Institute of Paleobiology Polish Academy of Sciences - Institute Of Paleobiology Polish Academy of Sciences

For over 70 years, the Roman Kozłowski Institute of Paleobiology has been conducting in-depth studies of the history of life on Earth. Every year, the Institute publishes dozens of peer-reviewed articles, organizes conferences, foreign expeditions and excavations in new paleontological sites. We educate PhD students, publish the best paleontological journal in Poland (Acta Palaeontologica Polonica) and popularize science.
The staff and laboratories are open to cooperation with other research centers and interdisciplinary projects. An essential part of our Institute is the Paleontological Collection, gathering the largest fossil collections in Poland (hundreds of thousands of specimens), partly exhibited in the Museum of Evolution.

News

05.10.2026 14:07

Early origins of life on Earth

Before DNA became central to life, it is thought that RNA molecules may have stored genetic information and replicated themselves. This period is called the RNA world. Computer modelling of Earth’s surface temperature indicates that around 4.33 billion years ago conditions began to mitigate,

01.10.2026 12:12

Cadomella – still mysterious

The Liassic brachiopod Cadomella belongs to the class Rhynchonellata, but its exact systematic position remains a mystery. This paper summarises many years of fieldwork and research in museum collections in France, England, Germany, and Portugal: available occurrence data have been compiled and verified,

30.09.2026 12:42

Long-necked Triassic reptile from Poland

The Triassic was a period in which many extant reptile groups originated, but it also gave rise to forms that exhibited unique anatomical features. Tanystropheus was characterised by an extremely elongate neck, which could have reached around half of its total body length.