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

Gorgosaurus (meaning 'fierce lizard') is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in western North America during the Late Cretaceous Period, between about 77 and 74 million years ago. Fossil remains have been found in the Canadian province of Alberta and possibly the U.S. state of Montana. Paleontologists recognize only the type species, G. libratus, although other species have been erroneously referred to the genus.

Like most known tyrannosaurids, Gorgosaurus was a bipedal predator weighing more than a metric ton as an adult; dozens of large, sharp teeth lined its jaws, while its two-fingered forelimbs were comparatively small. Gorgosaurus was most closely related to Albertosaurus, and more distantly related to the larger Tyrannosaurus. Gorgosaurus and Albertosaurus are extremely similar, distinguished mainly by subtle differences in the teeth and skull bones. Some experts consider G. libratus to be a species of Albertosaurus; this would make Gorgosaurus a junior synonym of that genus.

Gorgosaurus lived in a lush floodplain environment along the edge of an inland sea. An apex predator, it was at the top of the food chain, preying upon abundant ceratopsids and hadrosaurs. In some areas, Gorgosaurus coexisted with another tyrannosaurid, Daspletosaurus. Though these animals were roughly the same size, there is some evidence of niche differentiation between the two. Gorgosaurus is the best-represented tyrannosaurid in the fossil record, known from dozens of specimens. These plentiful remains have allowed scientists to investigate its ontogeny, life history and other aspects of its biology. (see more...)

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Did you know?

A life restoration of two Centrosaurus, the primary constituent of the Hilda mega-bonebed

... that the Hilda mega-bonebed is Canada's largest dinosaur bonebed, preserving thousands of the horned dinosaur Centrosaurus apertus across an area of 2.3 square kilometers?
... that the oldest association between Trypanosoma, which causes Chagas disease, and its vector, the assassin bug Triatoma, is found in Triatoma dominicana and Trypanosoma antiquus?
... that the extinct crocodile Rimasuchus often preyed on large mammals, including early humans?
... that the first described fossil of Aphaenogaster mersa (illustrated) had a white mold coating?
... that Tilly Edinger founded paleoneurology?

A life restoration of Arizonasaurus

... that Arizonasaurus had a large sail along its back made of the spines on its vertebrae?
... that Carletonomys, a rodent related to modern rice rats, is known only from one incomplete upper jaw from over 1 million year old silt deposits in Argentina?
... that Urocyon progressus, a species of extinct fox, was formally described after two bones and a tooth were found?
... that the scorpionfly family Eorpidae has a single genus, Eorpa, described in 2013?
... that based on its skull anatomy, the small Early Jurassic crocodile relative Dibothrosuchus (reconstruction pictured) probably had a keen sense of hearing and was vocal like modern crocodiles?

General images - load new batch

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

Image 1Illustration from Steno's 1667 paper shows a shark head and its teeth along with a fossil tooth for comparison. (from History of paleontology)
Image 2Johann Jakob Scheuchzer tried to explain fossils using Biblical floods in his Herbarium of the Deluge (1709). (from History of paleontology)
Image 3Fossil of the Taung child discovered in South Africa in 1924 (from History of paleontology)
Image 4Geologic time scale from an 1861 book by Richard Owen shows the appearance of major animal types. (from History of paleontology)
Image 5Stephan Endlicher (from List of paleontologists)
Image 6First 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 7Philippe-Charles Schmerling (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 9Elmer Riggs and H.W. Menke in Field Columbian Museum's paleontology lab, 1899 (from History of paleontology)
Image 10Illustration of fossil Iguanodon teeth with a modern iguana jaw for comparison from Mantell's 1825 paper describing Iguanodon (from History of paleontology)
Image 11Illustration from William Smith's Strata by Organized Fossils (1817) (from History of paleontology)
Image 12A drawing comparing jaws was added in 1799 when Cuvier's 1796 presentation on living and fossil elephants was published. (from History of paleontology)
Image 13A Spriggina fossil from the Ediacaran (from History of paleontology)
Image 14Duria 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 15Illustration of the fossil jaw of the Stonesfield mammal from Gideon Mantell's 1848 Wonders of Geology (from History of paleontology)
Image 16A complete Anomalocaris fossil from the Burgess shale (from History of paleontology)
Image 17Diagram 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)

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Selected article on paleontology in human science, culture and economics

Holotype material of Creosaurus atrox, more recently known as Allosaurus atrox. — Holotype material of *Creosaurus atrox*, more recently known as *Allosaurus atrox*.

There have been a number of potential species assigned to the carnosaurian dinosaur genus Allosaurus since its description in 1877 by Othniel Charles Marsh, but only a handful are still regarded as valid. Allosaurus was originally described from material from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of the western United States of America; the type species A. fragilis became one of the best-known species of dinosaur.

The genus Allosaurus was part of the Marsh/Cope "Bone Wars" of the late 19th century, and its taxonomy became increasingly confused due to the competition, with several genera and species named by Cope and Marsh now regarded as synonyms of Allosaurus or A. fragilis. Since the description of Allosaurus, scientists have proposed additional species from such far-flung locales as Portugal, Siberia, Switzerland, and Tanzania, and unnamed remains from Australia and China have also been assigned to the genus at one time or another. (see more...)