Scope

Paleontology is the study of past life in the context of the biosphere. The history of life is documented by a rich fossil record that provides not only a unique, deep time perspective to living organisms that inhabit our planet today, but also a first-hand test of hypotheses generated by biological and earth sciences. Paleontology is the study not only of fossils, but also of what these indicators of past life can tell us about evolution, about ecologies of the past, even our place and those of other organisms in the world. Thus, over the last two centuries paleontology has grown from a discovery and observational science into a highly interpretative discipline.

As a highly interdisciplinary science, paleontology integrates various disciplines, including biology, geology, chemistry, physics - even anthropology and computer science - as we try to decipher the fragments of past life that is available for research. All aspects of paleontological research are welcome in this journal: from the study of vertebrates to trace fossils, from plants, pollen and spores to communities and ecosystems, from the study of processes of decay to the formation of fossils.

Although we welcome submissions that are fairly parochial in focus and of interest to a limited segment of the paleontological community, we are particularly interested in receiving submissions that would be of interest to earth scientists, biologists, and possibly even the general public. Our only criterion is excellence of research and potential for long term impact. As an electronic, online journal, we are not bound as tightly as print journals by the length of the manuscript, or the number and quality of the scientific illustrations.

Submission

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