Changes

==Overview==

==Overview==

Modern paleontology sets [[Prehistoric life|ancient life]] in its contexts by studying how physical changes of global geography [[Palaeogeography|paleogeography]] and climate [[paleoclimate]] have affected life on the planet, 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]]. Hence, paleontology overlaps with [[geology]] (the study of rocks and rock formations) as well as with [[botany]], [[biology]], [[zoology]] and [[ecology]] – fields concerned with [[Organism|life forms]] and how they interact.  

Modern paleontology sets [[Prehistoric life|ancient life]] in its contexts by studying how physical changes of global geography [[Palaeogeography|paleogeography]] and climate [[paleoclimate]] have affected life on the planet, 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]]. Hence, paleontology overlaps with [[geology]] (the study of rocks and rock formations) as well as with [[botany]], [[biology]], [[zoology]] and [[ecology]] – fields concerned with [[Organism|life forms]] and how they interact.  Paleontological data provide much of the evidence for the modern [[Theory of Evolution]].  

The major subdivisions of paleontology include [[paleozoology]] (animals), [[paleobotany]] (plants) and [[micropaleontology]] (microfossils). Paleozoologists may specialise in [[invertebrate paleontology]], which deals with animals without backbones or in

The major subdivisions of paleontology include [[paleozoology]] (animals), [[paleobotany]] (plants) and [[micropaleontology]] (microfossils). Paleozoologists may specialise in [[invertebrate paleontology]], which deals with animals without backbones or in

Paleontology utilizes the same classic [[binomial nomenclature]] scheme, devised for the biology of living things by the mid-[[18th century]] [[Swedish people|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]]'.

Paleontology utilizes the same classic [[binomial nomenclature]] scheme, devised for the biology of living things by the mid-[[18th century]] [[Swedish people|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]]'.

Fossils were known by primitive humans and were sometimes identified correctly as the remains of ancient lifeforms. The organized study of paleontology dates from the late 18th century.

Fossils were known by primitive humans and were sometimes identified correctly as the remains of ancient lifeforms. The organized study of paleontology dates from the late 18th century.

==Notable paleontologists==

==Notable paleontologists==

[[Image:427px-Paleontologist_chipping.jpg|thumb|250px|right|A paleontologist carefully chips rock from a column of dinosaur vertebrae.]]

[[Image:427px-Paleontologist_chipping.jpg|thumb|250px|right|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. [[Mary Anning]] was a notable early paleontologist. She found several landmark fossils, in her home town of [[Lyme Regis]].  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. [[Thomas Jefferson]] took a keen interest in mammoth bones. [[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. Besides looking at mammal teeth and unearthing [[penguin]] skeletons.  

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. [[Mary Anning]] was a notable early paleontologist. She found several landmark fossils, in her home town of [[Lyme Regis]].  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. [[Thomas Jefferson]] took a keen interest in mammoth bones. [[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. Besides looking at mammal teeth and unearthing [[penguin]] skeletons.

 

In the 20th century, paleontologists such as [[George Gaylord Simpson]], [[Norman Newell]], [[Stephen Jay Gould]], and [[J. John Sepkoski, Jr.]] developed sophisticated mathematical techniques to analyze the fossil record of evolution and extinction.  

==See also==

==See also==