397 History of Paleontology in Virginia: 1607-2007

American paleontology was, in many respects, born in Virginia. The history of paleontological work in Virginia includes fossils from the Precambrian to Pleistocene, from protists to proboscideans. It clearly shows the evolution and the peak periods in the science over the last 400 years, and the activity of hundreds of researchers, including many of the leading American scientists of their times. This paper provides a chronological summary of this remarkable interval in the history of science. Three indexes are included that should help future students to locate the literature of Virginia paleontology. The first includes the References Cited in alphabetical order by author. The second lists all fossil references by fossil type. The third index lists all references in order of the geologic age of the studied taxa. Twenty-four text-figures demonstrate the techniques of fossil illustrations as they evolved from wood blocks to scanning electron microscopy. Forty-four plates illustrate representative fossils found in Virginia from the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic.