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

Several mammals are known from the Mesozoic of Madagascar. The Bathonian (middle Jurassic) Ambondro, known from a piece of jaw with three teeth, is the earliest known mammal with molars showing the modern, tribosphenic pattern that is characteristic of marsupial and placental mammals. Interpretations of its affinities have differed; one proposal places it in a group known as Australosphenida with other Mesozoic tribosphenic mammals from the southern continents (Gondwana) as well as the monotremes, while others favor closer affinities with northern (Laurasian) tribosphenic mammals or specifically with placentals. At least five species are known from the Maastrichtian (late Cretaceous), including a yet undescribed species known from a nearly complete skeleton that may represent a completely new group of mammals. The gondwanathere Lavanify, known from two teeth, is most closely related to other gondwanatheres found in India and Argentina. Two other teeth may represent another gondwanathere or a different kind of mammal. One molar fragment is one of the few known remains of a multituberculate mammal from Gondwana and another (UA 8699) has been interpreted as either a marsupial or a placental. (see more...)

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Did you know?

A Prostylotermes kamboja preserved in amber

... that the extinct termite Prostylotermes is known from a female, male, and two eggs?
... that Archaeomarasmius, Aureofungus, Coprinites, Palaeoagaracites, and Protomycena are the only five genera of agaric mushrooms known from the fossil record?
... that the extinct, Miocene age, maple Acer browni ranged from southern Oregon to the north shore of the Haida Gwaii?
... that the extinct sweat bee Augochlora leptoloba is known from a single specimen now in a private collection in Turin, Italy?
... that Appianoporites, Margaretbarromyces, and Quatsinoporites are all fossil fungi from Vancouver Island, British Columbia?

... that the extinct witchalder Fothergilla malloryi (pictured) is the oldest confirmed member of the genus Fothergilla?
... that the flat-headed crocodilian relative Aegisuchus had a circular projection on top of its skull that may have served as an eyespot in mating displays?
... that the early Oligocene maple, Acer ashwilli, is known from only eight places in Oregon?
... that the extinct Eocene parasitic wasp Brevivulva electroma (pictured) was named from the Greek words meaning "short amber wrapper"?
... that the distinct fauna of the Kirtlandian includes the dinosaur Pentaceratops sternbergii?

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

Image 1Illustration from William Smith's Strata by Organized Fossils (1817) (from History of paleontology)
Image 2Geologic time scale from an 1861 book by Richard Owen shows the appearance of major animal types. (from History of paleontology)
Image 3A complete Anomalocaris fossil from the Burgess shale (from History of paleontology)
Image 4Illustration of the fossil jaw of the Stonesfield mammal from Gideon Mantell's 1848 Wonders of Geology (from History of paleontology)
Image 5Johann Jakob Scheuchzer tried to explain fossils using Biblical floods in his Herbarium of the Deluge (1709). (from History of paleontology)
Image 6Fossil of the Taung child discovered in South Africa in 1924 (from History of paleontology)
Image 7Stephan Endlicher (from List of paleontologists)
Image 8Photograph of the second Archaeopteryx skeleton to be found, taken in 1881 at the Natural History Museum, Berlin (from History of paleontology)
Image 9Illustration from Steno's 1667 paper shows a shark head and its teeth along with a fossil tooth for comparison. (from History of paleontology)
Image 10Elmer Riggs and H.W. Menke in Field Columbian Museum's paleontology lab, 1899 (from History of paleontology)
Image 11Philippe-Charles Schmerling (from List of paleontologists)
Image 12Diagram 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 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 14A Spriggina fossil from the Ediacaran (from History of paleontology)
Image 15Illustration of fossil Iguanodon teeth with a modern iguana jaw for comparison from Mantell's 1825 paper describing Iguanodon (from History of paleontology)
Image 16Duria 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 17First 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)

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Selected article on paleontology in human science, culture and economics

A transitional fossil is any fossilized remains of a life form that exhibits traits common to both an ancestral group and its derived descendant group. This is especially important where the descendant group is sharply differentiated by gross anatomy and mode of living from the ancestral group. These fossils serve as a reminder that taxonomic divisions are human constructs that have been imposed in hindsight on a continuum of variation. Because of the incompleteness of the fossil record, there is usually no way to know exactly how close a transitional fossil is to the point of divergence. Therefore, we can't assume transitional fossils are direct ancestors of more recent groups, though they are frequently used as models for such ancestors.

In 1859, when Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species was first published, the fossil record was poorly known. Indeed, Archaeopteryx was discovered just two years later and represents a classic transitional form between dinosaurs and birds. Many more transitional fossils have been discovered since then, and there is now abundant evidence of how all classes of vertebrates are related, much of it in the form of transitional fossils. The phrase missing link has been used extensively in popular writings on human evolution to refer to a perceived gap in the hominid evolutionary record. It is most commonly used to refer to any new transitional fossil finds. Scientists, however, do not use the term, as it refers to a pre-evolutionary view of nature. (see more...)

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On this day...

May 30:

1878 - William More Gabb died of malaria contracted during field work in Costa Rica in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
1919 - Dirk Albert Hooijer was born in Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia.
1931 - Hans C. Bjerring was born.

A New Saurolophine Dinosaur from the Latest Cretaceous of Far Eastern Russia

Pascal Godefroit, Yuri L. Bolotsky, Pascaline Lauters

published 30 May 2012

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Selected image

An 1883 copy of an 1881 portrait of Charles Darwin by John Collier. According to Darwin's son Erasmus, "The picture is a replica of the one in the rooms in the Linnaean Society and was made by Collier after the original. I took some trouble about it and as a likeness it is an improvement on the original." The portrait was given to the National Portrait Gallery in London in 1896.
Art credit: John Collier
Upload credit: User:Dcoetzee