Patrick J. Orr

Patrick J. Orr is an Irish paleontologist associated with University College Dublin. His work includes taphonomy, the study of how organisms are preserved in the fossil record.

Orr is known for research into fossil preservation, including a 1998 study published in Science on Burgess Shale preservation. The Burgess Shale is famous for its exceptionally preserved Cambrian fossils.

Taphonomy examines what happens to organisms between death and discovery as fossils. It includes decay, burial, transport, chemical alteration, and the processes that preserve soft or hard tissues.

Patrick J. Orr contributed to a 1998 Science study examining how fossils in the Burgess Shale were preserved. That subject is important because the formation retains details that ordinary fossilization often destroys.