Palaeontographical Society
Encyclopedia
The Palaeontographical Society is a learned society established in 1847 and specifically devoted to the advancement of palaeontographical knowledge, i.e., palaeontology
. It is the oldest existing organization with this specific purpose.
The Society publishes monographs that further its primary purpose, which is to promote the description and illustration of British fossil floras and faunas. Since starting in March 1848 with Searles Valentine Wood
's work, the Society has published over 600 monographs. The Society also funds research related to British fossils.
Publications continue today, for example:
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
. It is the oldest existing organization with this specific purpose.
The Society publishes monographs that further its primary purpose, which is to promote the description and illustration of British fossil floras and faunas. Since starting in March 1848 with Searles Valentine Wood
Searles Valentine Wood
Searles Valentine Wood was an English palaeontologist.Wood went to sea in 1811 as a midshipman in the British East India Company's service, which he left, however, in 1826. He then settled at Hasketon near Woodbridge, Suffolk...
's work, the Society has published over 600 monographs. The Society also funds research related to British fossils.
Selected titles published by the Society
- 1851, DarwinCharles DarwinCharles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
's Monograph of the Fossil Lepadidae - 1854, Darwin's Monograph of the Fossil Balanidae
- 1869, OwenRichard OwenSir Richard Owen, FRS KCB was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and palaeontologist.Owen is probably best remembered today for coining the word Dinosauria and for his outspoken opposition to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection...
's Monograph of the Fossil Reptilia of the Liassic - 1871, Owen's Monograph of the Fossil Mammals of the Liassic
Publications continue today, for example:
- 2009, Donovan, S.K., Lewis, D.N., Fearnhead, F.E. & Widdison, R.E. The British Silurian Crinoidea. Part 1, introduction and Disparida. Monograph of the Palaeontographical Society London.