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==Notable paleontologists==

==Notable paleontologists==

[[Image: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, [[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]] and [[Jack Sepkoski]], who have done much to expand our understanding of long-term patterns in the [[evolution]] of life on earth. Large names in the field of [[paleoanthropology]] include [[Louis Leakey|Louis]], [[Mary Leakey|Mary]] and [[Richard Leakey]], [[Raymond Dart]], [[Robert Broom]], [[Charles Kimberlin Brain|C.K. 'Bob' Brain]], [[Kenneth Oakley]], [[Robert Ardrey]] and [[Donald Johanson]]. In recent times, [[Mongols|Mongolian]] paleontologist [[Rinchen Barsbold]] has done much to expand our understanding of [[dinosaur]] and [[bird]] evolution.

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, [[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]] and [[Jack Sepkoski]], who have done much to expand our understanding of long-term patterns in the [[evolution]] of life on earth. Large names in the field of [[paleoanthropology]] include [[Louis Leakey|Louis]], [[Mary Leakey|Mary]] and [[Richard Leakey]], [[Raymond Dart]], [[Robert Broom]], [[Charles Kimberlin Brain|C.K. 'Bob' Brain]], [[Kenneth Oakley]], [[Robert Ardrey]] and [[Donald Johanson]]. In recent times, [[Mongols|Mongolian]] paleontologist [[Rinchen Barsbold]] has done much to expand our understanding of [[dinosaur]] and [[bird]] evolution.