paleozoology

noun

pa·​leo·​zo·​ol·​o·​gy ˌpā-lē-ō-zō-ˈä-lə-jē 

-zə-ˈwä-

: a branch of paleontology dealing with ancient and fossil animals

paleozoological

ˌpā-lē-ō-ˌzō-ə-ˈlä-ji-kəl 

adjective

paleozoologist

ˌpā-lē-ō-ˌzō-ə-ˈlä-jist 

noun

Examples of paleozoology in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Stefan Bengtson, Professor emeritus of paleozoology at the Swedish Museum of Natural History and lead author of the paper says in a press release. —Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 17 Mar. 2017

Stefan Bengtson, Professor emeritus of paleozoology at the Swedish Museum of Natural History and lead author of the paper says in a press release. —Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 17 Mar. 2017

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French palaeozoologie, from palaeo- paleo- + zoologie zoology

Note: The French word was introduced by the zoologist Henri-Marie Ducrotay de Blainville (1777-1850), as a heading for a summary of work done on fossils in the year 1817 ("Résumé des principaux travaux dans les différents sciences physiques publiés pendant l'année 1817"), in Journal de physique, de chimie, d'histoire naturelle et des arts, tome 86 (janvier 1818), p. 71. Blainville states in a footnote to the heading that "c'est le nom [i.e., palaezoologie] que j'ai cru devoir donner a la partie de la science qui traite des fossiles" ("this is the name that I thought I must give to the branch of science that deals with fossils"). In subsequent volumes he replaced palaeozoologie with palaeosomiologie and then palaeontologie—see note at paleontology.

First Known Use

1843, in the meaning defined above