Paleontology: Terminology

paleontology (also spelled palaeontology or palæontology)

The branch of science that deals with extinct and fossil humans, animals, and plants, or more generally with evidence of organic life during the geological past; (occasionally) spec. palaeozoology. Also: the fossil evidence relating to a particular geological formation, group of organisms, etc.

Oxford English Dictionary

Subdivisions:

• Paleobiology: The branch of paleontology concerned with the biology of extinct organisms and their relationship to modern organisms
• Vertebrate Paleontology: The study of fossils of vertebrate animals, from the earliest fish to the immediate ancestors to modern mammals, and everything in between.
• Invertebrate Paleontology: The study of fossils of invertebrate animals such as molluscs, arthropods, annelid worms and echinoderms.
• Paleobotany: The study of plant, algae, and fungi fossils and their interrelationships with other organisms in the geological past, also called paleophytology.
• Paleopalynology: The stratigraphic study of fossilized pollen, single-celled algae, spores, particulate organic matter, and other wind-borne palynomorphs.
• Micropaleontology: The study of microscopic fossil organisms of all kinds.
• Paleoecology: The study of the relationships between fossil organisms and their environment.
• Paleoclimatology: The study of climates in the geologic past, involving the interpretation of glacial deposits, fossils, and paleogeographic, isotopic, and sedimentologic data.

Sources:

• Carlton, Robert L. (2019). A Concise Dictionary of Paleontology (2nd Ed.). Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25586-2
• McGraw-Hill. (2003). Dictionary of Earth Science (2nd Ed.). McGraw-Hill.