Paleontology
paleontology is which studies the remainders of the alive beings of the past. It is the French zoologist George Vat (1769-1832) which gave to this discipline a step which now makes it possible to affirm that paleontology is one .
The word "paleontology" can be cut out in three terms:
Paleo = palaios = old
Ontos = life, being
Logy = logos = study, science.
It thus acts, literally, of science studying the old life, and more precisely, of the discipline which studies the organizations disappeared having left in the sedimentary grounds from the traces from their body or their activities. These traces are called ' fossiles'.
It was divided a long time into two principal fields: paleozoology who studies them , and paleobotany who makes in the same way for plants. It diversifies from now on while taking part in multi-field approaches which as many become new and inter-connected disciplines: paleoecology, paleoclimatology, paleogeography,... It also covers with many specialities, function in particular of the type of fossil considered: micropaleontology focuses itself thus on the fossils of microscopic size, palynology study with particular techniques the microfossiles with wall organic (spores, pollens...), paléo-ichnology devotes itself to the traces left at the time of animal displacements (tracks, burrows...), paleo-coprology with the study of the excrements, etc.
Using the fossils, which one primarily finds in , one tries to reconstitute the alive beings such as they were, their environment and to determine the time to which they lived.
The observation of the characters prevailing today to draw the conclusions on the worlds from yesterday is often used: it is the principle ofactualism.
With many studies of this kind, one could establish one . This scale is cut out of pieces various lengths defined by the organizations present, of the climatic events, etc. : eras, , times, stages.
The study of "human" fossils (kinds Homo and related) uses the same methods as that of paleozoology. It does not constitute of it less one distinct science, paleoanthropology, whose object is the study of the evolution of; its specialists making a synthesis in knowledge coming from other disciplines like and it.
Famous paleontologists
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| | | | Cellular biology | Biology of the evolution | Human biology | Marine biology | | | | | | Geobiology | | Microbiology | | Paleontology | Parasitology | Physiology | Taxonomy | |
