paleoecology

noun

pa·​leo·​ecol·​o·​gy ˌpā-lē-ō-i-ˈkä-lə-jē 

-e-ˈkä-

: a branch of ecology that is concerned with the characteristics of ancient environments and with their relationships to ancient plants and animals

paleoecological

ˌpā-lē-ō-ˌē-kə-ˈlä-ji-kəl 

-ˌe-kə-

adjective

or less commonly paleoecologic

ˌpā-lē-ō-ˌē-kə-ˈlä-jik 

-ˌe-kə-

paleoecologist

ˌpā-lē-ō-i-ˈkä-lə-jist 

-e-ˈkä-

noun

Examples of paleoecology in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Conveniently being in possession of one as a pet, Buckland proved Kirkdale Cave had been a hyena den, and founded the science of paleoecology. —Liam Herringshaw, Discover Magazine, 27 July 2015

Among these disciplines are invertebrate and vertebrate paleontology, as well as paleobotany, paleoecology and paleoclimatology. —Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 30 Mar. 2023

The latter technique is more often used in paleoecology through lake core sampling, but the researchers in this case retrieved plant DNA from archaeological sediments that were thousands of years old. —Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 23 June 2022

His own work has focused on the paleoecology of the Southwest Wilderness World Heritage Area of Tasmania (Lutruwita), more than 6,000 square kilometers of some of Australia’s most biodiverse landscapes. —Quanta Magazine, 29 Nov. 2021

Her fields of study include evolution and paleoecology. —Erica Goode, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2018

An adjunct professor in anthropology at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Crockford's fields of study include evolution and paleoecology. —Author: Erica Goode, Anchorage Daily News, 10 Apr. 2018

John Hoffecker, who studies the paleoecology of Beringia at the University of Colorado-Boulder, says there is still plenty of room for debate about the geographic locations of the ancestral splits. —Ben Potter, National Geographic, 3 Jan. 2018

This is the philosophy of Keith Dobney, a professor of human paleoecology at the University of Liverpool and a co-author of a new study that draws some remarkable conclusions about the lives of Neanderthals by peering beneath their dental enamel. —The Washington Post, Twin Cities, 8 Mar. 2017

Word History

Etymology

paleo- + ecology

First Known Use

1898, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for paleoecology

• bacteriology
• biotechnology
• dialectology
• ecclesiology
• endocrinology
• epistemology
• geochronology
• geomorphology
• histopathology
• hydrogeology
• kinesiology
• meteorology