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This WikiProject, WikiProject Palaeontology, aims to organise an effort to expand and improve Wikipedia's coverage of palaeontology-related articles. The guidelines below are intended to help editors focus and give an idea of what is needed by the project and how to attain it.

We aim to improve articles about palaeontologists and their work, extinct species, and areas that overlap with geology, life science, botany etc. There are also more specific projects on dinosaurs, mammals and extinction - WikiProject Palaeontology provides a central portal for co-ordinated work across these areas, and topics not broad enough to have a dedicated WikiProject.

Family tree of related WikiProjects
WikiProject Palaeontology is a descendant of WikiProject Tree of Life, and WikiProject Geology, with extensive overlap with both biology and geology articles.
WikiProject Science.
WikiProject Biology
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WikiProject Geology
WikiProject Palaeontology
WikiProject Dinosaurs

Hot articles
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24 edits Synechodus
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9 edits Bison latifrons
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7 edits 2024 in paleomammalogy
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6 edits Hell Creek Formation
These are the articles that have been edited the most within the last three days. Last updated 4 February 2024 by HotArticlesBot.

Article alerts and statistics[edit]

Did you know

Articles for deletion

Redirects for discussion

Good article nominees

Good article reassessments

Peer reviews

Articles to be merged

Articles to be split

Articles for creation

Participating[edit]

If you wish to participate in this project, please list your name to Participants. Feel free to include your area and degree of expertise, and what you feel you may bring to this project.

You are also welcome to help out with any of the tasks listed below that take your fancy!

Tasks[edit]

Please see Wikipedia:WikiProject Palaeontology/Tasks for the ongoing tasks of the project.

Cladogram requests[edit]

Articles needing attention[edit]

These articles have been flagged by users as needing general attention or attention from experts. Please try and resolve the issue(s) quickly and remove the tag when done so.

Articles needed or needing improvements[edit]

Articles in urgent need of improvement are listed here. Please remove entries after making improvements.

Topics requiring improvement[edit]

List maintenance[edit]

This includes adding newly described taxa, and creation of articles for genera (and redirects for synonyms).

See Wikipedia:WikiProject Palaeontology/Lists for all the taxonomic lists

Vandal fighting[edit]

As with all other projects, we have a problem with vandalism of articles (see vandalism and clean up for further information). Here is a quick guide for vandal fighters of this project:

  1. Revert edits.
  2. Leave a message on the user's talk page. See template messages and warning category for which templates to use.
  3. Report persistant vandals to administrator intervention against vandalism.

Review[edit]

Articles for review[edit]

The following articles are being considered for upgrade (FA, GA, DYK, etc.) and could benefit from general peer review by project members:

Article expansion[edit]

If you fancy expanding getting an article off the starting blocks, here's where you can find all our "stub" articles:

Click on "►" below to display subcategories:
Paleontology stubs

Paleoart review[edit]

If you want to submit paleoart images for accuracy review, place them here as well as links to what you used as references: Wikipedia:WikiProject Palaeontology/Paleoart review There you can also request new images for articles. If you want to participate as reviewer, you can put the page on your watchlist. When removing an incorrect image from an article, please put it up here for review so it can be fixed, otherwise the image might not be used again.

Which articles should be created[edit]

Editors sometimes wonder whether it is necessary to create a separate article for every species in a genus. In the case of monospecific genera, the general WP:TOL guideline is to create a single article at the genus level. For example, an article exists at Saadanius and a redirect at Saadanius hijazensis. Exceptions exist when the genus name needs WP:disambiguation.

It has been agreed that species should generally be redirected to a genus page, similar to WP:DINO guidelines, as there is usually much less info available for prehistoric than extant species to create substantial articles. If there eventually is enough text about each species, they may have a separate section in the genus article; see Cimoliopterus for an example. If a single species is well-known enough and eventually generates enough content to make the genus article too WP:too long, a separate species article can be created; other species in said genus should only be split from the main article when their texts grows too long as well (as is for example the case with many mammoth species).

In the case of genera that contain multiple species, a degree of common sense is necessary. Wikipedia:MERGE lists three reasons that it may be appropriate to combine the species into a single page:

  • There may be a substantial overlap in the content of the articles (for instance, if the species are found in the same locality and are morphologically and biologically very similar);
  • There may be very little text that can be written about individual species (if a species is very similar to others in its genus and only differs in minor featutres, an article may simply read "Orthoconus grandi is a species of Orthoconus whose shell is greater than 2 mm in height").
  • It may be necessary to have context from a broader article in order for readers to understand the species' context. For instance, the phylogenetic context of Halkieria requires lengthy explanation, so in this instance it is appropriate to have multiple genera in a single article.

Dubious genera warrant separate articles and should not be redirected. Dubious species and species that have been incorrectly placed in a specific genus should be redirected to the closest higher level taxon it can be assigned to. Articles should not be created for any specimens or taxa that have not been assigned a valid scientific name.

Palaeontology biographies[edit]

Wikipedia welcomes articles on notable paleontologists. However, please review Wikipedia's notability requirements for scholars before creating articles on palaeontologists or other scientists. In short, the subject must have made major contributions to their field, as recognized by other reliable sources, and/or have received significant coverage. Simply publishing articles or naming species may not be sufficient to establish notability, and there may not be enough material to write a satisfying, complete biographical article. The fact that a scientist's name has been linked on Wikipedia, or mentioned briefly in a book, may not be sufficient to establish notability. Writing about any living person requires special sensitivity, see: Biographies of living persons. You can find more tips and guidelines at WikiProject Biography

Also see the paleontologists taskforce for efforts to improve Wikipedia's coverage of paleontologists.

Conflict of Interest[edit]

For any academic editor(s) who wish to reference their own work in articles or their own biography, we have set-up a system that allows other wiki-editors to make the edits for you, see Wikipedia:WikiProject Palaeontology/COI. This is to ensure there are no conflicts of interest, either real or in appearance.

Recognized content[edit]

Featured topics[edit]

Quality content[edit]

Palaeontology articles by quality and importance
Quality Importance
Top High Mid Low NA Other Total
FA 3 18 28 71 120
FL 1 1
FM 7 7
GA 4 25 38 169 236
B 16 60 91 357 5 529
C 11 72 249 1,342 7 1,681
Start 76 413 4,714 1 17 5,221
Stub 13 179 13,677 26 13,895
List 3 17 42 718 2 1 783
Category 1 1 5,201 5,203
Disambig 1 21 22
File 50 50
Portal 693 693
Project 1 60 61
Redirect 4 26 607 655 1,292
Template 1 443 444
Other 7 7
Assessed 37 285 1,068 21,659 7,140 56 30,245
Unassessed 1 1
Total 37 285 1,068 21,659 7,140 57 30,246
WikiWork factors (?) ω = 118,258 Ω = 5.45


Did you Knows...[edit]

  1. South Polar dinosaurs - 13 November 2004
  2. Astrohippus - 29 January 2009
  3. Akanthosuchus - 14 February 2009
  4. Haasiophis - 15 February 2009
  5. Miragaia - 6 March 2009
  6. Australodelphis - 7 March 2009
  7. Phyllodontosuchus - 9 March 2009
  8. Dibothrosuchus - 12 March 2009
  9. Tianyulong - 26 March 2009
  10. Hurdia - 28 March 2009
  11. Gallardosaurus - 10 July 2009
  12. Hupehsuchia - 9 August 2009
  13. Raranimus - 30 September 2009
  14. Vancleavea - 8 December 2009
  15. Batropetes - 10 January 2010
  16. Eonessa - 6 February 2010
  17. Scaphohippus - 12 February 2010
  18. Yongjiacaris - 14 February 2010
  19. Triatoma dominicana - 21 February 2010 (double nomination with T. antiquus)
  20. Trypanosoma antiquus - 21 February 2010 (double nomination with T. dominicana)
  21. Nanoraphidia - 23 February 2010
  22. Raphidia funerata- 24 February 2010
  23. Electrinocellia - 25 February 2010
  24. Ororaphidia - 26 February 2010 (double nomination with Styporaphidia)
  25. Styporaphidia - 26 February 2010 (double nomination with Ororaphidia)
  26. Fibla carpenteri - 27 February 2010
  27. Archiinocellia - 27 February 2010
  28. Kourerpeton - 28 February 2010
  29. Proraphidia - 1 March 2010
  30. Oligochlora - 4 March 2010
  31. Neocorynura electra - 6 March 2010
  32. Eickwortapis - 6 March 2010
  33. Microberotha - 7 March 2010
  34. Sanajeh - 9 March 2010
  35. Fedexia - 20 March 2010
  36. Tambachia - 17 April 2010
  37. Rhynchonkos - 26 April 2010
  38. Uatchitodon - 29 April 2010
  39. Redondasuchus - 10 July 2010
  40. Tsylmosuchus - 14 July 2010
  41. Shartegosuchidae - 29 July 2010
  42. Eunotosaurus - 14 August 2010
  43. Plesiobalaenoptera - 15 August 2010
  44. Liushusaurus - 15 August 2010
  45. Pakasuchus - 16 August 2010
  46. Menarana - 17 August 2010
  47. Sunosuchus - 30 August 2010
  48. Duerosuchus - 15 September 2010
  49. Koilamasuchus - 26 September 2010
  50. Inkayacu - 9 October 2010
  51. Susisuchus - 15 October 2010
  52. Simosuchus - 14 December 2010
  53. Sebecus - 30 December 2010
  54. Lydekkerina - 18 January 2011
  55. Diadectidae - 14 February 2011
  56. Belemnotheutis - 16 February 2011
  57. Glanosuchus - 30 March 2011
  58. Tiarajudens - 30 March 2011
  59. Teraterpeton - 20 May 2011
  60. Palaeochiropteryx - 24 May 2011
  61. Eurypterus - 29 May 2011
  62. Arenysuchus - 21 June 2011
  63. Asterotrygon - 15 July 2011
  64. Snowmastodon site - 19 July 2011
  65. Prehistoric Lepidoptera - 31 July 2011
  66. Palaeontinidae - 3 August 2011
  67. Tortrix? destructus - 6 August 2011
  68. Tortrix? florissantana - 6 August 2011
  69. Trimerorhachis - 12 August 2011
  70. Smok - 21 August 2011
  71. Ovoo - 28 August 2011
  72. Saniwa - 30 August 2011
  73. Coal ball - 31 August 2011
  74. Acallosuchus - 13 September 2011
  75. Laccognathus embryi - 21 September 2011
  76. Myanmymar - 6 October 2011
  77. Araucaria mirabilis - 2 December 2011
  78. Poposaurus - 29 December 2011
  79. Nanictidopidae - 13 January 2012
  80. Cycadeoidea - 22 January 2012
  81. Waptia - 25 January 2012
  82. Tempskya - 29 January 2012
  83. Aegisuchus - 13 February 2012
  84. Cylindroteuthis - 22 February 2012
  85. Blattoidealestes - 25 February 2012
  86. Stratiotosuchus - 5 March 2012
  87. Encrinus - 28 March 2012
  88. Tinirau - 5 April 2012
  89. Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni - 16 May 2012
  90. Bellubrunnus - 13 July 2012
  91. Ocepeia- 14 March 2014

Templates[edit]

Taxobox[edit]

Dakosaurus
Temporal range: Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous
D. maximus skull, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Sauropsida
Subclass:
Diapsida
Infraclass:
Archosauromorpha
(unranked):
Mesoeucrocodylia
Suborder:
Thalattosuchia
Family:
Metriorhynchidae
Genus:
Dakosaurus

Quenstedt, 1856
Species
  • D. maximus (Plieninger, 1846) Quenstedt, 1856 (type)
  • D. andiniensis Vignaud & Gasparini, 1996
  • D. nicaeensis Ambayrac, 1913
Synonyms
  • Dacosaurus Sauvage, 1873

Here is an example of a taxobox: 

((Taxobox
| name = 
|fossil_range = 
| image = 
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption =
| regnum = [[]]
| phylum = [[]]
| classis = [[]]
| subclassis = [[]]
| infraclassis = [[]]
| ordo = [[]]
| familia = [[]]
| genus = 
| genus_authority = [[]], [[]]
|subdivision_ranks = Species
|subdivision =
* '' '' <small> [[]], [[]]</small> ([[type species|type]])
* '' ''<small> [[]], [[]]</small>
|synonyms =
* '' ''<small> [[]], [[]]</small>
))

The full taxobox guide is located at Wikipedia:WikiProject Tree of Life/taxobox usage.

Detailed taxonomic information, including notes on how taxa are defined and how they vary between different systems, belongs in the article proper. Where possible, however, a standard table will be provided to allow easier navigation between related groups and quick identification of what sort of organisms are being discussed. These are called taxoboxes. A typical taxobox is shown at right (it belongs on the top right of the page Dakosaurus). For extinct plants see Hymenaea protera.

There are three main sections to the taxobox:

  • A header showing the name of the group, sometimes followed by a representative image.
  • A table showing the placement of the group in a typical classification system.
  • A footer, whose content varies, showing the binomial name or a species, or a list of subgroups for higher taxa.

For fossil species, there is to be no status field. The only extinct species this should be used for are recently extinct ones (e.g. Yangtze river dolphin):

  • | status = EX

Position: The taxobox generally belongs at the top right corner of the article, unless it has been decided otherwise on the relevant talk page - for instance, if the article is not primarily about the biological group. Images of fossils or casts are generally preferred over hypothetical life restorations in the taxobox, unless no appropriate ones are available.

Project banner[edit]

Template Result Usage
((WikiProject Palaeontology)) or ((WP Palaeontology))
WikiProject iconPalaeontology NA‑class
WikiProject iconThis article is within the scope of WikiProject Palaeontology, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of palaeontology-related topics and create a standardized, informative, comprehensive and easy-to-use resource on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PalaeontologyWikipedia:WikiProject PalaeontologyTemplate:WikiProject PalaeontologyPalaeontology articles
NAThis article has been rated as NA-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale.
 Tagging appropriately Palaeontological related article talk pages
((Portal|Palaeontology)) Tagging appropriately Palaeontological related article main pages

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Userboxes[edit]

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This user is interested in
Palaeontology
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Request picture[edit]

Timeline templates[edit]

Categories[edit]

Click on "►" below to display subcategories:
Paleontology

Resources[edit]

Peer-reviewed sources of information[edit]

Here are some links to websites that host peer-reviewed publications that will be of interest to all users of the WikiProject. Note that some do any free access to some recent articles, but you most likely will need a log-on to get full access. Subscription access:

CC licensed publications[edit]

All images and text published in these journals are free to use on Wikipedia when authors are attributed, unless otherwise noted

The following journals may have CC licensed publications (verify for each article)

Free access publications[edit]

Journals that have some Palaeontological content[edit]

For anyone with an academic log-in (e.g. Athens) then:

are fantastic resources for citation searches.

Social network sites for sharing peer reviewed articles[edit]

Database[edit]

The following museum databases may contain freely licenced images of palaeontological specimens:

Categories