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.
"Thailand really is the hotspot for research and discovery" in Southeast Asia, said Richard Cloutier, a professor of palaeontology visiting from Canada's Universite du Quebec a Rimouski.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
Tegan and mum Claire have been told by the National Museum Wales palaeontology curator that she is "fairly certain they are genuine dinosaur prints".
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2024
The cradle of palaeontology -- the study of fossil remains of animals and plants -- lies in the Maastricht limestones, where the first Mosasaurus was discovered in 1766.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 9, 2023
The scientists also posted a video online showing a computer-simulated reconstruction of Jakapil kaniukura as presented by Chilean palaeoartist and palaeontology student at the Río Negro National University Gabriel Díaz Yantén.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2022
In the field he had compared Studer's meagre sections, and consulted the available authorities on physical geology, though he had never entered upon the more popular sister-science of palaeontology.
From The Life of John Ruskin by W. G. (William Gershom) Collingwood
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.
