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Subfield · Earth and Planetary Sciences

Paleontology research

Paleontology is a subfield of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Science Explorer counts 162k research works in it since 1950. 10.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: scientific study of the past of life on Earth through fossils.

Research works
162k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
16k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
7
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+12%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
26% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Paleontology

What is Paleontology research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2021-25, its most used keywords are Agricultural Origins, Radiocarbon Dating, Paleoproductivity, Paleoredox, Biogeography, Evolution. Gaining share since 2011-15: Biodiversity, Subterranean, Evolution. Losing share: Mammal Evolution, Phylogenetic Comparative Analysis, Biogeography.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2021-25 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2011-15. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 17 words, with their numbers
  1. Agricultural Origins9,117◆ 1.04×1 topic
  2. Radiocarbon Dating9,117◆ 1.04×1 topic
  3. Paleoproductivity7,839◆ 0.93×1 topic
  4. Paleoredox7,839◆ 0.93×1 topic
  5. Biogeography7,641▼ 0.84×2 topics
  6. Evolution6,062▲ 1.29×2 topics
  7. Mammal Evolution5,592▼ 0.79×1 topic
  8. Phylogenetic Comparative Analysis5,592▼ 0.79×1 topic
  9. Phylogenetic Analysis5,389◆ 0.98×2 topics
  10. Dinosaur3,340◆ 0.95×1 topic
  11. Paleontology3,340◆ 0.95×1 topic
  12. Biodiversity2,722▲ 2.3×1 topic
  13. Subterranean2,722▲ 2.3×1 topic
  14. Cnidarian Evolution2,184◆ 1.13×1 topic
  15. Jellyfish Blooms2,184◆ 1.13×1 topic
  16. Endemism2,049◆ 1.03×1 topic
  17. Regionalization2,049◆ 1.03×1 topic

Which countries lead Paleontology research?

On research quality in 2022-now, the United States, China and the United Kingdom rank highest in Paleontology. By volume, the United States and China publish the most (5.5k and 3.9k works in 2022-now).

By research quality, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States #1 all time 0.99× citation excellence · 1.56× journals · 100% breadth 11.3% top 10% · 4.2k works
  2. 2 China #3 all time 1.17× citation excellence · 1.06× journals · 100% breadth 13.8% top 10% · 2.9k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom #2 all time 1.07× citation excellence · 1.49× journals · 100% breadth 14.0% top 10% · 1.8k works
  4. 4 Germany #4 all time 1.22× citation excellence · 1.38× journals · 100% breadth 12.5% top 10% · 1.2k works
  5. 5 France #5 all time 1.11× citation excellence · 1.26× journals · 100% breadth 10.3% top 10% · 1.4k works
  6. 6 Spain #7 all time 1.20× citation excellence · 0.96× journals · 100% breadth 9.4% top 10% · 992 works
  7. 7 Australia #6 all time 1.16× citation excellence · 1.20× journals · 100% breadth 13.0% top 10% · 685 works
  8. 8 Switzerland #8 all time 1.07× citation excellence · 1.86× journals · 100% breadth 12.1% top 10% · 310 works
  9. 9 Canada #9 all time 1.04× citation excellence · 1.20× journals · 100% breadth 10.5% top 10% · 583 works
  10. 10 Israel #10 all time 1.14× citation excellence · 1.53× journals · 100% breadth 10.6% top 10% · 216 works

The track on each row is that row's top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the quality score, which compares the rate with what each place's own topics predict, adds its share of papers in the Nature Index journals, and counts output and breadth too.

Of 25 countries ranked in Paleontology. Ranked on the quality score for 2022-now; the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Paleontology

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 5.5k works
  2. 2 China 3.9k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 2.1k works
  4. 4 Germany 2k works
  5. 5 France 1.8k works
  6. 6 Brazil 1.7k works
  7. 7 Russia 1.6k works
  8. 8 Spain 1.2k works
  9. 9 Argentina 990 works
  10. 10 Mexico 846 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 25.5%China: 18.1%United Kingdom: 9.7%Germany: 9.3%6 others listed: 37.3%26%largest
United States5,496 · 25.5%China3,903 · 18.1%United Kingdom2,099 · 9.7%Germany2,006 · 9.3%6 others listed8,046 · 37.3%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Paleontology research?

Chinese Academy of Sciences (China) ranks first in Paleontology on research quality in 2022-now, followed by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and University of Cambridge.

By research quality, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #1 all time 15.6% top 10% · 581 works
  2. 2 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique France · Paris · #2 all time 9.8% top 10% · 709 works
  3. 3 University of Cambridge United Kingdom · Cambridge · #5 all time 27.7% top 10% · 89 works
  4. 4 Leibniz Association Germany · Berlin · #8 all time 10.0% top 10% · 165 works
  5. 5 University of Oxford United Kingdom · Oxford · #4 all time 18.0% top 10% · 84 works
  6. 6 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #7 all time 14.0% top 10% · 111 works
  7. 7 Smithsonian Institution United States · Washington · #14 all time 9.9% top 10% · 167 works
  8. 8 Max Planck Society Germany · Munich · #21 all time 21.9% top 10% · 63 works
  9. 9 China University of Geosciences China · Wuhan · #13 all time 15.4% top 10% · 105 works
  10. 10 University of Bristol United Kingdom · Bristol · #11 all time 20.5% top 10% · 70 works

The track on each row is that row's top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the quality score, which compares the rate with what each place's own topics predict, adds its share of papers in the Nature Index journals, and counts output and breadth too.

Of 37 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Paleontology.

Top 100 Paleontology institutions

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 988 works
  2. 2 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 920 works
  3. 3 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 724 works
  4. 4 Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y TécnicasArgentina 491 works
  5. 5 Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of TechnologyPhilippines 334 works
  6. 6 Leibniz AssociationGermany 271 works
  7. 7 Universidad de IbaguéColombia 250 works
  8. 8 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones CientíficasSpain 241 works
  9. 9 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMexico 213 works
  10. 10 Natural History MuseumUnited Kingdom 211 works

Who are the leading researchers in Paleontology?

Counting only their work in Paleontology, Thomas J. Algeo, Andrew H. Knoll and Roger Benson have the most papers in the world top 10% for their subfield and year beyond the 10% expected.

  1. 1 Thomas J. Algeo United States · #16,260 worldwide overall 59.2 of 124 papers here in the top 10%
  2. 2 Andrew H. Knoll United States · #7,918 worldwide overall 56.7 of 117 papers here in the top 10%
  3. 3 Roger Benson United Kingdom · #5,166 worldwide overall 50.8 of 108 papers here in the top 10%
  4. 4 Timothy W. Lyons United States · #7,416 worldwide overall 47.5 of 86 papers here in the top 10%
  5. 5 Shuhai Xiao United States · #42,540 worldwide overall 46.3 of 118 papers here in the top 10%
  6. 6 Michael J. Benton United Kingdom · #184,649 worldwide overall 64.4 of 300 papers here in the top 10%
  7. 7 Noah J. Planavsky United States · #15,842 worldwide overall 39.4 of 72 papers here in the top 10%
  8. 8 Simon W. Poulton United Kingdom · #25,157 worldwide overall 39.4 of 79 papers here in the top 10%
  9. 9 Paul B. Wignall United Kingdom · #31,219 worldwide overall 38.2 of 98 papers here in the top 10%
  10. 10 Richard J. Butler United Kingdom · #46,187 worldwide overall 38.0 of 105 papers here in the top 10%

Ranked on their work in Paleontology alone: how many more of their papers here reached the world top 10% for their subfield and year than the 10% expected, among 287,225 ranked researchers with a paper here. Each paper counts once, so many strong papers outrank one famous one, and a long record of ordinary papers does not climb. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Paleontology researchers

What are the most cited papers in Paleontology?

The most cited paper in Paleontology is "The neighbor-joining method: a new method for reconstructing phylogenetic trees." (Naruya Saitou, M Nei, 1987), with 60,643 citations. Next come "RAxML version 8: a tool for phylogenetic analysis and post-analysis of large phylogenies" (34,939) and "MrBayes 3: Bayesian phylogenetic inference under mixed models" (29,587).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The neighbor-joining method: a new method for reconstructing phylogenetic trees. Naruya Saitou, M Nei · Molecular Biology and Evolution Open access Jul 1987 60,643
2 RAxML version 8: a tool for phylogenetic analysis and post-analysis of large phylogenies Alexandros Stamatakis · Bioinformatics Open access 21 Jan 2014 34,939
3 MrBayes 3: Bayesian phylogenetic inference under mixed models Fredrik Ronquist, John P. Huelsenbeck · Bioinformatics Open access 11 Aug 2003 29,587
4 MrBayes 3.2: Efficient Bayesian Phylogenetic Inference and Model Choice Across a Large Model Space Fredrik Ronquist, Maxim Teslenko, Paul van der Mark et al. · Systematic Biology Open access 22 Feb 2012 28,705
5 ModelFinder: fast model selection for accurate phylogenetic estimates Subha Kalyaanamoorthy, Bùi Quang Minh, Thomas K. F. Wong et al. · Nature Methods Open access 8 May 2017 19,804
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Paleontology research done?

The largest centres of Paleontology research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Paris (France), Moscow (Russia) and London (United Kingdom). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Martinsville, Xinhui District and Iligan City.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 1.4k works
  2. 2 ParisFrance 738 works
  3. 3 MoscowRussia 597 works
  4. 4 LondonUnited Kingdom 557 works
  5. 5 Buenos AiresArgentina 424 works
  6. 6 São PauloBrazil 345 works
  7. 7 MadridSpain 336 works
  8. 8 Iligan CityPhilippines 334 works
  9. 9 Mexico CityMexico 317 works
  10. 10 MunichGermany 314 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. MartinsvilleUS · 33.8 works157×
  2. Xinhui DistrictCN · 24.5 works87×
  3. Iligan CityPH · 333.7 works86×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Paleontology than the world average.

See Paleontology on the map

Paleontology research by country

The best places for Paleontology research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Paleontology?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences score highest, combining standing in the field's ranking, citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%30%mean 18.48%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →University of Cambri…Harvard UniversityUniversity of OxfordUniversity of Chines…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Standingthis field's institution ranking, three quarters all time and a quarter 2022-now
50%
Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
20%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
5%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
15%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
5%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
5%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreRank in field (all time)Top 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 83.4#3 (#5)25.4%3.0×106 -4.1%
2University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 78.8#5 (#4)17.3%2.3×96 -22.1%
3University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 73.2#6 (#7)13.8%2.8×134 +32.5%
4Harvard UniversityUnited States 69.8- (#3)22.8%0.5×50 -27.3%
5China University of GeosciencesChina 65.8#9 (#13)14.8%9.7×128 +7.1%
6University of BristolUnited Kingdom 65.7#10 (#11)19.1%5.4×87 -23.0%
7University College LondonUnited Kingdom 60.7#13 (#15)20.2%1.8×84 -20.8%
8University of ChicagoUnited States 59.4- (#9)13.6%2.3×56 +6.8%
9Yale UniversityUnited States 56.4- (#10)21.4%1.5×46 -21.0%
10University of MichiganUnited States 54.9- (#12)16.4%1.2×54 +5.9%

Universities only. The score blends standing (50%), citation excellence (20%), size (15%), specialisation (5%), growth (5%), international reach (5%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise. Standing is the score in this field's institution ranking, three quarters over all time and a quarter 2022-now; excellence averages the two windows too. Four years alone undercount fields such as AI, where many conference and arXiv papers from 2022 on carry no affiliation in the data.

Every institution in Paleontology, country by country

Is Paleontology research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 12% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Subterranean biodiversity and taxonomy, Marine Invertebrate Physiology and Ecology and Scarabaeidae Beetle Taxonomy and Biogeography.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Paleontology as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.10% in 2024.

still counting0.10%0.20%0.30%Paleontology0.15% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Paleontology over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Paleontology9.3% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. Subterranean biodiversity and taxonomy+173%
  2. Marine Invertebrate Physiology and Ecology+32%
  3. Scarabaeidae Beetle Taxonomy and Biogeography+17%
  4. Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology+11%
  5. Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils+6%
  6. Evolution and Paleontology Studies-2%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2018-21 to 2022-25. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Paleontology include?

Paleontology and Stratig…45kPaleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils: 45k fractional worksArchaeology and ancient …40kArchaeology and ancient environmental studies: 40k fractional worksEvolution and Paleontology Studies: 32k fractional worksPaleontology and Evolutionary Biology: 17k fractional worksMarine Invertebrate Physiology and Ecology: 10k fractional worksSubterranean biodiversity and taxonomy: 9,150 fractional worksScarabaeidae Beetle Taxonomy and Biogeography: 8,966 fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.

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Who leads Paleontology, on Science Explorer

A card with the countries and institutions that lead Paleontology, for a post or a slide.

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1200 × 630 PNG, sized for social posts, drawn from the latest snapshot.

The leading institutions' badges6Each links to that institution's page and updates with every snapshot

Questions people ask

Who leads fossil and paleontology research?

Chinese Academy of Sciences (China) ranks first in Paleontology on research quality in 2022-now, followed by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and University of Cambridge. On research quality in 2022-now, the United States, China and the United Kingdom rank highest in Paleontology. By volume, the United States and China publish the most (5.5k and 3.9k works in 2022-now).

Where is the best place to study paleontology?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences score highest, combining standing in the field's ranking, citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

See the full answer
All 1,273 questions in the Question Catalogue

Discussion

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