Palaeontology

A guide to Web and Library reference sources on General palaeontology, Australian palaeontology, Evolution and taxonomy, Protists and invertebrates, Vertebrates, Plants and palaeoecology

General palaeontological sources

Web gateways have full lists of research sources, fossil collections, societies, images:

• Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley.
• Paleobiology Database
• BiologyBrowser: palaeontology, Biosis
• History of life, 4th ed, Richard Cowen, University of California, Davis - Web pages to accompany and update the textbook.
• intute: Paleontology

Databases: journal articles can be found through database searches.

Geological databases such as Georef, Geobase and biological databases such as Biological abstracts and Zoological record index journal articles and other materials in palaeontology, as do some specialised palaeontological bibliographies and databases.

Encyclopaedias and handbooks are useful for background information, definitions and selected references to further reading:

• Encyclopedia of paleontology. Ed. R. Singer. 2 vols. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1999. Reference collection 560.3 S617e
• Palaeobiology II. Ed. D.E.G. Briggs. Blackwell Science, 2001. Main collection 560.3 B854p 2001
• The Encyclopedia of paleontology. Ed. by R.W. Fairbridge, D. Jablonski. Academic Press, 1979. Encyclopedia of earth sciences. Reference collection 550.3 E56 7
• Fossils of the world : a comprehensive, practical guide to collecting and studying fossils. V. Turek, J. Marek, J. Benes. Hamlyn, 1988. Main collection 560.12 T934f
• Collins photo guide to fossils. H. Mayr. HarperCollins, 1992. Main collection 560 M474f
• Palaeontology handbook. University of Otago, 1971. Reference collection 560.2 O87p

Directories:

• Directory of Paleontologists of the World, International Palaeontological Association
• Directory of fossil collections of the world, International Palaeontological Association
• World palaeontological collections. R.J. Cleevely. Mansell, 1983. Reference collection 560.74 C624w
  - an index to the historical fossil collections of individuals.

Descriptions of Australian fossils, sites, collections:

• Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh/Naracoorte), UNESCO World Heritage Sites
• Australian Heritage Database, Australian Heritage Council, can be searched for heritage fossil sites
• Naracoorte Caves National Park, ParksWeb, S.A. Department for Environment and Heritage
• Oz fossils, ABC
• Australian Museum online: palaeontology
• Australia's lost kingdoms, Australian Museum exhibition
• South Australian Museum: Fossil Gallery
• Ediacara Hills fossils, UCMP
• Museum Victoria: Prehistoric life
• Western Australian Museum: Natural Science
• Stromatolites from the Pilbara region of WA, Geological Survey of WA.
• Directory of Australasian palaeontologists 1995 with subsequent updates, Macquarie University Centre for Ecostratigraphy and Palaeobiology.

• Vertebrate palaeontology of Australasia. 1991. Main collection 566.099 V637v
• Ediacara, in Evolution of fossil ecosystems, p. 10-18. P.A. Selden, J. Nudds. Manson Publishing, 2004. Main collection 560.74 S4642e
• An annotated bibliography of the palaeontology of Western Australia 1814-1974. 1975. Main collection 560.909941 Q6a
• Catalogue of type, figured and cited specimens in the Commonwealth Palaeontological Collection. D.L. Strusz. Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics, 1990-. Report / Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics, 298, 305, 307; Record / Australian Geological Survey Organisation, 1994/32, 1994/35, 1996/49. Main Collection 553.06 A93r 298 etc

• Evolutionary thought, University of California, Berkeley - brief biographies of contributors to the history of evolutionary thought.
• Species2000 - an index of known species.
• All Species Foundation - search engine
• Tree of life web project - evolutionary history and characteristics of all groups of organisms.
• NCBI taxonomy home page
  - links to print sources and Web sites on all groups of organisms.
• Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, Adelaide
• Paleo DNA Laboratory, Lakehead University - links to ancient DNA research

• Five Kingdoms: an illustrated guide to the phyla of life on earth. 3rd ed. L. Margulis. W.H. Freeman, 1998. Reference collection 574.012 M331f
  - descriptive summaries of each phylum; an index of genera assigned to phyla and a glossary.
• Synopsis and classification of living organisms. S.P. Parker. McGraw-Hill, 1982. Reference collection 574.012 S993
• Grzimek's encyclopedia of evolution. Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1972. Main collection 575.003 G895

• MIRACLE: microfossil image recovery and circulation for learning and education, University College London
  graphics based introduction to calcareous nannofossils, conodonts, diatoms, foraminifera, ostracods, palynology, radiolaria
• Florida Museum of Natural History. Invertebrate Paleontology
  - type collection database and links to fossil sites
• UCMP Microfossil collection: catalogs and information
  - searchable Type collection databases.
• International Bryozoology Association
  - activities, newsletter, a bibliography, links to web sites on Bryozoa.
• New Zealand Bryozoan Biodiversity Database - Bryozoan species found in New Zealand waters.
• Trilobites
  - extensive set of fact sheets and links.
• Biostrat gallery, University of Western Australia
  - illustrated online catalogues of Foraminifera from Western Australia.

• Catalogue of the fossil flies of the world (Insecta: Diptera). N.L. Evenhuis. Leiden : Backhuys, 1994.
  Main collection 565.77 E93c. Updated online in: Catalogue of the fossil flies of the world (Insecta: Diptera).
• Catalogue of Ostracoda, American Museum of Natural History. Main collection 565 E47
• Bibliography and index of micropaleontology. 1972-1995. Reference collection 560.5 B582
• Katalog der fossilen Dinoflagellaten, Hystrichospharen und verwandten Mikrofossilien. 1964-. 6 vols. Main collection 563.1 E36
• Glossary of scientific names (chiefly of fossil invertebrates). 1949. Main collection 562 N8
• Bibliography and index of fossil dinoflagellates and acritarchs. 1964. Main collection 550.6 G17me 94
• Foraminiferal genera and their classification. 1988. Main collection 593.12 L825f
• Atlas of Paleocene planktonic foraminifera. Ed. R.K. Olsson. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1999. Smithsonian contributions to paleobiology ; 85. Main Collection 560.5 S664 85
• Catalogue of index smaller foraminifera. 1968. 3 vols. Main collection 563.1 C357
• Catalogue of index foraminifera. 1965-67. Main collection 563.1 E46c
• Index and bibliography of nonmarine ostracoda. 1980. 4 vols. Reference collection 550.6 C7
• Catalogue of calcareous nannofossils. A. Farinacci. Tecnoscienza, 1969-1989. 13 vols. Main collection 563 F225

• Mammal species of the world, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
  - contains systematic and common names, original publication details, type species and locality, distribution.
• Florida Museum of Natural History Vertebrate Paleontology type collection database.
• Yale Peabody Museum Vertebrate Paleontology type collection catalog
• Bibliography of fossil vertebrates, 1509-1993, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
• Dinosaur databases:
  Dino directory, Natural History Museum, London
  Dann's dinosaur reconstructions - extensive descriptions of Australian dinosaurs
  Dinosaur trace fossils, A.J. Martin, Emory University
  Encyclopedia of dinosaurs. Academic Press, 1997. Reference collection 567.903 C976e
  - contains long articles with references; a list of dinosaur genera; a chronology of dinosaur work; a glossary.

Plants and Palaeoecology

• Links for Palaeobotanists Institute of Mineralogy, University of Würzburg
• American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists
• Canadian Association of Palynologists

• Plant Fossil Record database, International Organisation of Palaeobotany
  - type specimens of more than 10,000 plant fossil genera and records of fossil occurrences.
• Index nominum genericorum (plantarum), International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT), Smithsonian Institution and University of Utrecht.
  - aims to be a complete list of generic names of extant and fossil plants with bibliographic citations and nomenclature status.
• International plant names index
  - contains names and bibliographic details of seed plants. Data are derived from Index Kewensis (IK), the Gray Card Index (GCI, Gray Herbarium, Harvard) and Australian Plant Names Index (APNI).
• Fossil and Surface Pollen Data, WDC for Paleoclimatology.
• Fossil and modern pollen data
• Paleobotanical collection, University of Alberta
  - collection database with images
• Glossary of pollen and spore terminology, Peter Hoen, Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Netherlands
  - definitions, links to related terms and source references.
• Review and atlas of palaeovegetation: preliminary land ecosystem maps of the world since the Last Glacial Maximum, Quaternary Environments Network.
• The Rhynie Chert and its Flora, Palaeobotanical Research Group, University of Münster

• Bibliographie palynologie. 1974-1984/5. Main collection 582.0405 B582
• Pollen et spores. Bibliographie. Supplement. 1959-73. Main collection 581.405 P773
• Bibliography and index to palaeobotany and palynology. 1950-1970. 1974. 2 vols. Main collection 561.016 B582
• Catalogue of the Cenozoic plants of North America through 1950. Main collection 550.6 G17me 51