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 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 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

Holotype specimen of Cetiosauriscus.

Cetiosauriscus (/siːθiːuːsɒrɪskʌs/ meaning "whale-lizard-like" i.e. "Cetiosaurus-like") is a genus of sauropod dinosaur. It was perhaps a diplodocid, a relative of Diplodocus, and lived in the Callovian (Middle to Late Jurassic Period) of England (about 165 to 161 million years ago [mya]). Cetiosauriscus was a quadrupedal, herbivorous, saurischian. It was named by Friedrich von Huene in 1927, the species name being C. leedsi. Later it was shown that C. leedsi was not a Cetiosauriscus species, so, in 1993, Alan J. Charig sent a petition to the ICZN to designate C. stewarti as the type species. The remains include a series of vertebra, a hind leg, a possible whiplash tail, a partial sacrum, and a front leg. Cetiosauriscus has, over time, been classified in Cardiodontinae within Cetiosauridae, Diplodocidae, and Mamenchisauridae. It lived alongside Eustreptospondylus, Sarcolestes, Callovosaurus, Lexovisaurus, and possibly Megalosaurus, and Cetiosaurus. (see more...)

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Did you know?

... that wings of the extinct moth lacewing Allorapisma are most similar to a Cretaceous genus from Brazil?
... that the rauisuchian Tsylmosuchus is known from strata in Russia that are early Olenekian in age, making it one of the earliest archosaurs?
... that malacologist Myra Keen was called the "First Lady of Malacology"?
... that the nearest living relatives of Eosacantha, a fossil tortoise beetle from Colorado, are found in Africa, tropical Asia, and Australia?
... that when the extinct forester moth Neurosymploca? oligocenica was described, a second fossil was known but unavailable for study?

... that the 150-million-year-old ink of the extinct, squid-like Belemnotheutis (artist's rendition pictured) was used to draw a picture that paleontologists called "the ultimate self portrait"?
... that Archaeomarasmius, Aureofungus, Coprinites, and Protomycena are the only four genera of agaric mushrooms known from the fossil record?
... that although the first two fossils of Indraloris to be found were misidentified as a carnivoran and a loris, it is in fact a member of the extinct adapiform primates?
... that the extinct Itilochelys is one of only three known fossil cheloniid sea turtle taxa found in the Volgograd Region?
... that fossils of Eucommia constans are the youngest and most southerly examples of Eucommia in North America?

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General images - load new batch

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

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

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Selected article on paleontology in human science, culture and economics

"Archaeoraptor" is the generic name informally assigned in 1999 to a fossil from China in an article published in National Geographic magazine. The magazine claimed that the fossil was a "missing link" between birds and terrestrial theropod dinosaurs. Even prior to this publication there had been severe doubts about the fossil's authenticity. It led to a scandal when evidence demonstrated it to be a forgery through further scientific study. The forgery was constructed from rearranged pieces of real fossils from different species. Zhou et al. found that the head and upper body actually belong to a specimen of the primitive fossil bird Yanornis. A 2002 study found that the tail belongs to a small winged dromaeosaur, Microraptor, named in 2000. The legs and feet belong to an as yet unknown animal.

The "Archaeoraptor" scandal has ongoing ramifications. The scandal brought attention to illegal fossil deals conducted in China. It also highlighted the need for close scientific scrutiny of purported "missing links" published in journals which are not peer-reviewed. The fossil scandal has been used by creationists in attempts to cast doubt on evolutionary theory. Although "Archaeoraptor" was a forgery, many true examples of feathered dinosaurs have been found and demonstrate the evolutionary connection between birds and other theropods. (see more...)

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On this day...

May 22:

1846 - Oliver Perry Hay was born.
1956 - Helen F. James was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA.
1977 - Roman Kozłowski died.

Phylogeny of Basal Iguanodonts (Dinosauria: Ornithischia): An Update

Andrew T. McDonald

published 22 May 2012

Limb-Bone Scaling Indicates Diverse Stance and Gait in Quadrupedal Ornithischian Dinosaurs

Susannah C. R. Maidment, Deborah H. Linton, Paul Upchurch, Paul M. Barrett

published 22 May 2012

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Selected image

Fossil remains of various horse genera, showing the evolution of their skeletons, skulls and limb bones over time. The uppermost and most recent genus is that of the modern horse, Equus. Below that is Pliohippus, dating back to the late Miocene. Below that and older still is Merychippus of the middle Miocene. The bottom and oldest horse genus is Mesohippus from the late Eocene.
Photo credit: H. Zell