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97-628: The Hohlenstein cliffs are made of limestone which was hollowed out by natural causes to create caves. The Stadel (meaning "barn") is one of three caves in the area that are of important paleontological and archaeological significance. The other two are the Kleine Scheuer ("little barn") and the Bärenhöhle ("bears' cave"). In 2017 the site became part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Caves and Ice Age Art in

194-471: A jigsaw puzzle . Rocks normally form relatively horizontal layers, with each layer younger than the one underneath it. If a fossil is found between two layers whose ages are known, the fossil's age must lie between the two known ages. Because rock sequences are not continuous, but may be broken up by faults or periods of erosion , it is very difficult to match up rock beds that are not directly next to one another. However, fossils of species that survived for

291-602: A wild horse was found, of which five incisors have been preserved. Frequent and widespread occupation took place during the Upper Palaeolithic – between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago – the Aurignacian deposits offer the primary source of information, the Gravettian is not present. Organic objects, fireplaces and missile tips were found. In layer Aurignacian V two independent fireplaces were found, one in

388-552: A collision that formed the Moon about 40 million years later, may have cooled quickly enough to have oceans and an atmosphere about 4,440  million years ago . There is evidence on the Moon of a Late Heavy Bombardment by asteroids from 4,000 to 3,800 million years ago . If, as seems likely, such a bombardment struck Earth at the same time, the first atmosphere and oceans may have been stripped away. Paleontology traces

485-602: A common ancestor. Ideally the "family tree" has only two branches leading from each node ("junction"), but sometimes there is too little information to achieve this, and paleontologists have to make do with junctions that have several branches. The cladistic technique is sometimes fallible, as some features, such as wings or camera eyes , evolved more than once, convergently  – this must be taken into account in analyses. Evolutionary developmental biology , commonly abbreviated to "Evo Devo", also helps paleontologists to produce "family trees", and understand fossils. For example,

582-456: A constant rate. These " molecular clocks ", however, are fallible, and provide only a very approximate timing: for example, they are not sufficiently precise and reliable for estimating when the groups that feature in the Cambrian explosion first evolved, and estimates produced by different techniques may vary by a factor of two. Earth formed about 4,570  million years ago and, after

679-403: A data source that is not limited to animals with easily fossilised hard parts, and they reflect organisms' behaviours. Also many traces date from significantly earlier than the body fossils of animals that are thought to have been capable of making them. Whilst exact assignment of trace fossils to their makers is generally impossible, traces may for example provide the earliest physical evidence of

776-573: A fortunate accident during other research. For example, the 1980 discovery by Luis and Walter Alvarez of iridium , a mainly extraterrestrial metal, in the Cretaceous – Paleogene boundary layer made asteroid impact the most favored explanation for the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event – although debate continues about the contribution of volcanism. A complementary approach to developing scientific knowledge, experimental science ,

873-554: A geologist. On the last day of digging, on 25 August 1939, Völzing found a large number of broken pieces of ivory. They were little noted and went into storage at the Museum Ulm . It was not until 1969 that Joachim Hahn came across the more than 200 pieces and assembled them into a 31-cm-tall figurine of a humanoid with a lion's head. This is now known as the Löwenmensch . At 35,000 to 40,000 years old, it qualifies as one of

970-670: A large number of findings were discovered. These included (on 22 June 2006) the mammoth figurine described below. Due to the large number of discoveries, the excavations went on much longer than expected. Until 2012, each year digging continued for five to nine weeks. A total of around 90% of the waste heap has been examined. The findings include a total of 217,000 stone artefacts of various sizes. There are also 479 kg of bones (plus 235 kg of burned bones), mostly from hunted animals. Among 28 kg of mammoth ivory are 326 pierced pendants/pieces of jewelry. 1,713 tools made from bone, antlers or ivory and 64 broken pieces of ivory were found,

1067-821: A minor group until the first jawed fish appeared in the Late Ordovician . The spread of animals and plants from water to land required organisms to solve several problems, including protection against drying out and supporting themselves against gravity . The earliest evidence of land plants and land invertebrates date back to about 476  million years ago and 490  million years ago respectively. Those invertebrates, as indicated by their trace and body fossils, were shown to be arthropods known as euthycarcinoids . The lineage that produced land vertebrates evolved later but very rapidly between 370  million years ago and 360  million years ago ; recent discoveries have overturned earlier ideas about

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1164-426: A purpose in pre-historic beliefs, cults and shamanistic practices. Length: 4.8 cm (ca. 30,000 – 29,000 years old) "Exceptionally accurately shaped, perfect in form and remarkably expressive. Due to the curved neck, it is usually thought to represent a stallion with an aggressive or imposing bearing. Only the head is completely preserved. Due to the flaking of external ivory layers, the width has been reduced and

1261-555: A rapid increase in knowledge about the history of life on Earth and to progress in the definition of the geologic time scale , largely based on fossil evidence. Although she was rarely recognised by the scientific community, Mary Anning was a significant contributor to the field of palaeontology during this period; she uncovered multiple novel Mesozoic reptile fossils and deducted that what were then known as bezoar stones are in fact fossilised faeces . In 1822 Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville , editor of Journal de Physique , coined

1358-543: A relatively short time can be used to link up isolated rocks: this technique is called biostratigraphy . For instance, the conodont Eoplacognathus pseudoplanus has a short range in the Middle Ordovician period. If rocks of unknown age are found to have traces of E. pseudoplanus , they must have a mid-Ordovician age. Such index fossils must be distinctive, be globally distributed and have a short time range to be useful. However, misleading results are produced if

1455-608: A steady increase in brain size after about 3  million years ago . There is a long-running debate about whether modern humans are descendants of a single small population in Africa , which then migrated all over the world less than 200,000 years ago and replaced previous hominine species, or arose worldwide at the same time as a result of interbreeding . Life on earth has suffered occasional mass extinctions at least since 542  million years ago . Despite their disastrous effects, mass extinctions have sometimes accelerated

1552-595: Is composed only of eukaryotic cells, and the earliest evidence for it is the Francevillian Group Fossils from 2,100  million years ago , although specialisation of cells for different functions first appears between 1,430  million years ago (a possible fungus) and 1,200  million years ago (a probable red alga ). Sexual reproduction may be a prerequisite for specialisation of cells, as an asexual multicellular organism might be at risk of being taken over by rogue cells that retain

1649-510: Is documented. According to Riek's excavation report 1,729 stone artifacts and 82 organic artifacts were discovered. Among them were some pieces which were decorated by serrations. Of further interest are missile heads that are actually less frequent in this strata. However, one of these has a split base, four others have a solid base, and three are only fragmentary preserved as one of these fragments received lateral notches and X-marks. Stone artifacts were discovered in layer Magdalenian III. Among

1746-482: Is hard to decide at what level to place a new higher-level grouping, e.g. genus or family or order ; this is important since the Linnaean rules for naming groups are tied to their levels, and hence if a group is moved to a different level it must be renamed. Paleontologists generally use approaches based on cladistics , a technique for working out the evolutionary "family tree" of a set of organisms. It works by

1843-895: Is in fact a three-dimensional sculpture. It is decorated with approximately 30 finely incised crosses on its spine. Among the faunal fossils of the Aurignacian, sixteen mammalian and seven avian taxa are represented. Reindeer and horse represent the primary prey. Although nearly equal in number, mammoth was according to the excavation data not actively hunted, but collected from natural death sites. Large bovid, red deer, wild boar, bison and chamois are also documented, but seem to have been secondary game. Small numbers of birds such as goose, ptarmigan , black grouse, and capercaillie suggest only occasional exploitation. Moderate evidence of Middle Paleolithic presence of late Neanderthals suggests sporadic, non-frequent and seasonal occupation. Very few animal bones indicate regular intrusion of carnivores and bone dispersion by hyenas and wolves. In January 2016,

1940-581: Is located in the eastern Swabian Jura , south-western Germany. This limestone karst cave came to scientific and public attention after the 1931 discovery of the Upper Palaeolithic Vogelherd figurines , attributed to paleo-humans of the Aurignacian culture. These miniature sculptures made of mammoth ivory rank among the oldest uncontested works of art of mankind. Because of the cultural importance of these sculptures and

2037-443: Is often said to work by conducting experiments to disprove hypotheses about the workings and causes of natural phenomena. This approach cannot prove a hypothesis, since some later experiment may disprove it, but the accumulation of failures to disprove is often compelling evidence in favor. However, when confronted with totally unexpected phenomena, such as the first evidence for invisible radiation , experimental scientists often use

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2134-594: Is one that contained an extinct "crocodile-like" marine reptile, which eventually came to be known as the mosasaurid Mosasaurus of the Cretaceous period. The first half of the 19th century saw geological and paleontological activity become increasingly well organised with the growth of geologic societies and museums and an increasing number of professional geologists and fossil specialists. Interest increased for reasons that were not purely scientific, as geology and paleontology helped industrialists to find and exploit natural resources such as coal. This contributed to

2231-401: Is our only means of giving rocks greater than about 50 million years old an absolute age, and can be accurate to within 0.5% or better. Although radiometric dating requires very careful laboratory work, its basic principle is simple: the rates at which various radioactive elements decay are known, and so the ratio of the radioactive element to the element into which it decays shows how long ago

2328-456: Is the scientific study of life that existed prior to the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossils to classify organisms and study their interactions with each other and their environments (their paleoecology ). Paleontological observations have been documented as far back as the 5th century BC. The science became established in

2425-503: Is thought to have been propelled by coevolution with pollinating insects. Social insects appeared around the same time and, although they account for only small parts of the insect "family tree", now form over 50% of the total mass of all insects. Humans evolved from a lineage of upright-walking apes whose earliest fossils date from over 6  million years ago . Although early members of this lineage had chimp -sized brains, about 25% as big as modern humans', there are signs of

2522-547: The Archäopark Vogelherd that includes a museum and a visitor center. The cave is located on a hill 20 m (66 ft) above the river Lone with a 180 degree view over the valley. The Y-shaped cave occupies about 170 m (1,800 sq ft) and had an initial height of three to four meters. There are three entrance holes. Two large, 2.5 to 3.5 meter high entrance holes are connected by an approximately 40 m (130 ft) long curved gallery – called

2619-595: The Eemian (ca. 130,000 years ago) to the top strata of the Bronze Age , human fossil discoveries are rare and most are attributed to the late Neolithic (ca. 5,000 years ago). Layer Mousterian VII contained a hand axe shaped, broad fragment of yellow and white silex , a brown and grey silex tip which has been retouched on one side, a hollowed-out tip of grey-yellow silex; a total of three curved scrapers and two straight scrapers. Furthermore, an upper jaw fragment of

2716-582: The Middle Ages the Persian naturalist Ibn Sina , known as Avicenna in Europe, discussed fossils and proposed a theory of petrifying fluids on which Albert of Saxony elaborated in the 14th century. The Chinese naturalist Shen Kuo (1031–1095) proposed a theory of climate change based on the presence of petrified bamboo in regions that in his time were too dry for bamboo. In early modern Europe ,

2813-523: The Middle Paleolithic . More work followed in 1996 and 1997, when a dig led by Nicholas Conard , Michael Bolus and Andrew Kandel was conducted in the valley in front of the caves. Interior excavation was resumed in 2008 to 2013 by the Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Baden-Württemberg (state office for monument protection). This work, led by Thomas Beutelspacher and C.J. Kind managed to locate

2910-538: The Neogene - Quaternary . In deeper-level deposits in western Europe are early-aged mammals such as the palaeothere perissodactyl Palaeotherium and the anoplotheriid artiodactyl Anoplotherium , both of which were described earliest after the former two genera, which today are known to date to the Paleogene period. Cuvier figured out that even older than the two levels of deposits with extinct large mammals

3007-637: The Permian–Triassic extinction event . Amphibians Extinct Synapsids Mammals Extinct reptiles Lizards and snakes Extinct Archosaurs Crocodilians Extinct Dinosaurs Birds Naming groups of organisms in a way that is clear and widely agreed is important, as some disputes in paleontology have been based just on misunderstandings over names. Linnaean taxonomy is commonly used for classifying living organisms, but runs into difficulties when dealing with newly discovered organisms that are significantly different from known ones. For example: it

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3104-516: The Permian–Triassic extinction event . A relatively recent discipline, molecular phylogenetics , compares the DNA and RNA of modern organisms to re-construct the "family trees" of their evolutionary ancestors. It has also been used to estimate the dates of important evolutionary developments, although this approach is controversial because of doubts about the reliability of the " molecular clock ". Techniques from engineering have been used to analyse how

3201-454: The embryological development of some modern brachiopods suggests that brachiopods may be descendants of the halkieriids , which became extinct in the Cambrian period. Paleontology seeks to map out how living things have changed through time. A substantial hurdle to this aim is the difficulty of working out how old fossils are. Beds that preserve fossils typically lack the radioactive elements needed for radiometric dating . This technique

3298-526: The " jigsaw puzzles " of biostratigraphy (arrangement of rock layers from youngest to oldest). Classifying ancient organisms is also difficult, as many do not fit well into the Linnaean taxonomy classifying living organisms, and paleontologists more often use cladistics to draw up evolutionary "family trees". The final quarter of the 20th century saw the development of molecular phylogenetics , which investigates how closely organisms are related by measuring

3395-492: The "Big Cave". The second gallery, the "Small Cave", is of the same length but very narrow, the entrance being too small to be used. A passage between the two caves is except for a tiny gap at the top completely filled with debris and sediment deposits. On 23 May 1931 amateur archeologist Hermann Mohn unearthed a number of flintstone flakes while examining a badger's den. He informed the University of Tübingen . Excavations in

3492-463: The 18th century as a result of Georges Cuvier 's work on comparative anatomy , and developed rapidly in the 19th century. The term has been used since 1822 formed from Greek παλαιός ( 'palaios' , "old, ancient"), ὄν ( 'on' , ( gen. 'ontos' ), "being, creature"), and λόγος ( 'logos' , "speech, thought, study"). Paleontology lies on the border between biology and geology , but it differs from archaeology in that it excludes

3589-555: The Early Cambrian , along with several "weird wonders" that bear little obvious resemblance to any modern animals. There is a long-running debate about whether this Cambrian explosion was truly a very rapid period of evolutionary experimentation; alternative views are that modern-looking animals began evolving earlier but fossils of their precursors have not yet been found, or that the "weird wonders" are evolutionary "aunts" and "cousins" of modern groups. Vertebrates remained

3686-463: The Earth's organic and inorganic past". William Whewell (1794–1866) classified paleontology as one of the historical sciences, along with archaeology , geology, astronomy , cosmology , philology and history itself: paleontology aims to describe phenomena of the past and to reconstruct their causes. Hence it has three main elements: description of past phenomena; developing a general theory about

3783-693: The Lonetal (valley of the Lone ) and the Achtal (valley of the Ach), both in the southern Swabian Jura. The former includes the caves Hohlenstein-Stadel , Vogelherd and Bocksteinhöhle , the latter Geissenklösterle , Hohle Fels and Sirgenstein Cave . Each valley would contain a core area of around 3 to 4 km (1.9 to 2.5 mi) length, surrounded by a buffer zone of a least 100 m (330 ft) width. In

3880-618: The Swabian Jura . The first excavations at Hohlenstein were made in 1861 by Oskar Fraas , geologist and paleontologist, who was searching for cave bear bones at the Bärenhöhle and the Stadel. He returned in 1866, realizing the archeological importance of the site. In 1935, archaeologists returned to excavate the cave. An initial trial dig under Robert Wetzel was followed by further work in 1936. Between 1937 and 1939 further excavations were conducted directed by Wetzel and Otto Völzing ,

3977-412: The ability to reproduce. The earliest known animals are cnidarians from about 580  million years ago , but these are so modern-looking that they must be descendants of earlier animals. Early fossils of animals are rare because they had not developed mineralised , easily fossilized hard parts until about 548  million years ago . The earliest modern-looking bilaterian animals appear in

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4074-515: The appearance of moderately complex animals (comparable to earthworms ). Geochemical observations may help to deduce the global level of biological activity at a certain period, or the affinity of certain fossils. For example, geochemical features of rocks may reveal when life first arose on Earth, and may provide evidence of the presence of eukaryotic cells, the type from which all multicellular organisms are built. Analyses of carbon isotope ratios may help to explain major transitions such as

4171-402: The argument why these sites deserve recognition as a part of the universal human heritage, the area is described as the source of the currently oldest (non-stationary) works of human art in the form of carved animal and humanoid figurines as well as the oldest musical instruments. Their creators lived, were inspired, and worked in and around these caves. The caves also served as the repositories of

4268-625: The atmosphere increased their effectiveness as nurseries of evolution. While eukaryotes , cells with complex internal structures, may have been present earlier, their evolution speeded up when they acquired the ability to transform oxygen from a poison to a powerful source of metabolic energy. This innovation may have come from primitive eukaryotes capturing oxygen-powered bacteria as endosymbionts and transforming them into organelles called mitochondria . The earliest evidence of complex eukaryotes with organelles (such as mitochondria) dates from 1,850  million years ago . Multicellular life

4365-415: The bodies of ancient organisms might have worked, for example the running speed and bite strength of Tyrannosaurus , or the flight mechanics of Microraptor . It is relatively commonplace to study the internal details of fossils using X-ray microtomography . Paleontology, biology, archaeology, and paleoneurobiology combine to study endocranial casts (endocasts) of species related to humans to clarify

4462-401: The causes of various types of change; and applying those theories to specific facts. When trying to explain the past, paleontologists and other historical scientists often construct a set of one or more hypotheses about the causes and then look for a " smoking gun ", a piece of evidence that strongly accords with one hypothesis over any others. Sometimes researchers discover a "smoking gun" by

4559-628: The cave were undertaken in the same year by paleo-historian Gustav Riek from Tübingen over the course of three months from 15 July until 1 October 1931. Human occupation of the site was documented, as sediments from the Palaeolithic to the Bronze Age yielded tools and artefacts. The excavation also yielded several figurines of 5 to 10 cm length carved from mammoth ivory, found in an Aurignacian layer (see below). They featured ornamentation like dots, lines and x-shaped markings. These seem to be not an attempt to depict actual surface features of

4656-522: The cave's testimony to the development of Paleolithic art and culture, in 2017 the site became part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site called Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura . The site is located on the edge of the valley of the river Lone near Stetten ob Lontal, part of Niederstotzingen in the eastern Swabian Jura , Baden-Württemberg, southern Germany. It is not publicly accessible, but since 2013 has been embedded in

4753-763: The characteristics and evolution of humans as a species. When dealing with evidence about humans, archaeologists and paleontologists may work together – for example paleontologists might identify animal or plant fossils around an archaeological site , to discover the people who lived there, and what they ate; or they might analyze the climate at the time of habitation. In addition, paleontology often borrows techniques from other sciences, including biology, osteology , ecology, chemistry , physics and mathematics. For example, geochemical signatures from rocks may help to discover when life first arose on Earth, and analyses of carbon isotope ratios may help to identify climate changes and even to explain major transitions such as

4850-520: The chronological order in which rocks were formed, is useful to both paleontologists and geologists. Biogeography studies the spatial distribution of organisms, and is also linked to geology, which explains how Earth's geography has changed over time. Although paleontology became established around 1800, earlier thinkers had noticed aspects of the fossil record. The ancient Greek philosopher Xenophanes (570–480 BCE) concluded from fossil sea shells that some areas of land were once under water. During

4947-552: The creature in question, but may well be of a ritual or even religious character. Riek's excavation completely cleared out all the sediments from inside the cave. More excavations at the cave began in the summer of 2005, conducted by the Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte of the University of Tübingen. The target was the waste material of Riek's dig, heaped in front of the cave entrance. With more modern methods and technology,

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5044-445: The date when lineages first appeared. For instance, if fossils of B or C date to X million years ago and the calculated "family tree" says A was an ancestor of B and C, then A must have evolved more than X million years ago. It is also possible to estimate how long ago two living clades diverged – i.e. approximately how long ago their last common ancestor must have lived – by assuming that DNA mutations accumulate at

5141-594: The development of mammalian traits such as endothermy and hair. After the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66  million years ago killed off all the dinosaurs except the birds, mammals increased rapidly in size and diversity, and some took to the air and the sea. Fossil evidence indicates that flowering plants appeared and rapidly diversified in the Early Cretaceous between 130  million years ago and 90  million years ago . Their rapid rise to dominance of terrestrial ecosystems

5238-561: The development of the body plans of most animal phyla . The discovery of fossils of the Ediacaran biota and developments in paleobiology extended knowledge about the history of life back far before the Cambrian. Increasing awareness of Gregor Mendel 's pioneering work in genetics led first to the development of population genetics and then in the mid-20th century to the modern evolutionary synthesis , which explains evolution as

5335-482: The different levels of deposits represented different time periods in the early 19th century. The surface-level deposits in the Americas contained later mammals like the megatheriid ground sloth Megatherium and the mammutid proboscidean Mammut (later known informally as a "mastodon"), which were some of the earliest-named fossil mammal genera with official taxonomic authorities. They today are known to date to

5432-409: The end of the 20th century have been particularly important as they have provided new information about the earliest evolution of animals, early fish, dinosaurs and the evolution of birds. The last few decades of the 20th century saw a renewed interest in mass extinctions and their role in the evolution of life on Earth. There was also a renewed interest in the Cambrian explosion that apparently saw

5529-431: The evolution of life on earth. When dominance of an ecological niche passes from one group of organisms to another, this is rarely because the new dominant group outcompetes the old, but usually because an extinction event allows a new group, which may possess an advantageous trait, to outlive the old and move into its niche. Vogelherd The Vogelherd Cave (German: Vogelherdhöhle , or simply Vogelherd )

5626-410: The evolution of the human brain. Paleontology even contributes to astrobiology , the investigation of possible life on other planets , by developing models of how life may have arisen and by providing techniques for detecting evidence of life. As knowledge has increased, paleontology has developed specialised subdivisions. Vertebrate paleontology concentrates on fossils from the earliest fish to

5723-466: The evolutionary history of life back to over 3,000  million years ago , possibly as far as 3,800  million years ago . The oldest clear evidence of life on Earth dates to 3,000  million years ago , although there have been reports, often disputed, of fossil bacteria from 3,400  million years ago and of geochemical evidence for the presence of life 3,800  million years ago . Some scientists have proposed that life on Earth

5820-499: The exact spot in which the Lion-man had been discovered and to find numerous additional ivory splinters that were found to fit onto the figurine. Dating of bones found immediately next to them yielded an age of 35,000 to 41,000 years. In addition to the Lion-man figurine, pendants carved from mammoth ivory and perforated animal teeth dating from the Aurignacian have been uncovered at the cave. On August 27, 1937, excavators discovered

5917-555: The exceptional events that cause quick burial make it difficult to study the normal environments of the animals. The sparseness of the fossil record means that organisms are expected to exist long before and after they are found in the fossil record – this is known as the Signor–Lipps effect . Trace fossils consist mainly of tracks and burrows, but also include coprolites (fossil feces ) and marks left by feeding. Trace fossils are particularly significant because they represent

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6014-419: The federal government of Germany applied for the status of World Heritage Site for two valleys with six caves named Höhlen der ältesten Eiszeitkunst ("Caves with the oldest Ice Age art"). The site would encompass areas in the Lonetal (valley of the Lone ) and the Achtal (valley of the Ach) both in the southern Swabian Jura. The former includes the caves Hohlenstein-Stadel , Vogelherd and Bocksteinhöhle ,

6111-584: The femur is roughly 124,000 years old. In 2017, researchers successfully sequenced the full mtDNA genome from the femur. The results confirmed that the femur belonged to a Neanderthal . The mtDNA from the Hohlenstein-Stadel sample is highly divergent from those of other available Neanderthal samples. The addition of this mtDNA sample itself results in a near doubling of the genetic diversity of available Neanderthal mtDNA using Watterson's estimator theta ; this suggests that Neanderthal mtDNA diversity

6208-555: The figurines which may have been used in a religious context. In addition, they were the venue where performers used the excavated musical instruments and where the social groups lived from which the artists sprang. The committee awarded the status of WHS in July 2017. Paleontological Paleontology ( / ˌ p eɪ l i ɒ n ˈ t ɒ l ə dʒ i , ˌ p æ l i -, - ən -/ PAY -lee-on- TOL -ə-jee, PAL -ee-, -⁠ən- ), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology ,

6305-442: The finds are four blade knives, three blades, a gouge, and two lateral flakes and a fragment of a reindeer antler with several cut marks and cut faces. Layer Magdalenian II was rich in stone artifacts. These include eleven blades of varied quality and execution. Other finds include a reindeer's antler with a cut face and cut marks at the fork as well as an ivory palette with finely carved grooves. The Vogelherd figurines are some of

6402-515: The focus of paleontology shifted to understanding evolutionary paths, including human evolution , and evolutionary theory. The last half of the 19th century saw a tremendous expansion in paleontological activity, especially in North America. The trend continued in the 20th century with additional regions of the Earth being opened to systematic fossil collection. Fossils found in China near

6499-449: The following: At the end of the 18th century Georges Cuvier 's work established comparative anatomy as a scientific discipline and, by proving that some fossil animals resembled no living ones, demonstrated that animals could become extinct , leading to the emergence of paleontology. The expanding knowledge of the fossil record also played an increasing role in the development of geology, particularly stratigraphy . Cuvier proved that

6596-407: The form of carved animal and humanoid figurines as well as the oldest musical instruments. Their creators lived, were inspired and worked in and around these caves. The caves also served as the repositories of the figurines which may have been used in a religious context. In addition, they were the venue where performers used the excavated musical instruments and where the social groups lived from which

6693-580: The fossil record: different environments are more favorable to the preservation of different types of organism or parts of organisms. Further, only the parts of organisms that were already mineralised are usually preserved, such as the shells of molluscs. Since most animal species are soft-bodied, they decay before they can become fossilised. As a result, although there are 30-plus phyla of living animals, two-thirds have never been found as fossils. Occasionally, unusual environments may preserve soft tissues. These lagerstätten allow paleontologists to examine

6790-687: The history and driving forces behind their evolution. Land plants were so successful that their detritus caused an ecological crisis in the Late Devonian , until the evolution of fungi that could digest dead wood. During the Permian period, synapsids , including the ancestors of mammals , may have dominated land environments, but this ended with the Permian–Triassic extinction event 251  million years ago , which came very close to wiping out all complex life. The extinctions were apparently fairly sudden, at least among vertebrates. During

6887-533: The history of Earth's climate and the mechanisms that have changed it  – which have sometimes included evolutionary developments, for example the rapid expansion of land plants in the Devonian period removed more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, reducing the greenhouse effect and thus helping to cause an ice age in the Carboniferous period. Biostratigraphy , the use of fossils to work out

6984-542: The immediate ancestors of modern mammals . Invertebrate paleontology deals with fossils such as molluscs , arthropods , annelid worms and echinoderms . Paleobotany studies fossil plants , algae , and fungi. Palynology , the study of pollen and spores produced by land plants and protists , straddles paleontology and botany , as it deals with both living and fossil organisms. Micropaleontology deals with microscopic fossil organisms of all kinds. Instead of focusing on individual organisms, paleoecology examines

7081-434: The index fossils turn out to have longer fossil ranges than first thought. Stratigraphy and biostratigraphy can in general provide only relative dating ( A was before B ), which is often sufficient for studying evolution. However, this is difficult for some time periods, because of the problems involved in matching up rocks of the same age across different continents . Family-tree relationships may also help to narrow down

7178-538: The interactions between different ancient organisms, such as their food chains , and the two-way interactions with their environments.   For example, the development of oxygenic photosynthesis by bacteria caused the oxygenation of the atmosphere and hugely increased the productivity and diversity of ecosystems . Together, these led to the evolution of complex eukaryotic cells, from which all multicellular organisms are built. Paleoclimatology , although sometimes treated as part of paleoecology, focuses more on

7275-463: The internal anatomy of animals that in other sediments are represented only by shells, spines, claws, etc. – if they are preserved at all. However, even lagerstätten present an incomplete picture of life at the time. The majority of organisms living at the time are probably not represented because lagerstätten are restricted to a narrow range of environments, e.g. where soft-bodied organisms can be preserved very quickly by events such as mudslides; and

7372-456: The investigation of evolutionary "family trees" by techniques derived from biochemistry , began to make an impact, particularly when it was proposed that the human lineage had diverged from apes much more recently than was generally thought at the time. Although this early study compared proteins from apes and humans, most molecular phylogenetics research is now based on comparisons of RNA and DNA . Fossils of organisms' bodies are usually

7469-557: The later definitely part of some form of figurative art. An additional 112 fragments were likely part of figures. Various pieces of flutes (made from bird bones and ivory) were also found. Riek defined nine cultural horizons. The oldest scattered objects – stone artifacts – date back to the Middle Paleolithic – older than 40,000 years, representing traces and remains of occasional occupation by late Neanderthals . Although hundreds of tools and artifacts made of stone, bone, ivory and antler are documented in all sediment layers beginning in

7566-433: The latter Geissenklösterle , Hohle Fels and Sirgenstein Cave . Each valley would contain a core area of around 3 to 4 km (1.9 to 2.5 mi) length, surrounded by a buffer zone of a least 100 m (330 ft) width. In the argument why these sites deserve recognition as a part of the universal human heritage, the area is described as the source of the currently oldest (non-stationary) works of human art in

7663-429: The legs have broken off. There are engraved symbols, including cross marks and angular signs, on the back of the neck, as well as on the back and the left chest." Length: 3.7 cm (ca. 35,000 years old) The entirely intact woolly mammoth figurine displays skilfully detailed carvings. It is unique in its slim form, pointed tail, powerful legs and dynamically arched trunk. It is decorated with six short incisions, and

7760-409: The logic that, if groups B and C have more similarities to each other than either has to group A, then B and C are more closely related to each other than either is to A. Characters that are compared may be anatomical , such as the presence of a notochord , or molecular , by comparing sequences of DNA or proteins . The result of a successful analysis is a hierarchy of clades – groups that share

7857-428: The main hall, the other near the south-western entrance. A total of 910 stone tools were recorded, distributed mainly in the vicinity of these fireplaces, the most common items being scrapers and gouges. Numerous bone and ivory artifacts were discovered, among the most common objects of organic material are missile tips. Gustav Riek dubbed this layer "Upper Aurignacian". Large-scale occupation in several settlement phases

7954-409: The most informative type of evidence. The most common types are wood, bones, and shells. Fossilisation is a rare event, and most fossils are destroyed by erosion or metamorphism before they can be observed. Hence the fossil record is very incomplete, increasingly so further back in time. Despite this, it is often adequate to illustrate the broader patterns of life's history. There are also biases in

8051-525: The oldest pieces of figurative art ever discovered. Although the significance of figurines such as this is still unknown, they may have been effigies of a primitive religion. Further excavations followed in 1956 and 1957, and between 1959 and 1961. The stratigraphy includes layers from the Neolithic , Mesolithic , Upper Paleolithic , notably the Magdalenian and the Aurignacian periods and finally

8148-414: The outcome of events such as mutations and horizontal gene transfer , which provide genetic variation , with genetic drift and natural selection driving changes in this variation over time. Within the next few years the role and operation of DNA in genetic inheritance were discovered, leading to what is now known as the "Central Dogma" of molecular biology . In the 1960s molecular phylogenetics ,

8245-452: The principal types of evidence about ancient life, and geochemical evidence has helped to decipher the evolution of life before there were organisms large enough to leave body fossils. Estimating the dates of these remains is essential but difficult: sometimes adjacent rock layers allow radiometric dating , which provides absolute dates that are accurate to within 0.5%, but more often paleontologists have to rely on relative dating by solving

8342-432: The radioactive element was incorporated into the rock. Radioactive elements are common only in rocks with a volcanic origin, and so the only fossil-bearing rocks that can be dated radiometrically are a few volcanic ash layers. Consequently, paleontologists must usually rely on stratigraphy to date fossils. Stratigraphy is the science of deciphering the "layer-cake" that is the sedimentary record, and has been compared to

8439-439: The right femur diaphysis , measuring around 25 cm (10 in) in length, of an archaic hominin in the cave. The femur came from a layer associated with Middle Paleolithic Mousterian artefacts. This femur represents the only archaic hominin fossil found in a Mousterian context within the entire Swabian Jura region. Attempts to radiocarbon date the femur have yielded inconsistent results; however, molecular dating suggests that

8536-701: The same approach as historical scientists: construct a set of hypotheses about the causes and then look for a "smoking gun". Paleontology lies between biology and geology since it focuses on the record of past life, but its main source of evidence is fossils in rocks. For historical reasons, paleontology is part of the geology department at many universities: in the 19th and early 20th centuries, geology departments found fossil evidence important for dating rocks, while biology departments showed little interest. Paleontology also has some overlap with archaeology , which primarily works with objects made by humans and with human remains, while paleontologists are interested in

8633-478: The similarity of the DNA in their genomes . Molecular phylogenetics has also been used to estimate the dates when species diverged, but there is controversy about the reliability of the molecular clock on which such estimates depend. The simplest definition of "paleontology" is "the study of ancient life". The field seeks information about several aspects of past organisms: "their identity and origin, their environment and evolution, and what they can tell us about

8730-470: The slow recovery from this catastrophe a previously obscure group, archosaurs , became the most abundant and diverse terrestrial vertebrates. One archosaur group, the dinosaurs, were the dominant land vertebrates for the rest of the Mesozoic , and birds evolved from one group of dinosaurs. During this time mammals' ancestors survived only as small, mainly nocturnal insectivores , which may have accelerated

8827-399: The soles of the pachyderm's feet show a crosshatch pattern. In 2009, the figurine became the central exhibit of a large Landesausstellung . Length: 5.6 cm (ca. 40,000 years old) Found in 1931 with an incomplete head and thought to be a relief. The missing piece was found during the excavations between 2005 and 2012 and were successfully reattached, thus confirming that the figurine

8924-631: The study of anatomically modern humans . It now uses techniques drawn from a wide range of sciences, including biochemistry , mathematics , and engineering. Use of all these techniques has enabled paleontologists to discover much of the evolutionary history of life , almost back to when Earth became capable of supporting life, nearly 4 billion years ago. As knowledge has increased, paleontology has developed specialised sub-divisions, some of which focus on different types of fossil organisms while others study ecology and environmental history, such as ancient climates . Body fossils and trace fossils are

9021-629: The systematic study of fossils emerged as an integral part of the changes in natural philosophy that occurred during the Age of Reason . In the Italian Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci made various significant contributions to the field as well as depicted numerous fossils. Leonardo's contributions are central to the history of paleontology because he established a line of continuity between the two main branches of paleontology – ichnology and body fossil paleontology. He identified

9118-406: The word "palaeontology" to refer to the study of ancient living organisms through fossils. As knowledge of life's history continued to improve, it became increasingly obvious that there had been some kind of successive order to the development of life. This encouraged early evolutionary theories on the transmutation of species . After Charles Darwin published Origin of Species in 1859, much of

9215-399: The world's oldest-known works of figurative art, artefacts "made from the ivory of woolly mammoths" and "finely carved and exquisitely detailed." The 1931 excavation yielded 11 figurines, found in the Aurignacian layers. Interpretations of the carvings have been made in the context of these animals' great importance for paleo-human survival and related hunting rituals and they may have served

9312-454: Was "seeded" from elsewhere , but most research concentrates on various explanations of how life could have arisen independently on Earth. For about 2,000 million years microbial mats , multi-layered colonies of different bacteria, were the dominant life on Earth. The evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis enabled them to play the major role in the oxygenation of the atmosphere from about 2,400  million years ago . This change in

9409-407: Was higher than previously presumed. Researchers estimate that the Hohlenstein-Stadel mtDNA diverged from other Neanderthal lineages around 270,000 years ago. In January 2016, the federal government of Germany applied for the status of World Heritage Site for two valleys with six caves named Höhlen der ältesten Eiszeitkunst ("caves with the oldest Ice Age art"). The site would encompass areas in

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