Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Main page; Contents; Current events; Random article; About Wikipedia; Contact us; Donate; Help; Learn to edit; Community portal; Recent changes; Upload file
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 .
Notes Images Induszalim [4] I. bala: Skull and Postcrania (Rostrum previously referred to Vitakridrinda sulaimani) A mesoeucrocodylian crocodyliform: Pabwehshi [5] P. pakistanensis : Skull elements A baurusuchine baurusuchid
Paleozoology uses the methods and principles of paleobiology to understand fauna, both vertebrates and invertebrates. See also vertebrate and invertebrate paleontology, as well as paleoanthropology. Micropaleontology applies paleobiologic principles and methods to archaea, bacteria, protists and microscopic pollen/spores.
Paleohistology has diverse applications in paleontology, evolutionary biology, and related fields. By analyzing the microstructure of fossilized tissues, paleohistologists can infer growth rates, metabolic rates , and physiological adaptations of extinct organisms .
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 ).
Classic paleoecology uses data from fossils and subfossils to reconstruct the ecosystems of the past. It involves the study of fossil organisms and their associated remains (such as shells, teeth, pollen, and seeds), which can help in the interpretation of their life cycle, living interactions, natural environment, communities, and manner of death and burial.
Historical geology or palaeogeology is a discipline that uses the principles and methods of geology to reconstruct the geological history of Earth. [1] Historical geology examines the vastness of geologic time, measured in billions of years, and investigates changes in the Earth , gradual and sudden, over this deep time .