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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 the history of life in the geologic past. 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 reconstruction of Batrachotomus.

Batrachotomus /ˌbætrəˈkɒtoʊməs/ is a genus of prehistoric archosaur. Fossils of this animal have been found in southern Germany and dated from the Ladinian stage of the Middle Triassic period, around 228 to 231 million years ago. Batrachotomus was described by palaeontologist David J. Gower 22 years after its discovery.

The locality where Batrachotomus lived was a swampy region and the name comes from the Greek batrachos/βάτραχος (frog) and tome/τομή (cutting, slicing), which refers to its preying on the large amphibian Mastodonsaurus. In contrast with sprawling reptiles, like crocodiles, this large carnivore was very agile with locomotor superiority due to its erect stance. A remarkable feature seen on its back was a row of paired, flattened bony plates. Batrachotomus was possibly an early relative of Postosuchus, which lived during the dawn of the dinosaurs. (see more...)

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Did you know?

Skull fossils and reconstruction of Lythronax argestes

... that the king of gore (skull pictured) and the monstrous murderer lived in Utah 80 and 75 million years ago respectively?
... that species of the Cambrian bivalve Tuarangia lived near the continents of Baltica and East Gondwana?
... that a fossil of Concavodonta described in 1843 has been lost?
... that the extinct paddlefish Paleopsephurus was first described from the Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation?
... that the Triassic archosaur Poposaurus walked on two legs like some dinosaurs, but was more closely related to crocodiles?

An illustration of a fossil assemblage of several Decuriasuchus

... that Decuriasuchus may be the first known archosaur to exhibit group behavior?
... that out of about 20,000 Clarno Formation fossils, only 5 were from the extinct dogwood Cornus clarnensis?
... that Scottish naturalist Ramsay Heatley Traquair received the Royal Medal of the Royal Society in 1907 for his work on fossil fish?
... that the extinct ant Anochetus exstinctus was described from only two of the three fossils known to the species author?
... that the extinct Cuban condor Gymnogyps varonai may have fed on ground sloths?

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 in Field Columbian Museum's paleontology lab, 1899 (from History of paleontology)
Image 2Illustration of the fossil jaw of the Stonesfield mammal from Gideon Mantell's 1848 Wonders of Geology (from History of paleontology)
Image 3Duria 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 4Philippe-Charles Schmerling (from List of paleontologists)
Image 5Illustration of fossil Iguanodon teeth with a modern iguana jaw for comparison from Mantell's 1825 paper describing Iguanodon (from History of paleontology)
Image 6Diagram 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 7Johann Jakob Scheuchzer tried to explain fossils using Biblical floods in his Herbarium of the Deluge (1709). (from History of paleontology)
Image 8A Spriggina fossil from the Ediacaran (from History of paleontology)
Image 9Fossil of the Taung child discovered in South Africa in 1924 (from History of paleontology)
Image 10A drawing comparing jaws was added in 1799 when Cuvier's 1796 presentation on living and fossil elephants was published. (from History of paleontology)
Image 11First 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 12Photograph of the second Archaeopteryx skeleton to be found, taken in 1881 at the Natural History Museum, Berlin (from History of paleontology)
Image 13A complete Anomalocaris fossil from the Burgess shale (from History of paleontology)
Image 14Stephan Endlicher (from List of paleontologists)
Image 15Illustration from Steno's 1667 paper shows a shark head and its teeth along with a fossil tooth for comparison. (from History of paleontology)
Image 16Geologic time scale from an 1861 book by Richard Owen shows the appearance of major animal types. (from History of paleontology)
Image 17Illustration from William Smith's Strata by Organized Fossils (1817) (from History of paleontology)

Selected article on paleontology in human science, culture and economics

Two Iguanodon sculptures at the crystal palace. — Two *Iguanodon* sculptures at the crystal palace.

The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, also known as Dinosaur Court, are a series of sculptures of extinct animals (including dinosaurs) and mammals in Crystal Palace Park, now in the London borough of Bromley. Commissioned in 1852 to accompany the Crystal Palace after its move from the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park and unveiled in 1854, they were the first dinosaur sculptures in the world, pre-dating the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species by six years. While to varying degrees inaccurate by modern standards, the models were designed and sculpted by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins under the scientific direction of Sir Richard Owen, representing the latest scientific knowledge at the time. The models were classed as Grade II listed buildings from 1973, extensively restored in 2002, and upgraded to Grade I listed in 2007.

The models represent fifteen genera of extinct animals, not all dinosaurs. They are from a wide range of geological ages, and include true dinosaurs, ichthyosaurs, and plesiosaurs mainly from the Mesozoic era, and some mammals from the more recent Cenozoic era. (see more...)

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On this day...

March 22:

1875 - Friedrich von Huene was born in Tübingen, Germany.
1901 - Harold John Finlay was born in Comilla, India.
1907 - Pierre Hupé was born in Baye, France.
1935 - Luigi Piacenza was born in Bussolengo, Italy.
1987 - Gustava Kahler died .

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Selected image

A tooth of Australopithecus africanus catalogued by the Transvaal Museum as STS 1881. The specimen is 15.46 × 13.64 × 7.31 mm in size. STS 1881 was discovered near Sterkfontein, South Africa and dates back 2.8 million years.
Photo credit: Didier Descouens