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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

Lavanify is a mammalian genus from thelate Cretaceous (probablyMaastrichtian, about 71 to 66 million years ago) ofMadagascar. The only species,L. miolaka, is known from two isolated teeth, one of which is damaged. The teeth were collected in 1995–1996 and described in 1997. The animal is classified as a member ofGondwanatheria, an enigmatic extinct group with unclearphylogenetic relationships, and within Gondwanatheria as a member of the familySudamericidae.Lavanify is most closely related to the IndianBharattherium; the South AmericanSudamerica andGondwanatherium are more distantly related. Gondwanatheres probably ate hard plant material.

Lavanify had high-crowned, curved teeth. One of the two teeth is 11.2 mm high and shows a deep furrow and, in the middle of the crown, a V-shaped area that consists ofdentine. The other, damaged, tooth is 9.8 mm high and has at least one deep cavity (infundibulum). Characters shared by the teeth ofLavanify andBharattherium include the presence of an infundibulum and a furrow; they both also have large, continuous bands of matrix (unbundledhydroxyapatite crystals) between the prisms (bundles of hydroxyapatite crystals) of theenamel, andperikymata—wave-like ridges and grooves in the enamel surface. (see more...)

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Did you know?

Skull fossils and reconstruction of Lythronax argestes

... that theking of gore(skull pictured) and themonstrous murderer lived in Utah 80 and 75 million years ago respectively?
... that species of theCambrian bivalveTuarangia lived near the continents ofBaltica andEast Gondwana?
... that a fossil ofConcavodonta described in 1843 has been lost?
... that theextinct paddlefishPaleopsephurus was first described from theCretaceous Hell Creek Formation?
... that theTriassic archosaurPoposaurus walked on two legs like some dinosaurs, but was more closely related to crocodiles?

An illustration of a fossil assemblage of several Decuriasuchus

... thatDecuriasuchus may be the first knownarchosaur to exhibitgroup behavior?
... that out of about 20,000Clarno Formation fossils, only 5 were from the extinctdogwoodCornus clarnensis?
... that Scottish naturalistRamsay Heatley Traquair received theRoyal Medal of the Royal Society in 1907 for his work onfossil fish?
... that the extinct antAnochetus exstinctus was described from only two of the three fossils known to the species author?
... that the extinct Cuban condorGymnogyps varonai may have fed onground sloths?

More did you know facts

General images -load new batch

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

Image 1A completeAnomalocaris fossil from theBurgess Shale (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 2Illustration from William Smith'sStrata by Organized Fossils (1817) (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 3Elmer Riggs and H.W. Menke inField Columbian Museum's paleontology lab, 1899 (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 4Fossil of theTaung child discovered in South Africa in 1924 (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 5First mention of the wordpalæontologie, as coined in January 1822 byHenri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville in hisJournal de physique (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 6Illustration of the fossil jaw of the Stonesfield mammal from Gideon Mantell's 1848Wonders of Geology (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 7Stephan Endlicher (fromList of paleontologists)
Image 8Illustration from Steno's 1667 paper shows a shark head and its teeth along with a fossil tooth for comparison. (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 9ASpriggina fossil from theEdiacaran (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 10Duria 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 11Diagram 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 12Illustration of fossilIguanodon teeth with a moderniguana jaw for comparison from Mantell's 1825 paper describingIguanodon (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 13Johann Jakob Scheuchzer tried to explain fossils using Biblical floods in hisHerbarium of the Deluge (1709). (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 14A drawing comparing jaws was added in 1799 when Cuvier's 1796 presentation on living and fossil elephants was published. (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 15Philippe-Charles Schmerling (fromList of paleontologists)
Image 16Photograph of the secondArchaeopteryx skeleton to be found, taken in 1881 at theNatural History Museum, Berlin (fromHistory of paleontology)
Image 17Geologic time scale from an 1861 book byRichard Owen shows the appearance of major animal types. (fromHistory of paleontology)

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Selected article on paleontology in human science, culture and economics

Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton. — *Jurassic Park* author Michael Crichton.

Jurassic Park is a 1993 Americanscience fiction adventure film directed bySteven Spielberg. It is the first installment of theJurassic Park franchise. It is based on the 1990novel of the same name byMichael Crichton, with a screenplay written by Crichton andDavid Koepp. The film centers on the fictional Isla Nublar, an islet located offCentral America's Pacific Coast, nearCosta Rica Nicaragua border, where a billionaire philanthropist and a small team of genetic scientists have created awildlife park ofcloned dinosaurs.

Following an extensive $65 million marketing campaign, which included licensing deals with 100 companies,Jurassic Park grossed over $900 million worldwide in its original theatrical run. It surpassed Spielberg's 1982 filmE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial to become thehighest-grossing film untilTitanic (1997).Jurassic Park was well received by critics, who praised its special effects and Spielberg's direction but criticized the script. The film won more than 20 awards (including 3Academy Awards), mostly for its visual effects.Jurassic Park is considered by many to be one of thegreatest films of the 1990s and in some cases of all time, as well as a landmark in the vector of visual effects regarding its computer-generated imagery and animatronics.

Jurassic Park was followed by two sequels,The Lost World: Jurassic Park andJurassic Park III, both of which were box office successes but received mixed critical responses. A third sequel,Jurassic World, is set for release on June 12, 2015. (see more...)

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