Systematic Paleontology

Abstract

With this issue we mark publication of the 75th volume of the Journal of Paleontology, and celebrate the occasion with a series of review articles on the systematics of major groups of fossils. Instructions to authors were very broad: we suggested consideration of the history of study, current problems, and future directions, but otherwise left authors to focus their reviews as they saw fit. We hoped in this way, with a mix of traditions and approaches, to fashion a general overview of the systematics of fossil organisms as practiced today. With the enthusiastic efforts of the contributors, I think we've been successful. The papers in this issue comprise authoritative reviews of the state of the art in various branches of paleontology. But even if one is not concerned with the details of particular groups, the contributions provide a fascinating sense of where the discipline is, and where it might be going. Although concerned mainly with systematic history, they nevertheless provide a flavor of the kinds of concerns we have as a community for the future development of our science.