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

Artist's restoration of Scelidosaurus.

Scelidosaurus is a genus of herbivorous armoured ornithischian dinosaur from England. Scelidosaurus lived during the Early Jurassic Period, during the Sinemurian to Pliensbachian stages around 191 million years ago. This genus and related genera at the time lived on the supercontinent Laurasia. Its fossils have been found near Charmouth in Dorset, England, and are known for their excellent preservation. Scelidosaurus has been called the earliest complete dinosaur. It is the most completely known dinosaur of the British Isles.

Scelidosaurus was about 4 metres (13 ft) long. It was a largely quadrupedal animal, feeding on low scrubby plants, the parts of which were bitten off by the small, elongated, head to be processed in the large gut. Scelidosaurus was lightly armoured, protected by long horizontal rows of keeled oval scutes, that stretched along the neck, back and tail.

One of the oldest known and most "primitive" of the thyreophorans, the exact placement of Scelidosaurus within this group has been the subject of debate for nearly 150 years. This was not helped by the limited additional knowledge about the early evolution of armoured dinosaurs. Today most evidence indicates that Scelidosaurus is a basal member of the Thyreophora, lower placed in the evolutionary tree of life than the Ankylosauridae or the Stegosauridae. (see more...)

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Did you know?

... that the extinct sweat bee genus Oligochlora contains six species all known from the Dominican amber deposits on Hispaniola?
... that Riojasuchus was an ornithosuchid that is known from four skeletons and lived about 217 to 215 million years ago?
... that the extinct ant Pristomyrmex rasnitsyni is the first member of its genus found in Europe?
... that the extinct species Agulla mineralensis is the first North American snakefly to be described from Neogene fossils?
... that the amber entombing the extinct ant Haidoterminus cippus (pictured) was preserved in a lagoon or saltwater marsh?

...that the largest sea turtles ever to have swum the oceans belonged to the family Protostegidae?
... that the extinct ant-like stone beetle Kachinus, found in Cretaceous amber, is similar in appearance to the modern genus Paraneseuthia?
... that at just over 18 millimetres (0.71 in), Fibla carpenteri is the largest species of snakefly known from amber?
... that Aenigmastacus, a fossil crayfish from Canada, belongs to a family only otherwise known from the Southern Hemisphere?
... that the extinct pseudoscorpion Pseudogarypus synchrotron is named for the synchrotron imaging equipment?

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 2Illustration from Steno's 1667 paper shows a shark head and its teeth along with a fossil tooth for comparison. (from History of paleontology)
Image 3A complete Anomalocaris fossil from the Burgess shale (from History of paleontology)
Image 4Johann Jakob Scheuchzer tried to explain fossils using Biblical floods in his Herbarium of the Deluge (1709). (from History of paleontology)
Image 5Fossil of the Taung child discovered in South Africa in 1924 (from History of paleontology)
Image 6A Spriggina fossil from the Ediacaran (from History of paleontology)
Image 7Diagram 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 8Illustration of fossil Iguanodon teeth with a modern iguana jaw for comparison from Mantell's 1825 paper describing Iguanodon (from History of paleontology)
Image 9Geologic time scale from an 1861 book by Richard Owen shows the appearance of major animal types. (from History of paleontology)
Image 10Illustration of the fossil jaw of the Stonesfield mammal from Gideon Mantell's 1848 Wonders of Geology (from History of paleontology)
Image 11Elmer Riggs and H.W. Menke in Field Columbian Museum's paleontology lab, 1899 (from History of paleontology)
Image 12Stephan Endlicher (from List of paleontologists)
Image 13Photograph of the second Archaeopteryx skeleton to be found, taken in 1881 at the Natural History Museum, Berlin (from History of paleontology)
Image 14A drawing comparing jaws was added in 1799 when Cuvier's 1796 presentation on living and fossil elephants was published. (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 16Philippe-Charles Schmerling (from List of paleontologists)
Image 17Illustration from William Smith's Strata by Organized Fossils (1817) (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...

September 30:

1900 - William Elgin Swinton was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland.
2002 - Robert Masterman Stainforth died.

Evidence for Avian Intrathoracic Air Sacs in a New Predatory Dinosaur from Argentina

Paul C. Sereno, Ricardo N. Martinez, Jeffrey A. Wilson, David J. Varricchio, Oscar A. Alcober, Hans C. E. Larsson

published 30 Sep 2008

Common Avian Infection Plagued the Tyrant Dinosaurs

Ewan D. S. Wolff, Steven W. Salisbury, John R. Horner, David J. Varricchio

published 30 Sep 2009

Cartilaginous Epiphyses in Extant Archosaurs and Their Implications for Reconstructing Limb Function in Dinosaurs

Casey M. Holliday, Ryan C. Ridgely, Jayc C. Sedlmayr, Lawrence M. Witmer

published 30 Sep 2010

More anniversaries...

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Selected image

A cluster of fossils fossil of the trilobite Homotelus bromidensis. This specimen dates back to the Ordovician period and was discovered in Oklahoma, USA.
Photo credit: High Contrast