Millions of years ago, central Oregon was a hotbed of volcanic activity. Curious geologists and others can learn about the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument on this most excellent Flash-enabled online tour. After "flying" in overhead to the site, visitors can learn about the 40 million year history of the site that would later become the John Day Fossil Beds. The next area of the site is...

Cambridge University Press's Journal of Paleontology "publishes original articles and notes on the systematics, phylogeny, paleoecology, paleogeography, and evolution of fossil organisms." Releasing six issues each year, the journal is full of relevant and timely research. As of this write-up, readers will find more than two dozen pieces available for free download under the Open Access tab....

Letters from Gondwana is a blog, published since 2013, musing on paleontology, literature, and the history of science. The blog is the creation of paleontology student Fernanda Castano of the University of Buenos Aires. Readers will find themselves surprised by the topics covered in each post, which may include recent paleontological findings, discussions of key (and sometimes forgotten) figures...

It is a tall order to try to study even the recent past, so visitors should find the research accomplishments of the staff members at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Paleoclimatology Program quite impressive. Their work revolves around examining different aspects of the natural world, such as ice cores and lake sediments, in order to understand climate variability over...

This highly educational site from the department of paleontology at the National Museum of Natural History not only showcases beautiful examples of drawings and paintings of all things paleo, but it also includes wonderful explanations of the history and process of the art itself. As the site explains, paleontological art has been a key tool for dissemination of the institution’s findings since...

Paleo Porch is an engaging and versatile blog by James Burnes, a Ph.D. student in the History of Science at the University of Oklahoma who studies the history of field work. Burnes writes about a range of topics with curiosity and an eye for important details. As a result, Paleo Porch features posts about Paleontology, Archeology, Art History, Popular Culture, and more. In one blog post, Burnes...

Published quarterly by Cambridge University Press, Paleobiology features "original content of any length…dealing with any aspect of biological paleontology." Under the Open Access tab readers will find the journal's collection of open-access articles that can be filtered by date of publication. As of this write-up the Paleobiology is on its 46th edition and features 34 open-access articles. Each...

The Smithsonian National Museum of History's paleobiology department is celebrating 50 years as one of the world's top resources for information about the biological and environmental history of Earth. From the homepage, where historical photographs of Smithsonian researchers grace the screen, click Blog & News, where you can read about recently arrived dinosaur bones and newly discovered fossils....

The mission of the Ithaca, N.Y.-based Paleontological Research Institution (first mentioned in the January 10, 2003 NSDL Scout Report for Physical Sciences) is "to increase and disseminate knowledge about the history and evolution of the Earth and its life." The Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) website offers brief information about the work of several different researchers including...

Created by the University of California Museum of Paleontology, with assistance from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology and the United States Geological Survey, the Paleontology Portal is a nice resource for anyone who may be interested in the field of paleontology. The site is divided into a number of separate areas, and visitors would do well to begin by taking a look through the Exploring...