Wikipedia:WikiProject Palaeontology

This WikiProject, WikiProject Palaeontology, aims to organise an effort to expand and improve Wikipedia's coverage of palaeontology-related articles. The guidelines below are intended to help editors focus and give an idea of what is needed by the project and how to attain it.

We aim to improve articles about palaeontologists and their work, extinct species, and areas that overlap with geology, life science, botany etc. There are also more specific projects on dinosaurs, mammals and extinction - WikiProject Palaeontology provides a central portal for co-ordinated work across these areas, and topics not broad enough to have a dedicated WikiProject. Hot articles

Participating
If you wish to participate in this project, please list your name to Participants. Feel free to include your area and degree of expertise, and what you feel you may bring to this project.

You are also welcome to help out with any of the tasks listed below that take your fancy!

Tasks
Please see WikiProject Palaeontology/Tasks for the ongoing tasks of the project.

Cladogram requests

 * WikiProject Tree of Life/Cladogram requests - Cladogram requests can be dealt with my requesting here.

Articles needing attention
These articles have been flagged by users as needing general attention or attention from experts. Please try and resolve the issue(s) quickly and remove the tag when done so.
 * Palaeontology articles needing attention
 * Palaeontology articles needing expert attention

Articles needed or needing improvements
Articles in urgent need of improvement are listed here. Please remove entries after making improvements.


 * General articles needed: List of Ice Age species preserved as permafrost mummies
 * Notable palaeontologists needed: Walter P. Coombs, Eva Koppelhus, David M. Martill, Anthony S. Cheke, David Unwin
 * Notable paleoartists needed: Alfons and Adrie Kennis, Jason Brougham, Scott Hartman
 * Lists with many red links: List of therapsids, List of prehistoric mammals, List of extinct cetaceans, List of fossil primates, List of fossil birds, List of prehistoric bony fish, List of prehistoric cartilaginous fish, List of prehistoric jawless fish, List of placoderms, List of acanthodians, List of Ediacaran genera, and a horde of invertebrate lists can be found here: Recent lists of years in paleontology also have many red links.
 * Pages with many red links: Sparassodonta, Condylarthra, Rhinocerotidae, Brontotheriidae, Antilocapridae, Anthracotheriidae, Hyaenidae, Amynodontidae, Oxyaenidae, Hyaenodontidae, Glyptodontidae, Pampatheriidae, Proterotheriidae, Macraucheniidae, Toxodontidae, Isotemnidae, Notohippidae, Leptictida, Cimolesta, Hyracoidea, Pteridospermatophyta, Ituzaingó Formation, South American land mammal age
 * Individual articles for improvement: Paraptenodytes, Caseidae: Knoxosaurus and Oromycter, Ocepechelon, Hyracotherium, Solza (started), Andrewsarchus, Aral Formation (started), Huehuecuetzpalli, Praepusa. List of paleontologists is in need of expansion.
 * Expand with translation: The following articles may be substantially expanded with appropriately-sourced translation from foreign language Wiki articles. Please see Translation for guidance.
 * Rework navbox - Proboscidea Genera, Navbox too wide

Topics requiring improvement

 * The Cambrian explosion - efforts are being organised by a task force
 * Sarcopterygians... they need a lot of work. So I put up a task force to deal with it. --Sneaky Oviraptor18talk edits tribute 15:36, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Paleontologists - biographical information about notable paleontologists needs to be expanded. I'd like to revive the paleontologists task force. Hza a 9 Hza a 9 (talk) 17:02, 7 February 2015 (UTC)
 * Extinct squamates - there's a task force for that now! Borophagus (talk) 17:35, 5 June 2021 (UTC)

List maintenance
This includes adding newly described taxa, and creation of articles for genera (and redirects for synonyms).

See WikiProject Palaeontology/Lists for all the taxonomic lists

Vandal fighting
As with all other projects, we have a problem with vandalism of articles (see vandalism and clean up for further information). Here is a quick guide for vandal fighters of this project:


 * 1) Revert edits.
 * 2) Leave a message on the user's talk page. See template messages and warning category for which templates to use.
 * 3) Report persistant vandals to administrator intervention against vandalism.

Articles for review
The following articles are being considered for upgrade (FA, GA, DYK, etc.) and could benefit from general peer review by project members:

Article expansion
If you fancy expanding getting an article off the starting blocks, here's where you can find all our "stub" articles:

Paleoart review
If you want to submit paleoart images for accuracy review, place them here as well as links to what you used as references: WikiProject Palaeontology/Paleoart review There you can also request new images for articles. If you want to participate as reviewer, you can put the page on your watchlist. When removing an incorrect image from an article, please put it up here for review so it can be fixed, otherwise the image might not be used again.

Which articles should be created
Editors sometimes wonder whether it is necessary to create a separate article for every species in a genus. In the case of monospecific genera, the general WP:TOL guideline is to create a single article at the genus level. For example, an article exists at Saadanius and a redirect at Saadanius hijazensis. Exceptions exist when the genus name needs WP:disambiguation.

It has been agreed that species should generally be redirected to a genus page, similar to WP:DINO guidelines, as there is usually much less info available for prehistoric than extant species to create substantial articles. If there eventually is enough text about each species, they may have a separate section in the genus article; see Cimoliopterus for an example. If a single species is well-known enough and eventually generates enough content to make the genus article too WP:too long, a separate species article can be created; other species in said genus should only be split from the main article when their texts grows too long as well (as is for example the case with many mammoth species).

In the case of genera that contain multiple species, a degree of common sense is necessary. MERGE lists three reasons that it may be appropriate to combine the species into a single page:
 * There may be a substantial overlap in the content of the articles (for instance, if the species are found in the same locality and are morphologically and biologically very similar);
 * There may be very little text that can be written about individual species (if a species is very similar to others in its genus and only differs in minor featutres, an article may simply read "Orthoconus grandi is a species of Orthoconus whose shell is greater than 2 mm in height").
 * It may be necessary to have context from a broader article in order for readers to understand the species' context. For instance, the phylogenetic context of Halkieria requires lengthy explanation, so in this instance it is appropriate to have multiple genera in a single article.

Dubious genera warrant separate articles and should not be redirected. Dubious species and species that have been incorrectly placed in a specific genus should be redirected to the closest higher level taxon it can be assigned to. Articles should not be created for any specimens or taxa that have not been assigned a valid scientific name.

Palaeontology biographies
Wikipedia welcomes articles on notable paleontologists. However, please review Wikipedia's notability requirements for scholars before creating articles on palaeontologists or other scientists. In short, the subject must have made major contributions to their field, as recognized by other reliable sources, and/or have received significant coverage. Simply publishing articles or naming species may not be sufficient to establish notability, and there may not be enough material to write a satisfying, complete biographical article. The fact that a scientist's name has been linked on Wikipedia, or mentioned briefly in a book, may not be sufficient to establish notability. Writing about any living person requires special sensitivity, see: Biographies of living persons. You can find more tips and guidelines at WikiProject Biography

Also see the paleontologists taskforce for efforts to improve Wikipedia's coverage of paleontologists.

Conflict of Interest
For any academic editor(s) who wish to reference their own work in articles or their own biography, we have set-up a system that allows other wiki-editors to make the edits for you, see WikiProject Palaeontology/COI. This is to ensure there are no conflicts of interest, either real or in appearance.

Featured topics

 * Ferugliotheriidae - 23 August 2011
 * Raphinae - 8 August 2014
 * Pterygotioidea - 25 September 2018
 * Adelophthalmidae - 7 August 2019

Did you Knows...

 * 1) South Polar dinosaurs - 13 November 2004
 * 2) Astrohippus - 29 January 2009
 * 3) Akanthosuchus - 14 February 2009
 * 4) Haasiophis - 15 February 2009
 * 5) Miragaia - 6 March 2009
 * 6) Australodelphis - 7 March 2009
 * 7) Phyllodontosuchus - 9 March 2009
 * 8) Dibothrosuchus - 12 March 2009
 * 9) Tianyulong - 26 March 2009
 * 10) Hurdia - 28 March 2009
 * 11) Gallardosaurus - 10 July 2009
 * 12) Hupehsuchia - 9 August 2009
 * 13) Raranimus - 30 September 2009
 * 14) Vancleavea - 8 December 2009
 * 15) Batropetes - 10 January 2010
 * 16) Eonessa - 6 February 2010
 * 17) Scaphohippus - 12 February 2010
 * 18) Yongjiacaris - 14 February 2010
 * 19) Triatoma dominicana - 21 February 2010 (double nomination with T. antiquus)
 * 20) Trypanosoma antiquus - 21 February 2010 (double nomination with T. dominicana)
 * 21) Nanoraphidia - 23 February 2010
 * 22) Raphidia funerata- 24 February 2010
 * 23) Electrinocellia - 25 February 2010
 * 24) Ororaphidia - 26 February 2010 (double nomination with Styporaphidia)
 * 25) Styporaphidia - 26 February 2010 (double nomination with Ororaphidia)
 * 26) Fibla carpenteri - 27 February 2010
 * 27) Archiinocellia - 27 February 2010
 * 28) Kourerpeton - 28 February 2010
 * 29) Proraphidia - 1 March 2010
 * 30) Oligochlora - 4 March 2010
 * 31) Neocorynura electra - 6 March 2010
 * 32) Eickwortapis - 6 March 2010
 * 33) Microberotha - 7 March 2010
 * 34) Sanajeh - 9 March 2010
 * 35) Fedexia - 20 March 2010
 * 36) Tambachia - 17 April 2010
 * 37) Rhynchonkos - 26 April 2010
 * 38) Uatchitodon - 29 April 2010
 * 39) Redondasuchus - 10 July 2010
 * 40) Tsylmosuchus - 14 July 2010
 * 41) Shartegosuchidae - 29 July 2010
 * 42) Eunotosaurus - 14 August 2010
 * 43) Plesiobalaenoptera - 15 August 2010
 * 44) Liushusaurus - 15 August 2010
 * 45) Pakasuchus - 16 August 2010
 * 46) Menarana - 17 August 2010
 * 47) Sunosuchus - 30 August 2010
 * 48) Duerosuchus - 15 September 2010
 * 49) Koilamasuchus - 26 September 2010
 * 50) Inkayacu - 9 October 2010
 * 51) Susisuchus - 15 October 2010
 * 52) Simosuchus - 14 December 2010
 * 53) Sebecus - 30 December 2010
 * 54) Lydekkerina - 18 January 2011
 * 55) Diadectidae - 14 February 2011
 * 56) Belemnotheutis - 16 February 2011
 * 57) Glanosuchus - 30 March 2011
 * 58) Tiarajudens - 30 March 2011
 * 59) Teraterpeton - 20 May 2011
 * 60) Palaeochiropteryx - 24 May 2011
 * 61) Eurypterus - 29 May 2011
 * 62) Arenysuchus - 21 June 2011
 * 63) Asterotrygon - 15 July 2011
 * 64) Snowmastodon site - 19 July 2011
 * 65) Prehistoric Lepidoptera - 31 July 2011
 * 66) Palaeontinidae - 3 August 2011
 * 67) Tortrix? destructus - 6 August 2011
 * 68) Tortrix? florissantana - 6 August 2011
 * 69) Trimerorhachis - 12 August 2011
 * 70) Smok - 21 August 2011
 * 71) Ovoo - 28 August 2011
 * 72) Saniwa - 30 August 2011
 * 73) Coal ball - 31 August 2011
 * 74) Acallosuchus - 13 September 2011
 * 75) Laccognathus embryi - 21 September 2011
 * 76) Myanmymar - 6 October 2011
 * 77) Araucaria mirabilis - 2 December 2011
 * 78) Poposaurus - 29 December 2011
 * 79) Nanictidopidae - 13 January 2012
 * 80) Cycadeoidea - 22 January 2012
 * 81) Waptia - 25 January 2012
 * 82) Tempskya - 29 January 2012
 * 83) Aegisuchus - 13 February 2012
 * 84) Cylindroteuthis - 22 February 2012
 * 85) Blattoidealestes - 25 February 2012
 * 86) Stratiotosuchus - 5 March 2012
 * 87) Encrinus - 28 March 2012
 * 88) Tinirau - 5 April 2012
 * 89) Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni - 16 May 2012
 * 90) Bellubrunnus - 13 July 2012
 * 91) Ocepeia- 14 March 2014

Taxobox
Here is an example of a taxobox:

The full taxobox guide is located at WikiProject Tree of Life/taxobox usage.

Detailed taxonomic information, including notes on how taxa are defined and how they vary between different systems, belongs in the article proper. Where possible, however, a standard table will be provided to allow easier navigation between related groups and quick identification of what sort of organisms are being discussed. These are called taxoboxes. A typical taxobox is shown at right (it belongs on the top right of the page Dakosaurus). For extinct plants see Hymenaea protera.

There are three main sections to the taxobox:
 * A header showing the name of the group, sometimes followed by a representative image.
 * A table showing the placement of the group in a typical classification system.
 * A footer, whose content varies, showing the binomial name or a species, or a list of subgroups for higher taxa.

For fossil species, there is to be no status field. The only extinct species this should be used for are recently extinct ones (e.g. Yangtze river dolphin):
 * status = EX

Position: The taxobox generally belongs at the top right corner of the article, unless it has been decided otherwise on the relevant talk page - for instance, if the article is not primarily about the biological group. Images of fossils or casts are generally preferred over hypothetical life restorations in the taxobox, unless no appropriate ones are available.

Request picture

 * Add   to the talk-page of articles that require a picture. View the requests: Category:Wikipedia requested images of palaeontology

Timeline templates

 * WikiProject Palaeontology/Phanerozoic time line
 * WikiProject Palaeontology/Devonian-Carboniferous time line
 * WikiProject Palaeontology/Devonian time line
 * WikiProject Palaeontology/Paleozoic-Mesozoic time line
 * WikiProject Palaeontology/Permian-Mesozoic time line
 * WikiProject Palaeontology/Permian-Triassic time line
 * WikiProject Palaeontology/Mesozoic time line
 * WikiProject Palaeontology/Mesozoic-Cenozoic time line
 * WikiProject Palaeontology/Triassic time line
 * WikiProject Palaeontology/Jurassic time line
 * WikiProject Palaeontology/Cretaceous time line
 * WikiProject Palaeontology/Cretaceous-Cenozoic time line
 * WikiProject Palaeontology/Cenozoic time line
 * WikiProject Palaeontology/Paleogene time line

Categories

 * List of

Peer-reviewed sources of information
Here are some links to websites that host peer-reviewed publications that will be of interest to all users of the WikiProject. Note that some do any free access to some recent articles, but you most likely will need a log-on to get full access. Subscription access:
 * Science Direct
 * Wiley Interscience
 * Ingenta Connect
 * JSTOR
 * BioOne

CC licensed publications
All images and text published in these journals are free to use on Wikipedia when authors are attributed, unless otherwise noted
 * Acta Palaeontologica Polonica
 * BMC Evolutionary Biology
 * Contributions to Zoology
 * Hindawi Paleontology Journal
 * PLoS ONE Paleontology Collection
 * Zookeys
 * PeerJ

The following journals may have CC licensed publications (verify for each article)
 * Frontiers in Earth Science
 * Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
 * Frontiers in Zoology
 * Scientific Reports (Open Access Policy)
 * Royal Society Open Science
 * Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology

Free access publications

 * Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Papers usually have an English translation.
 * Back issues of Palaeontology
 * Proceedings of the Royal Society free access after one year
 * American Museum of Natural History Papers published prior to 1923 are in the public domain
 * Biodiversity Heritage Library- Making obscure or public domain articles open to viewing.
 * Scientific papers by Stephen Wroe, mainly Australian Marsupialia
 * Dr. Anthony Russell University of Calgary
 * Recent papers by Dr. Thomas S. Kemp, Oxford University, on synapsids and on the evolutionary process
 * Papers by Michael J. Benton, University of Bristol
 * Palaeotologica electronica
 * John D. Scanlon Australian palaeontologist who specialises in reptiles, mainly snakes.
 * Riversleigh scientific literature
 * Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia (there are articles in English)
 * Geodiversitas - Plenty of palaeontological articles in English
 * Dr. Christian Sidor, University of Washington, who specialises in origin of mammals and Permian-Triassic evolution of tetrapods (only the articles published from 2001 to 2006 are available)

Journals that have some Palaeontological content
For anyone with an academic log-in (e.g. Athens) then:
 * Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, free access
 * Web of Knowledge
 * Web of Science

are fantastic resources for citation searches.

Social network sites for sharing peer reviewed articles

 * Academia
 * Researchgate

Database

 * Palaeontological database for taxonomic and formation searches
 * M. J. EVERHART’S MARINE REPTILE REFERENCES
 * Matt Wedel, Randy Irmis, and Mike Taylor have prepared PDFs of many of O. C. Marsh's papers, at O. C. Marsh Papers. These are all in the public domain, and so also are great sources for images such as historical skeletal reconstructions and elements of anatomy.
 * The Polyglot Paleontologist (formerly Paleoglot.org), translations of non-English palaeontology articles
 * Pterosaur FAQ's, by Raymond Thaddeus C. Ancog.
 * The Pterosaur Database, by Paul Pursglove.
 * The Pterosauria's link page to genera and species list (pdf), by Mike Hanson.
 * Flying Reptiles, from DinoData.
 * Comments on the phylogeny of the pterodactyloidea, by Alexander W. A. Kellner. (technical)

The following museum databases may contain freely licenced images of palaeontological specimens:
 * Smithsonian Institution Collections
 * University of California Museum of Paleontology Specimen Search
 * Natural History Museum Data Portal
 * Museums Victoria Collections
 * Estonian Museum of Natural History Fossiilid
 * Museum of New Zealand Collections