Portal:Paleontology

The Palaeontology Portal

Introduction

Paleontology or palaeontology 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 the 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 that 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 in interdisciplinary studies. Several improvements in understanding have occurred from the introduction of theoretical analysis to paleontology in the 1950s and 1960s which 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

Artist's restoration of Balaur bondoc.

Balaur bondoc is a species of theropod dinosaurs which lived in what is now Romania during the late Cretaceous period. It is the type species of the monotypic genus Balaur which was described by scientists in August 2010, and was named after the balaur (Romanian pronunciation: [baˈla.ur]), a dragon of Romanian folklore. The specific name bondoc means "stocky", so Balaur bondoc means "Stocky dragon" in Romanian. This name refers to the greater musculature that Balaur had compared to its relatives. The genus is known from two partial skeletons including the type specimen.

Seventy million years ago, world sea levels were higher, and the location where its fossils are found was a part of the European Archipelago called Hațeg Island which is also referred to as the "Island of the Dwarf Dinosaurs". Unlike other early members of the group Paraves, which includes Velociraptor, Troodon, and Archaeopteryx, this theropod had not just one but two large, retractable, sickle-shaped claws on each foot, and its limbs were proportionally shorter and heavier than those of its relatives. As with other dinosaurs from Hațeg, such as Magyarosaurus, a dwarf sauropod, its strange features have been argued to show the effects of its island habitat on its evolution. (see more...)

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Did you know?

A size comparison image of Utahraptor with a human to scale

... that highlights from the history of dromaeosaurid research include a skeleton of Velociraptor preserved in combat with a Protoceratops, the gigantic Utahraptor, and tiny four-winged Microraptor?
... that the extinct lobe-finned fish Laccognathus embryi (reconstruction pictured) had fangs up to 3.8 cm (1.5 in) long?
...that ostracoderms are the earliest known vertebrate animals?
... that the extinct witch-hazel Langeria is named for American philosopher Susanne Langer?
... that the only fossil of the extinct moth Baltimartyria sat on a paleoentomologist's desk for a number of years before being described in 2011?

...that Repenomamus may have been the largest mammal in the Cretaceous period and is the only mammal known to have eaten non-avian dinosaurs?

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General images - load new batch

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

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

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Selected article on paleontology in human science, culture and economics

Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy, publishing his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen. Cope later married and moved from Philadelphia to Haddonfield, New Jersey, although Cope would maintain a residence and museum in Philadelphia in his later years.

Cope had little formal scientific training, and he eschewed a teaching position for field work. He made regular trips to the American West prospecting in the 1870s and 1880s, often as a member of United States Geological Survey teams. A personal feud between Cope and paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh led to a period of intense fossil-finding competition now known as the Bone Wars. Cope's financial fortunes soured after failed mining ventures in the 1880s. He experienced a resurgence in his career toward the end of his life before dying in 1897.

Cope's scientific pursuits nearly bankrupted him, but his contributions helped to define the field of American paleontology. He was a prodigious writer, with 1,400 papers published over his lifetime, although his rivals would debate the accuracy of his rapidly published works. He discovered, described, and named more than 1,000 vertebrate species including hundreds of fishes and dozens of dinosaurs. His proposals on the origin of mammalian molars and for the gradual enlargement of mammalian species over geologic time ("Cope's Law") are notable among his theoretical contributions. (see more...)

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On this day...

July 24:

1794 - Heinz Christian Pander was born in Riga, Russian Empire.
1828 - Perceval de Loriol was born in Geneva, Switzerland.
1953 - J. Willis Stovall died.

Long Bone Histology and Growth Patterns in Ankylosaurs: Implications for Life History and Evolution

Martina Stein, Shoji Hayashi, P. Martin Sander

published 24 Jul 2013

New Australovenator Hind Limb Elements Pertaining to the Holotype Reveal the Most Complete Neovenatorid Leg

Matt A. White, Roger B. J. Benson, Travis R. Tischler, Scott A. Hocknull, Alex G. Cook, David G. Barnes, Stephen F. Poropat, Sarah J. Wooldridge, Trish Sloan, George H. K. Sinapius, David A. Elliott

published 24 Jul 2013

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Selected image

A skull of the Balearian mouse-goat, Myotragus balearicus, seen in left lateral and right semi-profile aspects. This specimen dates back to the Lower Paleolithic to Neolithic between 500,000 and only 5,000 years before the Current Era. It was discovered in the Islands of Majorca, Spain.
Photo credit: Didier Descouens