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Paleontology studies past life mainly through fossils, including both body fossils and traces of behavior.
Paleontology is the scientific study of life in the past, primarily through the discovery, analysis, and interpretation of fossils. It investigates extinct organisms, their anatomy, physiology, behavior, evolution, interactions, and environments, while also using fossils to reconstruct geologic time and the history of life on Earth. Although fossils are central to the field, paleontology also relies on inferences about organisms and environments that are not directly preserved. The field overlaps strongly with geology, biology, ecology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics. Its scope includes the study of fossil plants, animals, microorganisms, trace fossils, fossilization processes, evolutionary relationships, extinction, paleoenvironments, paleogeography, and biostratigraphy. Paleontologists conduct fieldwork, prepare and examine specimens in laboratories, compare anatomy, and apply modern technologies and theoretical analysis to address questions about biodiversity and Earth history. Important limitations include the incompleteness and uneven preservation of the fossil record, which can bias interpretations of past life.
Paleontology studies past life mainly through fossils, including both body fossils and traces of behavior.
The field reconstructs the anatomy, ecology, evolution, extinction, distribution, and chronology of ancient organisms.
Paleontology overlaps with geology and biology and also draws on ecology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, and technological methods.
Fossils help classify organisms, establish the geologic time scale, correlate rock layers, and test hypotheses about evolution and extinction.
The fossil record is incomplete because fossilization, preservation, discovery, and study are uneven, creating important interpretive limitations.
The scientific study of past life and ancient environments, primarily through fossils.
Preserved remains, impressions, or traces of organisms from the geological past.
The total collection of known fossils used to investigate the history and diversification of life.
A biological approach to paleontology that examines the biology, evolution, and life processes of extinct organisms.
The study of ancient ecosystems and the relationships between prehistoric organisms and their environments.
The use of fossils to correlate and determine the relative ages of geological rock layers.
A preserved record of an organism's activity, such as a footprint, burrow, or coprolite, rather than its body.
The study of the processes affecting organisms from death through burial, fossilization, preservation, and discovery.
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