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, and sometimes including, 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 all the way 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

Coal balls, despite their name, are calcium-rich masses of permineralised life forms, generally having a round shape. Coal balls were formed roughly 300 million years ago, during the Carboniferous Period. They are exceptional at preserving organic matter, which makes them useful to scientists, who cut and peel the coal balls to research the geological past of the Earth.

In 1855, two English scientists, Joseph Dalton Hooker and Edward William Binney, discovered coal balls in England, and the initial research on coal balls was carried out in Europe. It was not until 1922 that coal balls were discovered and identified in North America. Since then, coal balls have been discovered in other countries and they have led to the discovery of over 300 species and 130 genera.

Coal balls can be found in coal seams across North America and Eurasia. North American coal balls are relatively widespread, both stratigraphically and geologically, as compared to coal balls from Europe. The oldest known coal balls were found in Germany and the former Czechoslovakia.

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Did you know?

... that Titanoceratops was known from an almost complete skeleton that was assigned to Pentaceratops, and that the two were only distantly related?
...that Pachycheilosuchus, an Early Cretaceous crocodile relative, was less than a meter (3.3 ft) long and had an armored neck?
... that the moth lacewing Elektrithone is the first member of its family found in Baltic amber?
... that the fossil ant Aphaenogaster donisthorpei was once part of the Samuel Hubbard Scudder insect collection?
... that although the giant fossa, formerly one of the top carnivores of Madagascar, is thought to be extinct, there is some anecdotal evidence of very large living fossas?

... that the ant Aphaenogaster amphioceanica (pictured) is in the same amber fossil as six Pseudarmadillo cristatus woodlice?
... that Paleodictyon nodosum made use of a new source of energy not dependent on the Sun?
... that Australornis is the first early Paleocene bird fossil discovered from New Zealand that is not a penguin?
... that ants of the extinct genus Haidomyrmex could possibly open their mandibles to almost twice their head size?
... that with a 150-millimetre (5.9 in) wingspan, Sinomeganeura is small for the Griffenfly family Meganeuridae, known for species with spans over 700 millimetres (28 in)?

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General images - load new batch

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

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

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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...

May 8:

1891 - Alexander Keyserling died in Raikküla Parish.
1905 - Curt Teichert was born in Königsberg, German Empire.
1969 - Remington Kellogg died of a heart attack in Washington, D.C., USA at age 76.

Euoplocephalus tutus and the Diversity of Ankylosaurid Dinosaurs in the Late Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada, and Montana, USA

Victoria M. Arbour, Philip J. Currie

published 08 May 2013

An Additional Baurusuchid from the Cretaceous of Brazil with Evidence of Interspecific Predation among Crocodyliformes

Pedro L. Godoy, Felipe C. Montefeltro, Mark A. Norell, Max C. Langer

published 08 May 2014

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An extremely well preserved specimen of the Late Jurassic ichthyodectid fish genus Thrissops, similar to the species T. formosus. The specimen was discovered near Ettling, Bavaria, Germany and still preserves remains of the animal's soft tissue like musculature and the gastrointestinal tract. Even the color pattern it exhibited in life is preserved as spots by the melanin in its scales.
Photo credit: H. Zell