The simplest definition of "paleontology" is "the study of ancient life". The field seeks information about several aspects of past organisms: "their identity and origin, their environment and evolution, and what they can tell us about the … See more

Naming groups of organisms in a way that is clear and widely agreed is important, as some disputes in paleontology have been based just on … See more

Paleontology seeks to map out how living things have changed through time. A substantial hurdle to this aim is the difficulty of working … See more

Although paleontology became established around 1800, earlier thinkers had noticed aspects of the fossil record. The ancient Greek philosopher Xenophanes (570–480 … See more

Body fossils
Fossils of organisms' bodies are usually the most informative type of evidence. The most common types are wood, bones, and shells. Fossilisation … See more

Earth formed about 4,570 million years ago and, after a collision that formed the Moon about 40 million years later, may have cooled quickly enough to have oceans and an atmosphere about 4,440 million years ago. There is evidence on the Moon of a Late Heavy Bombardment See more

• Biostratigraphy – Stratigraphy which assigns ages of rock strata by using fossils
• European land mammal age – Rock layers based on … See more