# Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology
The **Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology** is a multi-volume, multi-authored reference work on the systematics of fossil invertebrate animals, first published in 1953 under the direction and editorship of Raymond C. Moore and still in production today.[1](https://search.worldcat.org/title/531991) It provides morphologic, taxonomic, systematic, stratigraphic, and biogeographic information on all the "invertebrate" phyla with a significant fossil record, together with certain unicellular groups such as the "Protoctista", "Protista", and Eubacteria/Archaea.[2](https://journals.ku.edu/invertebratepaleo) The work is published by the Paleontological Institute at the [University of Kansas](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-kansas) and receives financial support from the Paleontological Society.[2](https://journals.ku.edu/invertebratepaleo)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First publication | 1953, Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Paleontological Institute[1](https://search.worldcat.org/title/531991) |
| First editor | Raymond C. Moore, who directed and edited the Treatise from 1953 to 1969[3](https://siris-libraries.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?aspect=subtab103©key=17426&ipp=20&menu=search&profile=liball&ri=1&session=177QR9K697015.197512&source=~%21silibraries&spage=1&uri=full%3D3100001~%21187987~%210) |
| Scale | Some 50 volumes written by more than 300 paleontologists, covering every phylum, class, order, family, and genus of fossil and extant invertebrate animals[4](https://treatise.geolex.org/aboutPageTreatise.php) |
| Published volumes | All 55 published volumes are available as open-access, searchable PDF files under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY) license[2](https://journals.ku.edu/invertebratepaleo) |
| Governance | 1953–62 prepared under the Joint Committee on Invertebrate Paleontology; from 1964 under sponsorship of the Geological Society of America[3](https://siris-libraries.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?aspect=subtab103©key=17426&ipp=20&menu=search&profile=liball&ri=1&session=177QR9K697015.197512&source=~%21silibraries&spage=1&uri=full%3D3100001~%21187987~%210) |
| Current editor | Bruce S. Lieberman[4](https://treatise.geolex.org/aboutPageTreatise.php) |
| Early-access journal | Treatise Online, established 2010, publishes chapters as they are ready rather than waiting for a printed volume[5](https://journals.ku.edu/treatiseonline) |
## Purpose and content
Moore stated the aim in the editorial preface to the first published volume: to present "the most comprehensive and authoritative, yet compact statement of knowledge concerning invertebrate fossil groups that can be formulated by collaboration of competent specialists." Each volume is a comprehensive synthesis of a group of organisms, including genus-level treatment of its systematics, and outlines both what is known and what is not, setting an agenda for the next generation of research.[6](https://www.sepm.org/files/merriam.wbdb1telg1hwhlis.pdf)
The work is organized into lettered parts by taxonomic group. The Smithsonian Libraries catalog records the sequence: Part A (introduction, fossilization or taphonomy, biogeography, and biostratigraphy), Part B (Protoctista 1), Part C and D (Protista), Part E ([Archaeocyatha](https://www.edgepedia.org/archaeocyatha) and Porifera), Part F ([Coelenterata](https://www.edgepedia.org/coelenterata)), Part G (Bryozoa), Part H (Brachiopoda), Parts I through N (Mollusca 1 through 6, with Part L covering cephalopod ammonoids), Parts O through R (Arthropoda 1 through 4), Parts S through U (Echinodermata 1 through 3), Part V (Graptolithina), Part W (Miscellanea, with supplements on trace fossils and conodonts), and Part X (addenda and index).[3](https://siris-libraries.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?aspect=subtab103©key=17426&ipp=20&menu=search&profile=liball&ri=1&session=177QR9K697015.197512&source=~%21silibraries&spage=1&uri=full%3D3100001~%21187987~%210) Many parts run to multiple volumes and have been revised, sometimes decades after the original edition.[3](https://siris-libraries.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?aspect=subtab103©key=17426&ipp=20&menu=search&profile=liball&ri=1&session=177QR9K697015.197512&source=~%21silibraries&spage=1&uri=full%3D3100001~%21187987~%210)
## Origin and editorship
The project began in 1948, growing out of [Raymond Cecil Moore](https://www.edgepedia.org/raymond-cecil-moore)'s sweeping knowledge of invertebrate paleontology.[7](https://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/Bulletins/227/10_moore.html) Moore (1892–1974) was a professor at the University of Kansas, Director and State Geologist of the Kansas Geological Survey, and a crinoid specialist whose 1943 classification of [Paleozoic](https://www.edgepedia.org/paleozoic) crinoids with L. R. Laudon later formed the basis of the Treatise's crinoid volume.[6](https://www.sepm.org/files/merriam.wbdb1telg1hwhlis.pdf) He edited the majority of the entire collection and wrote many parts himself.[6](https://www.sepm.org/files/merriam.wbdb1telg1hwhlis.pdf) The first two volumes appeared in 1955: Part E (Archaeocyatha, Porifera) and Part V (Graptolithina).[8](https://www.paulselden.net/uploads/7/5/3/2/7532217/selden_et_al._2025.pdf)
**Continuity of the project.** Moore directed and edited the Treatise from 1953 to 1969, and second editions were edited by Curt Teichert (1905–1996).[3](https://siris-libraries.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?aspect=subtab103©key=17426&ipp=20&menu=search&profile=liball&ri=1&session=177QR9K697015.197512&source=~%21silibraries&spage=1&uri=full%3D3100001~%21187987~%210) The Treatise outlived Moore and continues as a joint publication of the University of Kansas and the [Geological Society of America](https://www.edgepedia.org/geological-society-of-america), with revisions and new volumes still appearing.[7](https://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/Bulletins/227/10_moore.html) The current director and editor is Bruce S. Lieberman.[4](https://treatise.geolex.org/aboutPageTreatise.php)
## Publication model and access
To speed dissemination, **Treatise Online** was established in 2010 to give scholars early access to sections of upcoming volumes; it has published 165 articles that will become components of twelve Treatise volumes then in preparation.[9](https://journals.ku.edu/treatiseonline/about) Chapters from parts on hypercalcified sponges, cnidarians, bryozoans, [Paleozoic gastropods](https://www.edgepedia.org/paleozoic-gastropods), ammonoids, coleoids, bivalves, chelicerates, decapods, and crinoids were completed, nearing completion, or in preparation.[5](https://journals.ku.edu/treatiseonline)
The back catalog is now fully open: the journal site provides searchable PDF files of all 55 published volumes, downloadable whole or chapter by chapter, under a CC BY license.[2](https://journals.ku.edu/invertebratepaleo) A related project, Fossil Search, makes Treatise data searchable online, built by an undergraduate engineering team at [Purdue University](https://www.edgepedia.org/purdue-university) under the guidance of James Ogg and Aaron Ault.[4](https://treatise.geolex.org/aboutPageTreatise.php)
## Revisions and scientific influence
The revised brachiopod coverage illustrates the scale of a modern part: Part H (Revised), Brachiopoda, published in six volumes between 1997 and 2007 with contributions from 47 paleontologists, describes and classifies nearly 5,000 genera morphologically into 26 orders and eight classes.[10](https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-060115-012348)
The Treatise has served as a principal reference on paleontological nomenclature, fossil names and their spelling, type specimens, and virtually any topic related to invertebrate paleontology.[7](https://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/Bulletins/227/10_moore.html) It also supplied the foundational data for the Sepkoski compendium of fossil marine animal genera (2002) and subsequent studies of richness, origination, extinction, and macroevolutionary patterns through the [Phanerozoic](https://www.edgepedia.org/phanerozoic).[6](https://www.sepm.org/files/merriam.wbdb1telg1hwhlis.pdf) Despite the many attempts to compile modern taxonomic knowledge in digital databases, the Treatise remains a main source of information on the systematics, precise nomenclature, morphological definition, and distribution of fossil systematic units down to genera and subgenera, combined with illustration of type and representative species.[8](https://www.paulselden.net/uploads/7/5/3/2/7532217/selden_et_al._2025.pdf)
## References
1. [Treatise on invertebrate paleontology, WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/title/531991)
2. [Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, journal site, Paleontological Institute, University of Kansas](https://journals.ku.edu/invertebratepaleo)
3. [Treatise on invertebrate paleontology / directed and edited by Raymond C. Moore, Smithsonian Libraries catalog](https://siris-libraries.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?aspect=subtab103©key=17426&ipp=20&menu=search&profile=liball&ri=1&session=177QR9K697015.197512&source=~%21silibraries&spage=1&uri=full%3D3100001~%21187987~%210)
4. [About the Treatise, Fossil Search (treatise.geolex.org)](https://treatise.geolex.org/aboutPageTreatise.php)
5. [Treatise Online, Paleontological Institute, University of Kansas](https://journals.ku.edu/treatiseonline)
6. [William I. Ausich (2007). Review of Daniel F. Merriam, Raymond Cecil Moore: Legendary Scholar and Scientist. Palaios](https://www.sepm.org/files/merriam.wbdb1telg1hwhlis.pdf)
7. [KGS History: R. C. Moore, Kansas Geological Survey](https://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/Bulletins/227/10_moore.html)
8. [Selden et al. (2025). History of the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology](https://www.paulselden.net/uploads/7/5/3/2/7532217/selden_et_al._2025.pdf)
9. [About the Journal, Treatise Online](https://journals.ku.edu/treatiseonline/about)
10. [The Evolution of Brachiopoda, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences](https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-060115-012348)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Animals › Invertebrates › Molluscs › Other molluscs and general malacology › Malacology and conchology › Classic malacological reference works › Historical classification works*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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