Palaeontology Gallery

Palaeontology is the scientific study of prehistoric life

Lascaux II cave painting replica C013 / 7378
Lascaux II replica of a Lascaux cave painting. These are deer and auroch figures in the Great Hall of the Bulls. The original Lascaux cave was closed to the public in 1963

Geological Strata 19C
A schematic representation of geology and palaeontology

Fossil tooth of megalodon or megatooth shark Oceanopolis Brest Brittany France

CAN-2452
Fossil Bird Archaeopteryx Cast - Original specimen in Berlin-Germany - Known as "the first bird" with both dinosaurian

Fossil ammonite- Desmoceras spp. -Upper Early Cretaceous - Albian Stage - Mahajanga Province - Madagascar - Under UV light

PM-9858
Archaeopteryx, fossil bird, Jurassic

Stages in human evolution
Human evolution. Illustration showing stages in the evolution of humans. At left, proconsul (23-15 million years ago) is depicted hypothetically as an African ape with both primitive

FL-3018
Lascaux cave painting Period: Paleolithic, c.18, 000 years ago, Vezere Valley, Dordogne, France JFL00048

Laetoli fossil footprints. Artwork showing the Laetoli footprints that were preserved in volcanic ash deposits around 3.5 million years ago. They were discovered in 1976 in Laetoli, Tanzania

Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs mating. Artwork of male (right) and female (left) Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs mating. Some theories say that this dinosaur had feathers and fur, as seen here

Archaeopteryx fossil, Berlin specimen C016 / 5071
Archaeopteryx fossil, Berlin specimen. Cast of the Archaeopteryx specimen held at the Berlin Natural History Museum. This cast shows the spread-out wings and long, clawed fingers

Trail of Laetoli footprints
Trail of hominid footprints fossilized in volcanic ash. This 70 metre trail was found by Mary Leakeys expedition at Laetoli, Tanzania in 1978

1814 Mary Anning first ichthyosaur skull
Temnodontosaurus platydon. First scientific illustration of Mary Annings (and the world s) first ichthyosaur skull (actually found by her brother Joseph in 1811)

CAN-2449
Coelacanth Fossil - Germany - Upper Jurassic - Coelacanths thought to be extinct since Cretaceous period until Latimeria Chalumnae found in 1938 off coast of South Africa

Mammoth. Artists impression of a herd of mammoths (Mammuthus sp.). The mammoth was a large mammal adapted to the cold conditions of the Pleistocene Ice Age of some 2 million years ago

Brachiosaurus dinosaurs at water, computer artwork. Brachiosaurus was the tallest dinosaur, standing up to 16 metres tall. It could weigh up to 70 tons

Megalodon shark and great white
Megalodon shark (Carcharodon megalodon), computer artwork. A great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) is shown below it at the same scale

1838 Mantells Geological Strata Section
An idealised geological section drawn by Gideon Mantell to accompany his book " Wonders of Geology" 1838. It shows the nomenclature in use during the early part of the nineteenth century

Megalodon prehistoric shark, artwork, hunting a school of fish. Megalodon, Carcharocles (Carcharodon) megalodon, lived between around 20 and 1.2 million years ago, and is known only from fossils

1836 Buckland geology cross-section
Detail from a large folding hand coloured copperplate engraving in William Bucklands contribution to the Bridgewater Treatises " Geology

Prehistoric spear-thrower. Artwork of how a spear-thrower (or atlatl) is used to throw a feathered dart. At top and centre, the dart is loaded. At bottom, it is being thrown

Spinosaurus dinosaur, artwork. Spinosaurus were enormous meat-eating dinosaurs that lived during the late Cretaceous period (99 to 65 million years ago)

1800 Thomas Jefferson Portrait
Thomas Jefferson, polymath, American Founding Father and President (b. 13 April 1743 - d. 4 July 1826). Engraving by W.Holl in " The Gallery of Portraits" 1837 with later colouring

Australopithecus afarensis, artwork
Australopithecus afarensis. Artwork of a female Australopithecus afarensis hominid with her child. This hominid lived between 3.9 and 2.9 million years ago

KEL-1499
Crinoid Fossil - "Sea Lilies" Triassic period 240 m.y.a. Northern Germany

Fossil Ammonite - Cleoniceras sp. - Cretaceous - Madagascar
Fossil Ammonite - Cleoniceras sp. - Upper Early Cretaceous - Albian stage - Mahajanga province - Madagascar - cross-section

Trilobite fossil. Fossil of a trilobite (Aristoharpes sp.) from the Devonian period (around 370 million years ago), showing the species characteristic, spade-like shape

Female Australopithecus africanus, artists impression. A. Africanus was a bipedal hominid that lived between 3.5 and 2 million years ago

Mosasaurus marine reptile
Mosasaurus. Artwork of a Mosasaurus marine lizard swimming underwater. This large carnivorous lizard was around 9 metres in length

Leptictidium. Artists impression of the extinct mammal Leptictidium. Fossil evidence of their skeleton revealed that Leptictids had small front legs

Aspidonia, historical artwork, 1899
Aspidonia organisms. Historical artwork of Aspidonia organisms, a now invalid name for a grouping of the classes Merostomata and Trilobita

Brachiosaurus dinosaur, artwork. Brachiosaurus was the tallest dinosaur, standing up to 16 metres tall. It could weigh up to 70 tons

Scimitar cat attacking a hominid, artists impression. The scimitar cat (Homotherium sp.) was a member of the sabre-toothed cat family (Machairodontinae) which lived throughout Africa

Artwork of the stages in human evolution
Human evolution. Illustration showing stages in the evolution of humans. At left, proconsul (23-15 million years ago) is depicted hypothetically as an African ape with both primitive

Cave painting of a mammoth, artwork
Cave painting of a mammoth. Artwork of a prehistoric cave drawing from the cave of Font-de Gaume, in the Dordogne region of France. It shows a mammoth (Elephas primigenius)

Iguanodon and Megalosaurus, artwork
Iguanodon fighting Megalosaurus, 19th century artwork. Artwork from the 1886 ninth edition of Moses and Geology (Samuel Kinns, London). This book was originally published in 1882

Footprints and skeleton of Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis). The fossilised bones of the A. afarensis specimen known as Lucy are superimposed over footprints made by the same species. A

Sahelanthropus tchadensis skull. Artwork of a reconstruction of the Toumai skull, one of only a small number of fossils of the hominin Sahelanthropus tchadensis

Gideon Mantell and iguanodon
Gideon Mantell (3 February 1790 - 10 November 1852). Gideon Mantell was a local doctor whose interest in fossils lead to his 1822 discovery near his home in Lewes of the first Iguanodon fossils

Mountain Avens among Fossil coral on Parker Ridge, Banff National Park, Rockies, Canada

Woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis). Artists impression of a woolly rhinoceros. This extinct mammal existed during the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs, 1.8 million years to 10, 000 years ago

Homo heidelbergensis. Artists impression of two male H. heidelbergensis hominids which lived between 600, 000 and 250, 000 years ago in the Pleistocene era

Spinosaurus dinosaur. Artwork of a Spinosaurus dinosaur standing in shallow water on the coast. This was the longest carnivorous dinosaur, reaching a length of up to 16 metres

Ammonite fossil, SEM
Ammonite fossil, coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM). Ammonites were invertebrates and lived in the sea. They were molluscs that formed a spiral shell to protect their soft body

1824 Bucklands Megalosaurus jaw no tint
1824 Uncoloured (original) Double quarto Plate XL of Megalosaurus jaw and teeth drawn by Mary Moreland, from William Bucklands " Notice on the Megalosaurus or great Fossil Lizard of

Fossil Ammonite - Upper Early Cretaceous - Albian stage - Mahajanga province - Madagascar - cross-section

CAN-2197
Fossil Fish - Jurassic. Extinct species Eichstadt, Germany E50T3798

Fossil ammonite- Desmoceras spp. -Upper Early Cretaceous - Albian Stage - Mahajanga Province - Madagascar

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Palaeontology is the scientific study of prehistoric life. It involves the examination of fossils to understand the evolution and diversity of ancient organisms, as well as their interactions with each other and their environment. Palaeontologists use a variety of methods to uncover evidence about past life, including fieldwork, laboratory analysis, and computer modelling. They also use radiometric dating techniques to determine when particular fossils were formed. Through these studies, palaeontologists have been able to reconstruct entire ecosystems from millions of years ago and gain insight into how species have changed over time. An important field in understanding our planet's history and its current biodiversity.