Paleontology is the study of ancient life that includes evolution of the organisms and their interactions with each other. There are many different subdivisions in paleontology: micropaleontology, palynology, invertebrate paleontology, paleobotany, vertebrate paleontology, taphonomy, human paleontology, ichnology, and paleoecology. Paleontology provides information about the origin, environment, evolution of an organism, and their relationship with the earth’s organic and inorganic past.
General Interest
- The Paleontology Portal: A great resource for understanding paleontology in North America.
- Understanding Evolution: This education website provides valuable information on the history of evolutionary biology.
- Evolution Controversy: Talkorigin is a dedicated website for the debate and discussions of physical and biological origins of living organisms.
- Paleonet: An excellent online collection with paleontological information and features.
Museums
- Royal Tyrrell Museum: The Royal Tyrrell Museum is an internationally recognized scientific and public museum that is devoted to the science of paleontology.
- The Field Museum: This museum features a life over time exhibition and the latest information about Sue the T-Rex.
- Museum of Natural History: This museum provides information on humanities and natural world through teaching, research, and education.
- Florida Museum of Natural History: This website lists many collections of bird fossils and invertebrate paleontology.
- The Hunterian Museum: The Hunterian Museum contains large collections of art, coins and medals, archeology of world cultures, medicine and anatomy, fossils and dinosaurs, rocks and minerals, and zoology.
- Cincinnati Museum Center: This center provides information on vertebrate and invertebrate paleontology research and features a large collection of invertebrate fossils.
- Canadian Museum of Nature: The Canadian Museum of Nature provides information on research, collections, and exhibits of natural life.
Departments
- Invertebrate Paleontology: This department focuses on study and research materials and also links to Mark Wilson’s research and field photographs.
- Paleontology at KU: Paleontology program at The University of Kansas include specimen based invertebrate paleontology, paleoecology, and taphonomy.
- Harvard University: The Invertebrate Paleontology Department at Harvard University includes research collections, publications, and links.
- Department of Earth Science: The University of California, Santa Barbara's earth science department has done research on various areas of paleontology including Proterozoic and Cambrian Paleontology.
- Department of Paleobiology: The National Museum of Natural History, part of the Smithsonian Institute, has collections on dinosaurs, geologic time, and much more.
Organizations:
Journals
Databases
- The Paleobiology Database: This public resource is organized and maintained by a group of paleobiological scientists. The database provides taxonomical and collection based information on plants and animals.
- Janus Database: The Janus Database provides information on marine geosciences.
- UCMP Data Model: This data model standardizes and normalizes the information collected from several museums into one system.
- National Geophysical Data Center: This is an atlas that is based on Levitus and Climap data.
- Bibliography of Fossil Vertebrates: BFV is an indexed database that provides a collection of vertebrate paleontology literature.
- Large Marine Ecosystems: This site provides maps along with information on fisheries, productivity, and governance of coastal areas.
Special Interests
Sources of Evidence
Classification
- Biological Classification: A good resource to understand the biological classification of organisms.
- What is Cladistics?: A simple guide to understand the basics of cladistics.
- PhyloCode: A good resource for understanding the PhyloCode and its rules.
- Classification and Phylogeny: A good resource to help people understand the hierarchical system, taxonomic ranks, genus, bionomical nomenclature, and species.
- Taxonomy and Nomenclature: This page provides a breakdown of how organic lifeforms are classified.
- Taxonomy: A simple and complete resource to understand everything about taxonomical classification.
Other Resources
- Hadrosaurus: This site provides information on the first found nearly-complete skeleton of a dinosaur.
- Boxgrove: Boxgrove is a research team that showcases many Paleolithic works.
- Links for Palaeobotanists: A good collection of links and information for palaeobotanists.
- Mazon Creek Fossil: An excellent resource with information on Mazon Creek fossils and their importance.
- Fossils of Kentucky: This page provides information and facts on the fossils of Kentucky.