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Portal:Paleontology

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Introduction

Bust of the paleontologistGeorges Cuvier (left) and a cast skeleton ofPalaeotherium magnum (named by Cuvier in 1804, right),Cuvier Museum of Montbéliard

Paleontology orpalaeontology is the scientific study of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study offossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classifyorganisms, measuregeologic time, and assess the interactions betweenprehistoric organisms and theirnatural 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 ofGeorges Cuvier in1796. Cuvier demonstrated evidence for the concept ofextinction 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 wordpaléontologie was introduced for the study in1822, which was derived from theAncient Greek word for 'ancient' and words describing relatedness and a field of study. Further advances in the field accompanied the work ofCharles Darwin who popularized the concept ofevolution. Together, evolution and extinction can be understood as complementary processes that shaped thehistory of life.

Paleontology overlaps the most with the fields ofgeology andbiology. 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 ofpaleobiology andpaleoecology that are analogous to biology andecology. Paleontology also contributes to other sciences, being utilized forbiostratigraphy to reconstruct thegeologic time scale of Earth, or in studies on extinction to establish both external and internal factors that can lead to the disappearance of aspecies. Much of the history of life is now better understood because of advances in paleontology and the increase ininterdisciplinary 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 changinggeography andclimate of Earth, thephylogenetic relationships between different species, and the analysis of howfossilization occurs and what biases can impact the quality of thefossil record. (Full article...)

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Selected article on the prehistoric world and its legacies

Artist's restoration of Saurolophus. — Artist's restoration ofSaurolophus.

Saurolophus (/sɔːˈrɒləfəs/; meaning "lizard crest") is agenus of largehadrosaurine duckbill that lived about 69.5–68.5 million years ago, in theLate Cretaceous ofNorth America andAsia; it is one of the few genera ofdinosaurs known from multiple continents. It is distinguished by a spike-like crest which projects up and back from the skull.Saurolophus was anherbivorous dinosaur which could move about eitherbipedally orquadrupedally.

Thetype species,S. osborni, was described byBarnum Brown in 1912 fromCanadian fossils. A second valid species,S. angustirostris, is represented by numerous specimens from Mongolia, and was described byAnatoly Konstantinovich Rozhdestvensky. A third species,S. morrisi fromCalifornia, was described in 2013, and a fourth species,S. kryschtofovici fromChina, is considereddubious. (see more...)

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Did you know?

... thatTitanoceratops was known from an almost complete skeleton that was assigned toPentaceratops, and that the two were only distantly related?
...thatPachycheilosuchus, anEarly Cretaceous crocodile relative, was less than ameter (3.3 ft) long and had anarmored neck?
... that the moth lacewingElektrithone is the first member of its family found in Baltic amber?
... that the fossil antAphaenogaster donisthorpei was once part of theSamuel Hubbard Scudder insect collection?
... that although thegiant fossa, formerly one of the topcarnivores ofMadagascar, is thought to be extinct, there is some anecdotal evidence of very large livingfossas?

An Aphaenogaster amphioceanica preserved in amber

... that the antAphaenogaster amphioceanica(pictured) is in the same amber fossil as sixPseudarmadillo cristatus woodlice?
... thatPaleodictyon nodosum made use of a new source of energy not dependent on the Sun?
... thatAustralornis is the first earlyPaleocene bird fossil discovered fromNew Zealand that is not apenguin?
... that ants of the extinct genusHaidomyrmex could possibly open their mandibles to almost twice their head size?
... that with a 150-millimetre (5.9 in) wingspan,Sinomeganeura is small for theGriffenfly family Meganeuridae, known for species with spans over 700 millimetres (28 in)?

More did you know facts

General images -load new batch

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

Image 1Elmer Riggs and H.W. Menke inField Columbian Museum's paleontology lab, 1899 (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 2Illustration of fossilIguanodon teeth with a moderniguana jaw for comparison from Mantell's 1825 paper describingIguanodon (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 3ASpriggina fossil from theEdiacaran (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 4Geologic time scale from an 1861 book byRichard Owen shows the appearance of major animal types. (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 5Duria Antiquior – A more AncientDorset is a watercolor painted in 1830 by the geologistHenry De la Beche based on fossils found byMary 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. (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 6Stephan Endlicher (fromList of paleontologists)
Image 7Illustration from William Smith'sStrata by Organized Fossils (1817) (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 8Philippe-Charles Schmerling (fromList of paleontologists)
Image 9Diagram by O.C. Marsh of the evolution of horse feet and teeth, reproduced in T. H. Huxley's 1876 book,Professor Huxley in America (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 10Illustration from Steno's 1667 paper shows a shark head and its teeth along with a fossil tooth for comparison. (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 11Illustration of the fossil jaw of the Stonesfield mammal from Gideon Mantell's 1848Wonders of Geology (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 12Johann Jakob Scheuchzer tried to explain fossils using Biblical floods in hisHerbarium of the Deluge (1709). (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 13A drawing comparing jaws was added in 1799 when Cuvier's 1796 presentation on living and fossil elephants was published. (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 14First mention of the wordpalæontologie, as coined in January 1822 byHenri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville in hisJournal de physique (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 15A completeAnomalocaris fossil from theBurgess Shale (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 16Fossil of theTaung child discovered in South Africa in 1924 (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 17Photograph of the secondArchaeopteryx skeleton to be found, taken in 1881 at theNatural History Museum, Berlin (fromHistory of paleontology)

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Selected article on paleontology in human science, culture and economics

Jurassic Park III director Joe Johnston.

Jurassic Park III is a 2001 Americanscience fiction adventure monster film. It is the third installment in theJurassic Park franchise and a sequel to the 1997 filmThe Lost World: Jurassic Park. It is the series' first film that was not directed bySteven Spielberg nor based on a book byMichael Crichton (though numerous scenes in the film were ultimately taken from Crichton's novelsJurassic Park andThe Lost World). The film takes place on Isla Sorna, offCentral America's Pacific coast, the island featured in thesecond film, where a divorced couple has trickedDr. Alan Grant into going in order to help them find their son.

After the success of Spielberg'sJurassic Park,Joe Johnston expressed interest in directing a sequel, a film adaptation ofThe Lost World. Spielberg instead gave Johnston permission to direct the third film in the series, if there were to be one. Production ofJurassic 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...)

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On this day...

November 28:

1908 -Jia Lanpo was born inYutian County,Hebei Province,China.
1918 -Norman Arthur Wakefield was born inRomsey,Victoria,Australia.
1937 -Anastas Kondo was born inKuçovë,Albania.

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Selected image

Amolar of theproboscideanPlatybelodon grangeri. This fossil dates between 5.3 and 14 million years ago to theMiocene epoch of theNeogene period. It was discovered in theLinxia Basin ofGansu Province,China and measures 20 × 9 × 6 cm in size.
Photo credit:Didier Descouens