paleontology

noun

pa·​le·​on·​tol·​o·​gy ˌpā-lē-ˌän-ˈtä-lə-jē 

-ən-,

 especially British  ˌpa-

: a science dealing with the life of past geologic periods as known from fossil remains

To many Americans, and nearly all young ones, paleontology can be summed up in one word: dinosaurs.

—Jerry A. Coyne

paleontological

ˌpā-lē-ˌän-tə-ˈlä-ji-kəl 

adjective

or less commonly paleontologic

ˌpā-lē-ˌän-tə-ˈlä-jik 

paleontologist

ˌpā-lē-ˌän-ˈtä-lə-jist 

-ən-

noun

Did you know?

Until the 1820s, hardly anyone even suspected that dinosaurs had ever existed. In the years since, paleontology has sought to discover the entire history of life on earth, from the era of single-celled organisms up into the human era. Paleontologists continue to make remarkable discoveries, such as that a huge meteorite that fell in the Gulf of Mexico wiped out the dinosaurs—all except the birds, the only surviving dinosaurs. "Radiometric dating" can reveal the age (often tens of millions of years) of a rock or fossil or a tiny grain of pollen by measuring how much its radioactive elements have disintegrated. The study of molecules of DNA, RNA, and proteins has also become important for dating. Paleontologists often consult with geologists searching for oil, gas, and coal deposits, since all these "fossil fuels" were formed from plant and animal remains.

Examples of paleontology in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Megalodon: the truth about the largest shark that ever lived Assistant professor of paleontology at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina. —Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 24 Sep. 2024

For much of the history of paleontology, researchers have debated whether certain species should be lumped together or split apart, according to their own readings of incomplete and contestable fossils. —Asher Elbein, Scientific American, 24 Sep. 2024

Hippopotamus Assistant professor of paleontology at the College of Charleston. —Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 27 Sep. 2024

The Natural History Museum hasn’t announced plans to display the fossils found under the school but already has a marine paleontology section on display called L.A. Underwater. —Jireh Deng, Los Angeles Times, 13 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French palaeontologie (later paléontologie), from palae- pale- + ont- (probably from Greek ónta "the things that exist, reality," noun derivative from neuter plural of ont-, ṓn, present participle of eînai "to be") + -o- -o- + -logie -logy — more at is

Note: The French noun was introduced by the zoologist Henri-Marie Ducrotay de Blainville (1777-1850), as a heading for a summary of work done on fossils in 1821 ("Analyse des principaux Travaux dans les Sciences physiques, publiés dans l'année 1821"), in Journal de physique, de chimie, d'histoire naturelle et des arts, tome 94 (janvier 1822), p. liv. Blainville had earlier (tome 90, 1820, p. 80) used palaeosomiologie in the same sense (for "l'étude des corps organisés fossiles," i.e., the study of fossil organisms), in an effort to find a word that included the remains of both plants and animals, but he seems to have judged this coinage inadequate and replaced it with palaeontologie. See Martin J. S. Rudwick, Worlds before Adam: The Reconstruction of Geohistory in the Age of Reform (University of Chicago Press, 2008), pp. 48-49.

First Known Use

1833, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

paleontology

noun

pa·​le·​on·​tol·​o·​gy ˌpā-lē-ˌän-ˈtäl-ə-jē 

: a science dealing with the life of past geological periods as known especially from fossil remains

paleontological

-ˌänt-ᵊl-ˈäj-i-kəl 

adjective

also paleontologic

-ik