Palaeontology redirects here. For the scientific journal, see Palaeontology (journal). For a broader class of publications which include scientific journals see Academic journal. Palaeontology is one of the two journals of the Palaeontological Association.

Paleontology, palaeontology or palæontology (from Greek: παλαιό (palaeo), "old, ancient"; όν (on), "being"; and logos, "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of fossils. Stone Age Paleolithic See also Paleolithic, Recent African Origin, Early Homo sapiens, Early human migrations "Paleolithic" FOSSIL is a standard protocol for allowing serial communication for Telecommunications programs under the DOS Operating system. ^[1] This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised faeces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. FOSSIL is a standard protocol for allowing serial communication for Telecommunications programs under the DOS Operating system. An ichnite ( Greek " ιχνιον " ( ichnion) - a track trace or footstep is a fossilised footprint A burrow is a hole or tunnel dug into the ground by an Animal to create a space suitable for habitation temporary refuge or as a byproduct of locomotion Feces, faeces, or fæces (see spelling differences) is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the Anus A Coprolite is Fossilized animal dung Coprolites are classified as trace fossils as opposed to body fossils as they give evidence for the animal's behaviour (in Palynomorph is the geological term used to describe a particle of a size between five and 500 micrometres found in rock deposits ( Sedimentary rocks and composed of Studies of prehistoric hominins, their culture and their behaviour are the purview of two other disciplines, archaeology and paleoanthropology. Hominini is the tribe of Homininae that comprises humans ( Homo) Chimpanzees ( Pan) and their Extinct ancestors Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos Paleoanthropology, which combines the disciplines of Paleontology and Physical anthropology, is the study of ancient humans as found in Fossil hominid

Background

Modern paleontology sets ancient life in its context by studying how long-term physical changes of global geography paleogeography and climate paleoclimate have affected the evolution of life, how ecosystems have responded to these changes and have adapted the planetary environment in turn and how these mutual responses have affected today's patterns of biodiversity. Palaeogeography (sometimes spelled paleogeography) is the study of what the Geography was in times past Paleoclimatology (also Palaeoclimatology) is the study of Climate change taken on the scale of the entire History of Earth. eVolution is the third Album by eLDee, it was due to be released in 2008 Biodiversity is the variation of Life forms within a given Ecosystem, Biome or for the entire Earth. Hence, paleontology overlaps with geology (the study of rocks and rock formations) as well as with botany, biology, zoology and ecology – fields concerned with life forms and how they interact. Geology (from Greek γη gê, "earth" and λόγος Logos, "speech" lit Botany, plant science(s, phytology, or plant biology is a branch of Biology and is the scientific study of plant Life Foundations of modern biology There are five unifying principles Zoology (from Greek ζῷον, zoon, "animal" + λόγος, " Logos " "knowledge" is the branch of Ecology (from Greek grc οἶκος oikos, "house(hold" and grc -λογία -logia) is the scientific study of

The major subdivisions of paleontology include paleozoology (animals), paleobotany (plants) and micropaleontology (microfossils). Paleozoology, also spelled as palaeozoology ( Greek: παλαιον paleon = old and ζωον zoon = animal is the branch of Paleontology Paleobotany, also spelled as palaeobotany (from the Greek words paleon = old and " Botany " study of plants is the branch of Micropaleontology (also sometimes spelled as micropalaeontology) is that branch of Paleontology which studies microfossils Paleozoologists may specialise in invertebrate paleontology, which deals with animals without backbones or in vertebrate paleontology, dealing with fossils of animals with backbones, including fossil hominids (paleoanthropology). Invertebrate paleontology (also spelled Invertebrate palaeontology) is sometimes described as Invertebrate paleozoology and/or Invertebrate paleobiology Vertebrate paleontology seeks to discover the behavior reproduction and appearance of extinct spined animals through the study of their Fossilized remains Paleoanthropology, which combines the disciplines of Paleontology and Physical anthropology, is the study of ancient humans as found in Fossil hominid Micropaleontologists study microscopic fossils, including organic-walled microfossils whose study is called palynology. Palynology is the science that studies contemporary and fossil Palynomorphs including Pollen, Spores, Dinoflagellate Cysts Acritarchs

There are many developing specialties such as paleobiology, paleoecology, ichnology (the study of tracks and burrows) and taphonomy (the study of what happens to organisms after they expire). Paleobiology (sometimes spelled palaeobiology) is a growing and comparatively new discipline which combines the methods and findings of the Natural science Biology Paleoecology uses data from Fossils and subfossils to reconstruct the Ecosystems of the past Ichnology is the branch of Biology that deals with traces of organismal behavior Taphonomy is the study of a decaying Organism over time The term taphonomy (from the Greek taphos - τάφος meaning burial and nomos - Major areas of study include the correlation of rock strata with their geologic ages and the study of evolution of lifeforms. In Geology and related fields a stratum (plural strata) is a layer of rock or Soil with internally consistent characteristics that distinguishes The geologic time scale is a chronologic schema (or idealized Model) relating Stratigraphy to time that is used by Geologists and other

Paleontology utilises the same classic binomial nomenclature scheme, devised for the biology of living things by the mid-18th century Swedish biologist Carolus Linnaeus and increasingly sets these species in a genealogical framework, showing their degrees of interrelatedness using the still somewhat controversial technique of 'cladistics'. Carl Linnaeus (Latinized as Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as, May 23 new style (13 May old style 1707 who laid the foundations for Cladistics is the hierarchical classification of Species based on evolutionary ancestry

The primary economic importance of paleontology lies in the use of fossils to determine the age and nature of the rocks that contain them or the layers above or below. This information is vital to the mining industry and especially the petroleum industry. Mining is the extraction of valuable Minerals or other geological materials from the earth usually (but not always from an Ore body Petroleum ( L petroleum, from Greek πετρέλαιον, lit Simply looking at the fossils contained in a rock remains one of the fastest and most accurate means of telling how old that rock is.

Fossils were known by primitive humans and were sometimes identified correctly as the remains of ancient lifeforms. The organised study of paleontology dates from the late 18th century. For a more complete historical overview see the article History of paleontology. The history of Paleontology traces the effort to understand the history of life on Earth by studying the Fossil record left behind by living organisms

Notable paleontologists

A paleontologist carefully chips rock from a column of dinosaur vertebrae.

History includes a number of prominent paleontologists. Charles Darwin collected fossils of South American mammals during his trip on the Beagle and examined petrified forests in Patagonia. Charles Robert Darwin (February 12 1809 &ndash April 19 1882 was an English naturalist, who realised and demonstrated that all Species of life Mary Anning was a notable early paleontologist. Mary Anning ( May 21, 1799 &ndash March 9, 1847) was an early British Fossil collector and paleontologist. She found several landmark fossils, in her home town of Lyme Regis. Lyme Regis (ˌlaɪmˈriːdʒɪs is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 Miles west of Dorchester and east of Exeter Although self-taught, she collected and described them in a very systematic way. William Buckland, Richard Owen, Gideon Mantell, Georges Cuvier and Thomas Huxley were important early pioneers, in the field of paleontology. The Very Rev Dr William Buckland DD ( Axminster, 12 March, 1784 – Islip, 14 August, 1856) was an English Sir Richard Owen KCB ( Lancaster, July 20 1804 &ndash December 18 1892) was an English Biologist Gideon Algernon Mantell ( February 3, 1790 &ndash November 10 1852) was an English Obstetrician, Geologist Baron Georges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert Cuvier ( August 23 1769 &ndash May 13, 1832) was a French naturalist Thomas Henry Huxley PC FRS (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895 was an English Biologist, known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy Thomas Jefferson took a keen interest in mammoth bones. Thomas Jefferson (April 13 1743 – July 4 1826 was the third President of the United States (1801–1809 the principal author of the Declaration of Independence Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh waged a famously fierce competition known as the Bone Wars in the late 19th century that involved some questionable practices, but which significantly advanced the understanding of the natural history of North America and vertebrate paleontology. Edward Drinker Cope (July 28 1840&ndashApril 12 1897 was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist Othniel Charles Marsh ( October 29, 1831 &ndash March 18, 1899) was one of the pre-eminent Paleontologists of the 19th century who The Bone Wars is the name given to a period of intense fossil speculation and discovery during the Gilded Age of American history marked by a heated rivalry between Edward Professor Earl Douglass of the Carnegie University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, opened the fossil quarry protected today by Dinosaur National Monument in Utah. Dinosaur National Monument is a US National Monument located on the southeast flank of the Uinta Mountains on the border between the American Douglass' fossils are in several Natural History Museums. Meanwhile, Baron Franz Nopcsa, a pioneer paleobiologist, argued that dinosaurs might have been both warm-blooded and ancestral to birds. Baron Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás (also Baron Nopcsa von Felsö-Szilvás, Baron Nopcsa, Ferenc Nopcsa, Nopcsa Ferenc, Baron Paleobiology (sometimes spelled palaeobiology) is a growing and comparatively new discipline which combines the methods and findings of the Natural science Biology

Besides looking at mammal teeth and unearthing penguin skeletons, George Gaylord Simpson played a crucial role in bringing together ideas from biology, paleontology and genetics, to help create the 'Modern Synthesis' of evolutionary biology. Penguins ( order Sphenisciformes, family Spheniscidae) are a group of aquatic, flightless Birds living almost George Gaylord Simpson ( June 16, 1902 &ndash October 6, 1984) was an American Paleontologist. His book "Tempo and Mode" is a classic in the field. Prominent names in invertebrate paleontology include Steven M. Stanley, Stephen Jay Gould, David Raup, Rousseau H. Flower and Jack Sepkoski, who have done much to expand our understanding of long-term patterns in the evolution of life on earth. Stephen Jay Gould (September 10 1941 &ndash May 20 2002 was a prominent American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science David M Raup is a University of Chicago Paleontologist. Raup studied the Fossil record and the diversity of life on Earth. Rousseau Hayner Flower (1913–1988 was an extremely prolific 20th century Paleontologist, known for his eccentric personality J John Sepkoski Jr. ( July 26, 1948 - May 1, 1999) was a University of Chicago Paleontologist. Large names in the field of paleoanthropology include Louis, Mary and Richard Leakey, Raymond Dart, Robert Broom, C.K. 'Bob' Brain, Kenneth Oakley, Robert Ardrey and Donald Johanson. Paleoanthropology, which combines the disciplines of Paleontology and Physical anthropology, is the study of ancient humans as found in Fossil hominid Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey ( LSB Leakey) ( August 7, 1903 – October 1 1972) was a Kenyan archaeologist and naturalist Mary Leakey ( February 6 1913 &ndash December 9 1996) was a British Archaeologist and Anthropologist, who Richard Erskine Frere Leakey (born 19 December 1944 in Nairobi, Kenya) is a Kenyan politician Raymond Dart ( February 4 1893 &ndash November 22 1988) was an Australian Anatomist and anthropologist Professor Robert Broom ( November 30, 1866, Paisley – April 6, 1951) was Charles Kimberlin Brain ( C K 'Bob' Brain) born in Southern Rhodesia (modern Zimbabwe) in 1931 is an eminent South African Paleontologist Kenneth Page Oakley (b April 7, 1911 in Amersham, Buckinghamshire – d Robert Ardrey (b October 16, 1908, Chicago, Illinois —d January 14, 1980, South Africa) was an American Donald Carl Johanson (born June 28, 1943 in Chicago) is an American paleoanthropologist. In recent times, Mongolian paleontologist Rinchen Barsbold has done much to expand our understanding of dinosaur and bird evolution. Dr Rinchen Barsbold (Ринченгийн Барсболд, Rinchyengiin Barsbold) is a Mongolian paleontologist and geologist. Birds ( class Aves) are bipedal endothermic ( Warm-blooded) Vertebrate animals that lay eggs. Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago has made several important dinosaur finds in areas such as the Sahara, where fossil hunting has been uncommon. Paul Callistus Sereno (born October 11 1957) is an American paleontologist who is the discoverer of several new Dinosaur species on The University of Chicago is a Private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. The Sahara (الصحراء الكبرى aṣ-ṣaḥrā´ al-kubra, "The Great Desert" is the world's largest hot Desert and the world's second largest

See also

• paleorrota
• Timeline of paleontology
• Important publications in paleontology
• Synchrotron X-ray tomographic microscopy
• Fossils
• Prehistoric life
• Fossil Parks
• List of Fossil Parks
• Geology
• Dinosaurs
• Rockhounding
• Mary Anning
• Fossils and the geological timescale
• Fossil collecting
• List of transitional fossils
• List of notable fossils
• List of fossil sites (with link directory)
• Fossil fuels
• Lazarus taxon
• Elvis taxon
• Paleobiology
• History of paleontology
• Bioerosion
• Taphonomy
• Ichnology

References

External links

• Smithsonian's Paleobiology website: a good introduction
• University of California Museum of Paleontology FAQ About Paleontology
• The Paleontological Society
• The Palaeontological Association
• The Paleontology Portal
• International Palaeoentomological Society