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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]]'.

The primary economic importance of paleontology lies in the use of fossils to determine the age and nature of the rocks that contain them or the layers above or below. This information is vital to the [[mining]] industry and especially the [[petroleum]] industry. Simply looking at the fossils contained in a rock remains one of the fastest and most accurate means of telling how old that rock is.

The primary economic importance of paleontology lies in the use of fossils to determine the age and nature of the rocks that contain them or the layers above or below. This information is vital to the [[mining]] industry and especially the [[petroleum]] industry.  

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, [[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.  

==See also==

==See also==