The Journal was founded in 1980 at the University of Oklahoma by Dr. Jiri Zidek, with financial support from the University of Oklahoma Presidential Associates Fund; continued in 1984 by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. The Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology is published quarterly by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. Membership in the Society is open to anyone 18 years of age or over who is interested in any aspect of fossil vertebrates.