What is palaeontology?

Palaeontology is the scientific study of ancient life through fossils and other evidence.

In more detail, palaeontology (sometimes spelled “paleontology”) combines elements of biology, geology and archaeology to explore how living organisms of the past lived, evolved and became extinct. It involves examining fossilised bones, shells, imprints, tracks and other remnants of life that existed long before humans.

Key components

• Fossils and fossil record: Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of ancient organisms. The fossil record is the sequence of these fossil finds in the Earth’s strata, showing how life has changed over time.
• Evolutionary history: Palaeontology tracks how species appeared, changed and died out, linking this to environmental changes, mass extinctions, and plate-tectonics.
• Geological context: The age of fossils, the strata they occur in, and the type of rock layers all provide essential information about the environment and timeline of past life.
• Classification and phylogeny: Palaeontologists classify extinct organisms and attempt to place them in the tree of life, showing how they relate to modern species.

Why it matters

Palaeontology gives us a window into the distant past—far beyond human history. By studying extinct species and their ecosystems, scientists learn how current biodiversity evolved, how ecosystems respond to climate change, how extinction events unfold, and even how life might evolve in the future.

Major fields within palaeontology

• Invertebrate palaeontology (fossils of animals without backbones, e.g., trilobites)
• Vertebrate palaeontology (fossils of animals with backbones, e.g., dinosaurs, mammals)
• Micropalaeontology (micro-fossils such as foraminifera)
• Palaeobotany (fossil plants)
• Ichnology (fossilised tracks, burrows and other traces of activity)