A brief

HISTORY OF PALEONTOLOGY
GEOL 3213

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
Devils doings
Some correct interpretations of fossils and strata
Leonardo Da Vinci

1750-1850: EARLY SCIENTIFIC PERIOD

Linne's classification (revolutionized biology in mid-1700's)
Followed Aristotles 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 (dOrbigny & 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

1850-1900: MIDDLE SCIENTIFIC PERIOD

Darwin's theory of evolution (early 1850's + 1858 & 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

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

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.

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

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

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)

END OF FILE