
Paleontology (palaeontology is the British spelling) is the study of the developing history of life on earth, of ancient plants and animals based on the fossil record, evidence of their existence preserved in Rock (geology)s. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks, burrows, cast off parts, fossilized feces ("coprolites"), and chemical residues. ==Overview== Modern paleontology sets ancient life in its contexts, by studying how long-term physical changes of global geography ("Palaeogeography") and climate ("paleoclimate") have affected the evolution of life, how ecosystems have responded to these changes and have changed the planetary environment in turn, and how these mutual responses have affected today's patterns of biodiversity. So paleontology overlaps with geology, the study of rocks and rock formations, and with botany, biology, zoology, and ecology, fields concerned with living creatures and how they interact. Palynology is the study of pollen, whether modern or geological. The major subdivisions of paleontology include paleozoology (animals), paleobotany (plants), and micropaleontology (microfossils). Paleozoologists may specialize in invertebrate paleontology, which deals with animals without backbones, or in vertebrate paleontology, dealing with fossils of animals with backbones, including fossil hominids (paleoanthropology). Micropaleontologists study microscopic fossils, including organic-walled microfossils whose study is called palynology. There are many developing specialties such as paleoecology, paleobotany, ichnology (the study of tracks and burrows) and taphonomy, the study of what happens to organisms after they expire. Major areas of study include the correlation of rock strata with their geologic ages and the study of evolution of lifeforms. Paleontology utilizes the same classic binomial nomenclature scheme devised for the biology of living things by the mid 18th century Sweden 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". 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 industries and especially the petroleum industry. 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 man and were sometimes identified correctly as the remains of ancient lifeforms. The organized study of paleontology dates from the late 18th century. ==Notable paleontologists== Paleontologists are among the more colorful and eccentric figures in the history of science. Important figures include the Englishman William Smith (geologist) who first noted that similar fossil sequences were found regionally and Georges Cuvier who initiated the study of ancient animals based on living animals. Notable United Statesn figures include Edward Drinker Cope, Othniel Marsh, Paul Sereno, Henry Fairfield Osborn, Louis Agassiz, Charles Walcott, and Roy Chapman Andrews. Notable European paleontologists include the Swedish-speaking Finn Björn Kurtén, Czech paleoentomologist Jarmila Kukalova-Peck. Franz Nopcsa von Felsö-Szilvás is often credited for being the founder of palaeobiology, a field of inquiry dealing with the biological and ecological functions that can be deduced from fossils. 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. Thomas Jefferson took a keen interest in mammoth bones. Besides looking at mammal teeth and digging up penguins, 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; his book "Tempo and Mode" is a classic in the field. Prominent names in invertebrate paleontology include Steven Stanley, Stephen Jay Gould, David Raup, Geerat Vermeij, and Jack Sepkoski who have done much to expand our understanding of long-term patterns in the evolution of life on earth. The same is the case with Croatian scientist Dragutin Gorjanovic-Kramberger and his discovery of the "Krapina Man". Other paleontologists include Yves Coppens. More modern figures in paleontology include John Ostrom, Bob Bakker and Jack Horner (paleontologist). ==Research== The work done in paleontology can be divided into field work, fossil preparation and laboratory processing, identification of taxa and other data collection, systematic description of new species, and collections management. ==See also== * Timeline of geography, paleontology, biology * List_of_publications_in_biology#Paleontology ==External links== *[http://nmnhwww.si.edu/paleo/ Smithsonian's Paleobiology website: a good introduction] *[http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/FAQ/faq.html University of California Museum of Paleontology FAQ About Paleontology] *[http://www.krapina.com/neandertals/index_en.htm Krapina Man] Earth sciences Geology Paleontology Zoology Academic disciplines fa:دیرینشناسی nds:Paläontologie
I reorganized this page a bit, and realized there were two paragraphs talking about the major subdivisions of the field. Of course, they are completely different. Are both accurate characterizations? If they are both reasonable but lie along different dimensions, it would be nice if they text explained that. Thanks. My work can always use editing (and spell checking). I didn't intend to present alternate characterizations of the field, and would never have read what I wrote that way although now that it's been pointed out ... Let me think some on it. == Subfields == "The work done in paleontology can be divided into field work, collections management, fossil preparation and systematic description of new species." :Are these the actual names of each subfield, or do they have more "official-sounding" names? :-) Can we start writing articles about each? I'm interested in the details of how fossils are prepared and how the shape, diet, morphology etc. of a creature is determined from its remains, especially minimal remains. - User:Omegatron 17:15, Jan 2, 2005 (UTC) ::I've just added to these and so far they are rather arbitary. 'Work done' varies according to what kind of fossil(s) you are studying, why and how. There's no standard, although field-work, lab work (preparing / processing samples), analysis and data collection, writing up / publication, conservation / management, would be a fair framework. User:NickW 12:16, 27 May 2005 (UTC) ==Thomas Jefferson== He should not be called a paleontologist like in this article. Someone who just takes an intrest in Paleontology should be refered to as a Paleoenthusiast, not an actual Paleontologist.
Paleontology (palaeontology is the British spelling) is the study of the developing history of life on earth, of ancient plants and animals based on the fossil record, evidence of their existence preserved in Rock (geology)s. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks, burrows, cast off parts, fossilized feces ("coprolites"), and chemical residues. Geology Biology
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Words begining with Paleontology:
Paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology (palaeontology is the British spelling) is the study of the developing history of life on earth, of ancient plants and animals based on the fossil record, evidence of their existence preserved in Rock (geology)s. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks, burrows, cast off parts, fossilized feces ("coprolites"), and chemical residues. ==Overview== Modern paleontology sets ancient life in its contexts, by studying how long-term physical changes of global geography ("Palaeogeography") and climate ("paleoclimate") have affected the evolution of life, how ecosystems have responded to these changes and have changed the planetary environment in turn, and how these mutual responses have affected today's patterns of biodiversity. So paleontology overlaps with geology, the study of rocks and rock formations, and with botany, biology, zoology, and ecology, fields concerned with living creatures and how they interact. Palynology is the study of pollen, whether modern or geological. The major subdivisions of paleontology include paleozoology (animals), paleobotany (plants), and micropaleontology (microfossils). Paleozoologists may specialize in invertebrate paleontology, which deals with animals without backbones, or in vertebrate paleontology, dealing with fossils of animals with backbones, including fossil hominids (paleoanthropology). Micropaleontologists study microscopic fossils, including organic-walled microfossils whose study is called palynology. There are many developing specialties such as paleoecology, paleobotany, ichnology (the study of tracks and burrows) and taphonomy, the study of what happens to organisms after they expire. Major areas of study include the correlation of rock strata with their geologic ages and the study of evolution of lifeforms. Paleontology utilizes the same classic binomial nomenclature scheme devised for the biology of living things by the mid 18th century Sweden 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". 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 industries and especially the petroleum industry. 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 man and were sometimes identified correctly as the remains of ancient lifeforms. The organized study of paleontology dates from the late 18th century. ==Notable paleontologists== Paleontologists are among the more colorful and eccentric figures in the history of science. Important figures include the Englishman William Smith (geologist) who first noted that similar fossil sequences were found regionally and Georges Cuvier who initiated the study of ancient animals based on living animals. Notable United Statesn figures include Edward Drinker Cope, Othniel Marsh, Paul Sereno, Henry Fairfield Osborn, Louis Agassiz, Charles Walcott, and Roy Chapman Andrews. Notable European paleontologists include the Swedish-speaking Finn Björn Kurtén, Czech paleoentomologist Jarmila Kukalova-Peck. Franz Nopcsa von Felsö-Szilvás is often credited for being the founder of palaeobiology, a field of inquiry dealing with the biological and ecological functions that can be deduced from fossils. 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. Thomas Jefferson took a keen interest in mammoth bones. Besides looking at mammal teeth and digging up penguins, 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; his book "Tempo and Mode" is a classic in the field. Prominent names in invertebrate paleontology include Steven Stanley, Stephen Jay Gould, David Raup, Geerat Vermeij, and Jack Sepkoski who have done much to expand our understanding of long-term patterns in the evolution of life on earth. The same is the case with Croatian scientist Dragutin Gorjanovic-Kramberger and his discovery of the "Krapina Man". Other paleontologists include Yves Coppens. More modern figures in paleontology include John Ostrom, Bob Bakker and Jack Horner (paleontologist). ==Research== The work done in paleontology can be divided into field work, fossil preparation and laboratory processing, identification of taxa and other data collection, systematic description of new species, and collections management. ==See also== * Timeline of geography, paleontology, biology * List_of_publications_in_biology#Paleontology ==External links== *[http://nmnhwww.si.edu/paleo/ Smithsonian's Paleobiology website: a good introduction] *[http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/FAQ/faq.html University of California Museum of Paleontology FAQ About Paleontology] *[http://www.krapina.com/neandertals/index_en.htm Krapina Man] Earth sciences Geology Paleontology Zoology Academic disciplines fa:دیرینشناسی nds:Paläontologie
Paleontology
I reorganized this page a bit, and realized there were two paragraphs talking about the major subdivisions of the field. Of course, they are completely different. Are both accurate characterizations? If they are both reasonable but lie along different dimensions, it would be nice if they text explained that. Thanks. My work can always use editing (and spell checking). I didn't intend to present alternate characterizations of the field, and would never have read what I wrote that way although now that it's been pointed out ... Let me think some on it. == Subfields == "The work done in paleontology can be divided into field work, collections management, fossil preparation and systematic description of new species." :Are these the actual names of each subfield, or do they have more "official-sounding" names? :-) Can we start writing articles about each? I'm interested in the details of how fossils are prepared and how the shape, diet, morphology etc. of a creature is determined from its remains, especially minimal remains. - User:Omegatron 17:15, Jan 2, 2005 (UTC) ::I've just added to these and so far they are rather arbitary. 'Work done' varies according to what kind of fossil(s) you are studying, why and how. There's no standard, although field-work, lab work (preparing / processing samples), analysis and data collection, writing up / publication, conservation / management, would be a fair framework. User:NickW 12:16, 27 May 2005 (UTC) ==Thomas Jefferson== He should not be called a paleontologist like in this article. Someone who just takes an intrest in Paleontology should be refered to as a Paleoenthusiast, not an actual Paleontologist.
Paleontology
Paleontology (palaeontology is the British spelling) is the study of the developing history of life on earth, of ancient plants and animals based on the fossil record, evidence of their existence preserved in Rock (geology)s. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks, burrows, cast off parts, fossilized feces ("coprolites"), and chemical residues. Geology Biology
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
P
PA | PB | PC | PD | PE | PF | PG | PH | PI | PJ | PK | PL | PM | PN | PO | PR | PS | PT | PU | PW | PX | PY | PZ |Words begining with Paleontology:
Paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology
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