1. A brief HISTORY OF PALEONTOLOGY
GEOL 3213

2. PRE-1750: PRE-SCIENTIFIC PERIOD
Aristotle a few hundred years B.C.
Founder of the science of biology
Originated the “type” concept
Believed in the immutability of species
Made a crude hierarchical classification of organisms
Wrote about genera and species
Noahan flood (for some people) accounted for fossils
& extinctions
Dark Ages: 5th century to about 14th century
Scientific explanations of the natural world considered unacceptable because of church opposition and political power
"Magical interpretations"
"Plastic forces“
“Devil’s doings”
Some correct interpretations of fossils and strata
Leonardo Da Vinci

3. 1750-1850: EARLY SCIENTIFIC PERIOD
Linne's classification (revolutionized biology in mid-1700's)
Followed Aristotle’s type concept, improved on his hierarchical classification scheme, & used genus & species
Fossils became recognized correctly more often than before
Practical concepts & applications being discovered by pioneers
Principles (Hutton) & 1st geol textbook (Lyell)
Correlation & age dating (Wm. Smith & others)
Paleoenvironmental interpretations (d’Orbigny & others)
Geologic time scale (Sedgwick, Murchison, etc.)
Earth history (= Historical geology developed, many workers)
Debates & controversies
Evolution versus Catastrophism & Special Creation
Cuvier vs. Lamarck
Beginnings of paleobotany, vertebrate paleontology, invertebrate paleontology, micropaleontology, paleoecology
Descriptive phase dominant

4. 1850-1900: MIDDLE SCIENTIFIC PERIOD
Darwin's theory of evolution (early 1850's & 1859) shook biology by its roots. Concept of natural selection caused a scientific revolution. Not enough fossils known to support him.
More fossils became better known
Vertebrate
Invertebrate
Microfossils (dating aquifers from well cuttings, Vienna, 1877)
Plants
1st paleontology textbook
Evolution was becoming better documented with fossils
Descriptive phase continued to dominate work
Generalizations or principles were being developed

5. 1900 to Mid 20th Century Genetic theory developed in biology
From the turn of the century
Mendel's laws (1865) rediscovered
Biological interest in fossils increased
Evolutionary histories of invertebrate fossils documented
Evolutionary concepts evaluated more with vertebrate fossils
Practical applications of paleontology to resource exploration
Micropaleontology matured early in century with Foraminifera
Udden (1911), Augustina College, Illinois, correlated aquifers with microfossils
Udden, Texas Bur. Econ. Geol., used microfossils to find Petroleum
Many other workers followed his lead worldwide
Faunal descriptions and documenting new species still dominant

6. Mid-1900's to 2003: MODERN PERIOD
New & more sophisticated practical applications of paleontology
Much more emphasis on principles of paleontology (many new textbooks)
Greater biological interest in fossils (Paleobiology)
Ichnology expanded and developed as a subdiscipline
Paleoecology matured as a subdiscipline
Greater evolutionary interest in fossils (punctuated equilibrium theory of Elldredge & Gould, cladistic analysis of Hennig)
Literary explosion
Micropaleontology diversified (ostracodes, diatoms, pollen, dinoflagellates, coccoliths, dinoflagellates, etc., not just forams )
Popular paleontology boomed
Hobyists = collectors, amateurs
Media sensationalism
Vertebrate emphasis, especially dinosaurs
Asteroid impacts and extraterrestrial causes of extinctions
Declining # of professional paleontologists - inspite of popularity.

7. Epilogue: CONTEMPORARY PALEONTOLOGY
1) Emphasizes less memorization (Really!)
2) More general biology, soft anatomy, & ecology emphasized
3) Is more hypothesis, problem solving, & principles oriented
4) Developing more interdisciplinary & quantitative studies
5) Taxonomy still considered fundamental
Documents diversity and evolution of life, etc...
Represents
Evolving concepts of evolutionary pathways
Reflects & guides philosophical approaches to classification
Value of any fossil (in any application)
Directly proportional to the quality of identification, location, age, etc.
Poorly identified fossils result in inaccurate or erroneous applications, conclusions…
6) Well located fossils (geography & stratigraphy) important to
Age-dating & correlations
Paleoecology & paleoenvironmental studies
Evolutionary studies
Other practical applications

8. CONTEMPORARY PALEONTOLOGY
7) Three main, interrelated fronts:
Paleobiology & evolution
Paleoenvironments (strata) & paleoecology (organisms)
Biostratigraphy (age of fossils & enclosing strata)
8) Interdisciplinary (more in some subdisciplines)
Vertebrate paleontology is more zoological (in Bio Depts)
Paleobotany is more botanical (in Bot or Bio Depts)
Invertebrate paleontology is more geological (in Geo Depts)
Micropaleontology is more geological (in Geo Depts)
Invertebrate and Micropaleontology are more applied, need more geological information, & stress the biology less.
Biology & botany stress nonmarine organisms
But most fossils are found in marine sedimentary rocks, so that there is a strong oceanographic orientation

9. CONTEMPORARY PALEONTOLOGY
Examples of multidisciplinary studies
Geochemical studies of isotopes & trace elements in skeletons, especially calcareous Foraminifera
Sophistocated mathematical analysis of fossil data
Multivariate statistics
Cluster and factor analyses
Numerical taxonomy replaced by cladistic analysis
Skeletal mineralogy and microstructures
Functional morphological studies
Paleobiogeography and plate tectonics
Paleoclimatological studies
Sedimentary basin analysis
Facies & paleoenvironments
Correlation & age determination
Thermal maturation studies in HC exploration (conodonts)

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