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Topic · Paleontology

Evolution and Paleontology Studies

Evolution and Paleontology Studies is a research topic within Paleontology. Science Explorer counts 32k research works in it since 1950. 36.4% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the evolutionary dynamics, diversification rates, and adaptive radiations of mammals and their ancestors. It delves into topics such as phylogenetic comparative analysis, speciation and extinction patterns, biogeography, molecular phylogeny, body size evolution, and the impact of Cenozoic climatic changes on mammalian evolution.

  • Mammal Evolution
  • Phylogenetic Comparative Analysis
  • Diversification Rates
  • Adaptive Radiation
  • Paleobiology
  • Speciation and Extinction
  • Biogeography
  • Molecular Phylogeny
  • Body Size Evolution
  • Cenozoic Climatic Change
Research works
32k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
12k
per year above
Top-10% rate
36.4%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+2%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Evolution and Paleontology Studies research?

By volume, the United States and Brazil publish the most (890 and 314 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 890 works
  2. 2 Brazil 314 works
  3. 3 China 307 works
  4. 4 Argentina 296 works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 257 works
  6. 6 France 256 works
  7. 7 Spain 232 works
  8. 8 Germany 194 works
  9. 9 Russia 166 works
  10. 10 Australia 148 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: 29.1%Brazil: 10.3%China: 10.0%Argentina: 9.7%6 others listed: 41.0%29%largest
United States890 · 29.1%Brazil314 · 10.3%China307 · 10.0%Argentina296 · 9.7%6 others listed1,254 · 41.0%

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

Which institutions lead Evolution and Paleontology Studies research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas publishes the most Evolution and Paleontology Studies research, followed by Institute of Paleontology A A Borisyak and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y TécnicasArgentina 66 works
  2. 2 Institute of Paleontology A A BorisyakRussia 52 works
  3. 3 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 46 works
  4. 4 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 44 works
  5. 5 Natural History MuseumUnited Kingdom 35 works
  6. 6 American Museum of Natural HistoryUnited States 32 works
  7. 7 Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and PaleoanthropologyChina 31 works
  8. 8 National Museum of Natural HistoryUnited States 28 works
  9. 9 Universidad de IbaguéColombia 25 works
  10. 10 Universidad Nacional de La PlataArgentina 25 works

Who are the leading researchers in Evolution and Paleontology Studies?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Evolution and Paleontology Studies include Sudhir Kumar, Pierre Legendre and Robert R. Sokal.

  1. 1 Sudhir Kumar United States 5.9k citations
  2. 2 Pierre Legendre Canada 3.5k citations
  3. 3 Robert R. Sokal United States 3k citations
  4. 4 Kevin J. Gaston United Kingdom 2.5k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

Where is Evolution and Paleontology Studies research done?

The largest centres of Evolution and Paleontology Studies research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Paris (France), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Moscow (Russia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in San Miguel de Tucumán, Ibagué and La Plata.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 149 works
  2. 2 Paris France 135 works
  3. 3 Buenos Aires Argentina 122 works
  4. 4 Moscow Russia 89 works
  5. 5 London United Kingdom 75 works
  6. 6 Madrid Spain 67 works
  7. 7 New York United States 65 works
  8. 8 Washington D.C. United States 58 works
  9. 9 São Paulo Brazil 56 works
  10. 10 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 45 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. San Miguel de TucumánAR · 28.6 works59×
  2. IbaguéCO · 27.8 works58×
  3. La PlataAR · 31.3 works28×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Evolution and Paleontology Studies on the map

Where is the best place to study Evolution and Paleontology Studies?

Among universities, judged by research, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, University of Bristol and University of the Witwatersrand score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%50%100%mean 54.08%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Universidade Federal de Santa Maria: 21, 59.9%University of Bristol: 19, 72.9%University of the Witwatersrand: 23, 46.4%University of Fribourg: 9, 55.3%Flinders University: 13, 45.7%Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia: 10, 36.2%University of Tübingen: 13, 63.7%University of Birmingham: 10, 76.0%Sorbonne Université: 15, 38.9%Universidad de la República de Uruguay: 9, 45.8%University of BristolUniversidade Federal…University of FribourgUniversity of the Wi…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 Universidade Federal de Santa MariaBrazil 73.059.9%12.7×21 +367.5%
2 University of BristolUnited Kingdom 62.472.9%8.6×19 +3.3%
3 University of the WitwatersrandSouth Africa 62.146.4%13.3×23 +58.2%
4 University of FribourgSwitzerland 61.455.3%14.7×9 +142.6%
5 Flinders UniversityAustralia 61.145.7%14.7×13 +126.9%
6 Universidad Nacional de Educación a DistanciaSpain 57.636.2%13.4×10 +266.7%
7 University of TübingenGermany 54.063.7%8.5×13 -16.3%
8 University of BirminghamUnited Kingdom 53.476.0%4.5×10 +115.2%
9 Sorbonne UniversitéFrance 53.238.9%7.3×15 +136.1%
10 Universidad de la República de UruguayUruguay 53.045.8%9.9×9 +51.9%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Evolution and Paleontology Studies research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 2% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Evolution and Paleontology Studies.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

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

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.