← Basic Sciences Division

Paleontology & Evolutionary Biology Center

Combines fossil-record and comparative-anatomy data with phylogenetic modeling and extinction-dynamics simulation to reconstruct evolutionary history and past biodiversity.

Mathematics Center Physics Center Chemistry Center Biology Center Atmospheric Sciences Center Stratigraphy & Sedimentology Center Structural Geology & Tectonics Center Petrology & Mineralogy Center Geochemistry Center Paleontology & Evolutionary Biology Center Remote Sensing & Earth Observation Center Hydrogeology & Soil Science Center Physical Oceanography Center Marine Geology & Geophysics Center Chemical Oceanography Center Marine Biology & Ecology Center

Research Fields 13

Vertebrate Paleontology

🦴 Vertebrate Paleontology

Vertebrate paleontology is the study of the fossil record of animals with backbones, fishe…

Invertebrate Paleontology

🐚 Invertebrate Paleontology

Invertebrate paleontology is the study of animals without backbones in the fossil record, …

Micropaleontology

🔬 Micropaleontology

Micropaleontology is the study of fossils so small that a microscope is the basic instrume…

Paleobotany

🌿 Paleobotany

Paleobotany is the study of plants in the fossil record, from Precambrian algal mats and s…

Dinosaur Paleontology

🦖 Dinosaur Paleontology

Dinosaur paleontology is the specialized branch of vertebrate paleontology devoted to the …

Mass Extinction Studies & Paleobiological Statistics

💀 Mass Extinction Studies & Paleobiological Statistics

Mass extinction studies is the quantitative analysis of the fossil record's catastrophic d…

Human Paleontology & Paleoanthropology

🧑‍🔬 Human Paleontology & Paleoanthropology

Paleoanthropology is the study of the human lineage's fossil record and its context, from …

Taphonomy

⚱️ Taphonomy

Taphonomy, from the Greek for burial, is the study of everything that happens to an organi…

Comparative Embryology

🥚 Comparative Embryology

Comparative embryology is the study of how organisms develop from egg to adult, with the a…

Evolutionary Systematics & Cladistics

🌳 Evolutionary Systematics & Cladistics

Cladistics, or phylogenetic systematics, is the method of reconstructing the tree of life …

Population Genetics & the Modern Synthesis

🧬 Population Genetics & the Modern Synthesis

Population genetics is the mathematical study of how gene frequencies change in population…

Biostratigraphy

📏 Biostratigraphy

Biostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy that orders and correlates sedimentary rocks…

Mammalian Paleontology

🦣 Mammalian Paleontology

Mammalian paleontology is the study of the fossil record of mammals and their extinct rela…