Paleontology Quizzes

Paleontology is the scientific study of ancient life forms, including plants, animals, fungi and bacteria. It is a subdiscipline of biology and earth science that focuses on the evolutionary history of organisms. Paleontologists use fossils to reconstruct the relationships between species, understand how they evolved over time and how they interacted with their environment. Through research into fossilized remains, paleontologists have been able to gain a better understanding of Earth’s history and its changing climate as well as to uncover information about extinct animals and plants.The field of paleontology seeks to answer questions about the past such as: What type of organisms lived in this region millions of years ago? How did these organisms interact with each other? How did their interactions affect the environment? Did changes in climate or geographic location cause new species to emerge or existing species to go extinct? Paleontologists work in various fields including geology, ecology, genetics and anatomy to piece together this story from Earth’s past.Paleontologists use a variety of methods in order to study ancient life forms. These include researching fossils found at archaeological sites or analyzing sedimentary rocks for clues about ancient environments. They also employ various laboratory techniques such as spectroscopy (which can be used to determine the age of a fossil) or radiometric dating (which can be used to determine when an organism existed). In addition, paleontologists will often examine microfossils (tiny fossils less than 1 millimeter in size) which can provide important information about ancient organisms that may not be visible through traditional means. The discoveries made by paleontologists help us better understand our planet’s history. Through their research we are able learn more about how different plant and animal species evolved over time and how they interacted with one another throughout different eras in Earth’s history . Their findings have helped us develop new medical treatments; find new sources for minerals; improve our understanding of climate change; unlock secrets behind some catastrophic events like extinction levels; and much more.