PALEONTOLOGY

Paleontology is the study of fossils. A fossil is any trace of a past life form. Although wood, bones, and shells are the most common types of fossils, under certain conditions soft tissue, tracks, and trails can be preserved as fossils.

Paleontology is divided into several different fields:

  1. Paleobotany
  2. Paleoanthropology
  3. Taphonomy
  4. Ichnology
  5. Paleoecology

There are many explanations for why dinosaurs disappeared (asteriod, lack of h20, volcano), and paleontologists devote their lives to studying the fossil records to help determine what happened.

Caveman at Computer

Originally, dinosaurs were thought to be reptiles. The general belief now is that they were early ancestors of birds. More information on dinosaurs is available at many sites on the Web.

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