paleoecology

[pey-lee-oh-i-kol-uh-jee, pal-ee-o-]

noun

1. the branch of ecology dealing with the relations and interactions between ancient life forms and their environment.

paleoecology

1. The branch of ecology that deals with the interaction between ancient organisms and their environment.

Other Word Forms

• paleoecological adjective
• paleoecologist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of paleoecology¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; paleo- + ecology

Example Sentences

Kowalewski and his colleagues specialize in marine paleoecology and co-authored the study with a focus on fossil beds in the world's oceans.

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The study convincingly demonstrates that people were on the Azores as early as about 700, says Simon Connor, a geographer at the Australian National University who studies the paleoecology of the archipelago.

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“Ancient DNA repeatedly demonstrates how much more complex evolutionary histories and paleoecology are than we might otherwise derive from studies of bones and fossils,” Murchie says.

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They estimated the sizes of the sharks and the known geographical history and paleoecology of the area.

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“Highlighting uncertainty is consistent with the biggest attacks on the climate science community,” said Jacquelyn Gill, an associate professor of paleoecology and plant ecology at the University of Maine.

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