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Paleontology (/ ˌ p eɪ l i ɒ n ˈ t ɒ l ə dʒ i, ˌ p æ l i-,-ən-/ PAY-lee-on-TOL-ə-jee, PAL-ee-, -ən-), also spelled palaeontology [a] or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present).
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. [1] This includes the study of body fossils, tracks ( ichnites ), burrows , cast-off parts, fossilised feces ( coprolites ), palynomorphs and chemical residues .
The history of paleontology traces the history of the effort to understand the history of life on Earth by studying the fossil record left behind by living organisms. Since it is concerned with understanding living organisms of the past, paleontology can be considered to be a field of biology, but its historical development has been closely tied to geology and the effort to understand the ...
Hence, paleontology overlaps with geology (the study of rocks and rock formations) as well as with botany, biology, zoology and ecology – fields concerned with life forms and how they interact. The major subdivisions of paleontology include paleozoology (animals), paleobotany (plants) and micropaleontology (microfossils).
Bust of the paleontologist Georges Cuvier (left) and a cast skeleton of Palaeotherium magnum (named by Cuvier in 1804, right), Cuvier Museum of Montbéliard. Paleontology (/ ˌ p eɪ l i ɒ n ˈ t ɒ l ə dʒ i, ˌ p æ l i-,-ən-/ PAY-lee-on-TOL-ə-jee, PAL-ee-, -ən-), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to the start of the ...
Evidence from the study of brain endocasts of extant and extinct mammals, indicative of cortical expansion in the areas of the brain involved in producing cognitive functions that began early on during the primate evolution, is presented by Melchionna et al. (2025), who argue that selection for complex cognition likely drove the evolution of primate brains.
The Society recognizes distinguished accomplishments through three awards, one recognized by a medal, the other two by inscribed plaques normally presented annually: [5] The Paleontological Society Medal , given since 1963, is the most prestigious honor bestowed by the Society and is awarded to a person whose eminence is based on advancement of ...
A study on bone histology of Trialestes romeri, providing evidence of a rapid growth rate, is published by Ponce, Cerda & Desojo (2025). [3]A study on the biodiversity of thalattosuchians throughout their evolutionary history, attempting to identify factors driving thalattosuchian evolution, is published by Forêt et al. (2025).