time and found in various parts of the world, known as the K–Pg boundary. K is the traditional abbreviation for the Cretaceous Period, and Pg is the abbreviation for the Paleogene Period. The event marks the end of the Mesozoic Era, and the beginning of the Cenozoic Era.

Non-avian dinosaur fossils are only found below the K–Pg boundary and became extinct immediately before or during the event. A very small number of dinosaur fossils have been found above the K-Pg boundary, but they have been explained as reworked, that is, fossils that have been eroded from their original locations then preserved in later sedimentary layers. Mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs and many species of plants and invertebrates also became extinct. Mammalian and bird clades passed through the boundary with few extinctions, and radiation from those Maastrichtian clades occurred well past the boundary. Rates of extinction and radiation varied across different clades of organisms.

Many scientists theorize that the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinctions were caused by one or more catastrophic geological events such as massive asteroid impacts or increased volcanic activity. Several impact craters and massive volcanic activity in the Deccan traps have been dated to the approximate time of the extinction event. These geological events may have reduced sunlight and hindered photosynthesis, leading to a massive disruption in Earth's ecology. Other researchers believe the extinction was more gradual, resulting from slower changes in sea level or climate. (see more...)

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Did you know?

Skull fossils and reconstruction of Lythronax argestes

... that the king of gore (skull pictured) and the monstrous murderer lived in Utah 80 and 75 million years ago respectively?
... that species of the Cambrian bivalve Tuarangia lived near the continents of Baltica and East Gondwana?
... that a fossil of Concavodonta described in 1843 has been lost?
... that the extinct paddlefish Paleopsephurus was first described from the Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation?
... that the Triassic archosaur Poposaurus walked on two legs like some dinosaurs, but was more closely related to crocodiles?

An illustration of a fossil assemblage of several Decuriasuchus

... that Decuriasuchus may be the first known archosaur to exhibit group behavior?
... that out of about 20,000 Clarno Formation fossils, only 5 were from the extinct dogwood Cornus clarnensis?
... that Scottish naturalist Ramsay Heatley Traquair received the Royal Medal of the Royal Society in 1907 for his work on fossil fish?
... that the extinct ant Anochetus exstinctus was described from only two of the three fossils known to the species author?
... that the extinct Cuban condor Gymnogyps varonai may have fed on ground sloths?

More did you know facts

General images - load new batch

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

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

Cope (left) and Marsh (right).

The Bone Wars is the name given to a period of intense fossil speculation and discovery during the Gilded Age of American history, marked by a heated rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh. The two paleontologists used underhanded methods to out-compete the other in the field, resorting to bribery, theft, and destruction of bones. The scientists also attacked each other in scientific publications, attempting to ruin the other's credibility and cut off his funding.

Originally colleagues who were civil to each other, Cope and Marsh became bitter enemies after several personal slights between them. Their pursuit of bones led them west to rich bone beds in Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming. From 1877 to 1892, both paleontologists used their wealth and influence to finance their own expeditions and to procure services and fossils from dinosaur hunters. By the end of the Bone Wars, both men exhausted their funds in fueling their intense rivalry.

Cope and Marsh were financially and socially ruined by their efforts to disgrace each other, but their contributions to science and the field of paleontology were massive; the scientists left behind tons of unopened boxes of fossils on their deaths. The feud between the two men led to over 142 new species of dinosaurs being discovered and described. The products of the Bone Wars resulted in an increase in knowledge of ancient life, and sparked the public's interest in dinosaurs, leading to continued fossil excavation in North America in the decades to come. Several historical books and fictional adaptations have also been published about this period of intense paleontological activity. (see more...)

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