palaeontology
Britishnoun
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the study of fossils to determine the structure and evolution of extinct animals and plants and the age and conditions of deposition of the rock strata in which they are found See also palaeobotany palaeozoology
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another name for palaeozoology
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of palaeontology
C19: from palaeo- + onto- + -logy
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His work, published in Papers in Palaeontology, offers new insight into how dinosaurs rose to dominance during the Jurassic period.
From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2026
Their findings appear in the journal Papers in Palaeontology.
From Science Daily • Feb. 24, 2026
Details of the discovery appear in the peer-reviewed Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.
From Science Daily • Nov. 12, 2025
From them, Dr Flannery and his team discovered evidence of three species previously unknown to science, findings which were published in Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology on Monday.
From BBC • May 27, 2024
Palaeontology is, unfortunately, altogether neglected by many of these new workers, although this interesting science furnishes most important facts for phylogeny, and thus often proves of very great service in ontogeny.
From The Evolution of Man — Volume 1 by Haeckel, Ernst Heinrich Philipp August
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
