Paleontology is a science that studies the features of the structure and vital functions of organisms that existed in the geological past, using preserved fossils, traces of vital activity and oryctocenoses.
Modern paleontology
It can also be described as a science that studies all manifestations of life available for research in past environmental periods at all levels of life (organism, population, biogeocenosis).
The object of study allows us to argue that paleontology is a biological science that is closely interconnected with geology, which widely uses the results of research and, at the same time, serves as an indispensable source of information about the living environment. It is this connection that determines the integrity of paleontology, which, in combination with other factors , tracks the evolution of the development of wildlife in the distant geological past.
Goal and tasks
As already mentioned, the science of paleontology studies the extinct organisms that lived in the geological past. That is, the purpose of the study involves the clarification of all aspects of their existence. This, in particular, structure (morphology) and systematics; distribution in space and in time; ways and patterns of evolution; lifestyle and habitat.
All tasks are interconnected. Thus, the study of morphological features is not an end in itself, but is closely related to the systematization of organisms. A strictly scientific system cannot be built without studying evolutionary aspects, and the historical development of groups of animals and plants cannot be traced without information on the sequential arrangement of their residues in layers and on the influence of environmental factors on organisms. Morphofunctional analysis gives an idea of the relationship of lifestyle with the morphology of creatures. Thus, the ultimate and most important task of paleontology is the knowledge of the evolution of the organic world in the historical development of the Earth.
Classification
Paleontology is the science of extinct organisms of various origins. This criterion formed the basis of the classification, and also determined the presence of several units:
- Paleozoology is studying the fossil remains of organisms of animal origin. It, in turn, is divided into two sections: the first examines ancient invertebrates, and the second - ancient vertebrates.
- Paleobotany is devoted to the study of fossil plants. It consists of many subsidiary sciences. This is paleoalgology (study of fossil algae), and paleopalynology (study of fossilized pollen residues and spores of ancient plants), etc.
- Paleomycology. The object of its study is the fossil fossils of mushrooms.
- Micropaleontology. This conditional name is used when it comes to the study of the remains of ancient microorganisms (benthic protozoa, ostracods, various zoo and phytoplankton, bacteria).
- Paleoecology studies the relationships of organisms that existed in the distant past, between themselves and with their environment on the scale of a population and ecosystem.
- Paleobiogeography considers the patterns of locations of ancient organisms in close connection with the evolution of climates, tectonics, etc.
- Biostratonomy and taphonomy are studying the patterns of distribution and burial of ancient remains.
The history of paleontology: the origins
The correct interpretation of knowledge about the nature of fossils is a merit of Chinese and European naturalists of the Renaissance. In the XVII century, two scientists (N. Steno, R. Hook) almost simultaneously, independently of each other, for the first time begin to talk about extinct species. And M.V. Lomonosov, after a hundred years, develops the views of his predecessors, suggesting that in evolutionary nature, constant evolutionary changes occurred in the process of its formation.
Scientists from other countries put forward the same ideas: the French J. Buffon and J. Sulawi, the British J. Getton.
The foundations of paleontology began to form when, at the beginning of the 19th century, W. Smith was able to justify the mechanism for determining the age of geological strata using fossils of invertebrates as an example and based on his assumptions made the first ever geological map.
Paleontology as a scientific discipline. History of becoming
Its foundation as a scientific discipline is the merit of J. Cuvier, who, after conducting a deep comparative anatomical analysis of the remains of the bones of ancient mammals, actually created vertebrate paleontology.
After several decades, the French botanist Adolf Broniard published his work "History of Fossil Plants." Thus, he laid the foundations of paleobotany.
Paleontology is a science that was previously called petromatognosia. The first mention of the current name dates back to the beginning of the 19th century. Science finally gained its name in the 1840s, when the Frenchman D. Orbigny began to use the term "paleontology" in his publications.
Communication with other sciences
Paleontology is a scientific discipline that is closely related to other biological sciences. This relationship is mainly due to the partial use of methods of related sciences: population genetics, developmental biology, cytology, biochemistry, biometrics and others.
Conducting modern paleontological studies is often accompanied by the use of the latest techniques based on the use of various kinds of radiation, chemical analysis, electron and scanning microscopy, etc. A close relationship and mutual enrichment with such disciplines as comparative anatomy, morphology and systematics of animals and plants is proved. The need for morphofunctional analysis and study of the morphogenesis of the skeletal structures of fossils determines the interpenetration of paleontology, physiology, embryology, biomechanics.
At the present stage, there is an expansion of the ties between paleontology and environmental sciences (biogeocenology, biogeography) due to the accumulation of a large amount of material that allows a comparative historical analysis of ancient organisms using the methods of actualism.