Portal:Paleontology

The Palaeontology Portal

Introduction

Bust of the paleontologist Georges Cuvier (left) and a cast skeleton of *Palaeotherium magnum* (named by Cuvier in 1804, right), Cuvier Museum of Montbéliard

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...)

Selected article on the prehistoric world and its legacies

Scale image of both Amphicoelias species. — Scale image of both *Amphicoelias* species.

Amphicoelias (/ˌæmfɪˈsiːliəs/, meaning "biconcave", from the Greek αμφι, amphi: "on both sides", and κοιλος, koilos: "hollow, concave") is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that includes what may be the largest dinosaur ever discovered, A. fragillimus. Based on surviving descriptions of a single fossil bone, A. fragillimus may have been the longest known vertebrate at 40 to 60 metres (130 to 200 ft) in length, and may have had a mass of up to 122 tonnes (135 short tons). However, because the only fossil remains were lost at some point after being studied and described in the 1870s, evidence survives only in drawings and field notes. The fossil was found in the Morrison Formation. (see more...)

Did you know?

... that the extinct ant Anochetus lucidus is named for its shiny exoskeleton?
... that the recently described extinct penguin Inkayacu from the Eocene of Peru is postulated to have had gray and reddish brown feathers, unlike the black and white feathers of living penguins?
... that Ocepeia (pictured), a 60-million-year-old afrotherian mammal, is named after a Moroccan mining company?
...that although related to modern filter feeding baleen whales, the recently discovered prehistoric whale Janjucetus had large serrated teeth implying that it fed on large fish or even sharks?
... that seeds of the extinct tree Eucommia montana are found from British Columbia to Colorado?

... that paleontologists have discovered the fossilized eggs of cephalopods, fishes, and reptiles, with some dinosaur eggs (pictured) being preserved with pathological shell deformities?
... that Electrinocellia peculiaris is named for the Latin "electrum" meaning amber, "Inocellia", the type genus for Inocelliidae, and "peculiaris" for the enigmatic nature of the species?
... that Adolf Carl Noé challenged disbelief in the possibility of North American coal balls (example pictured) by presenting a wheelbarrow full of them?
... that the extinct New Zealand Musk Duck was becoming more sedentary than its closest relative, the Australian Musk Duck?
... that the Cretaceous Malagasy mammal Lavanify is most closely related to a species from India?

General images -

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

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

Selected article on paleontology in human science, culture and economics

Jurassic Park III director Joe Johnston.

Jurassic Park III is a 2001 American science fiction adventure monster film. It is the third installment in the Jurassic Park franchise and a sequel to the 1997 film The Lost World: Jurassic Park. It is the series' first film that was not directed by Steven Spielberg nor based on a book by Michael Crichton (though numerous scenes in the film were ultimately taken from Crichton's novels Jurassic Park and The Lost World). The film takes place on Isla Sorna, off Central America's Pacific coast, the island featured in the second film, where a divorced couple has tricked Dr. Alan Grant into going in order to help them find their son.

After the success of Spielberg's Jurassic Park, Joe Johnston expressed interest in directing a sequel, a film adaptation of The Lost World. Spielberg instead gave Johnston permission to direct the third film in the series, if there were to be one. Production of Jurassic Park III began on August 30, 2000. Upon its release, the film received mixed reviews, with many praising the visual effects and action scenes but finding the plot clichéd and unoriginal. Despite being less well-received than the previous films, Jurassic Park III was a box office success, grossing $368 million worldwide. (see more...)

On this day...

September 1:

1831 - Charles Darwin accepted the offer of a supernumerary naturalist position aboard the HMS Beagle, which was being prepared for its second voyage.
1833 - During the second voyage of the Beagle, Darwin discovered an articulated fossil skeleton near the sites of his 1832 fossil discoveries near Punta Alta, Argentina.