Paleontology is the study of prehistoric life, including organisms' evolutions and interactions with each other and with their environments. Paleontologists have made observations dating back to the 5th century BC. They study ancient plants, rocks, fish, dinosaurs, mammals, insects, and much more. They search for fossils in rocks from all over the earth, discovering clues that will help them recreate what life was like in the ancient past. Paleontology is a "historical science", which means that instead of conducting experiments to observe effects it aims to explain causes. Paleontologists study fossils to derive what conditions were like during the lifetime of the fossil. Paleontologists can look at a fossil found somewhere and determine the age of the environment surrounding the fossil such as ice or rock. Through a paleontologists studies they can confer reasons as to extinctions, ice ages, and global warmings.
Questions :
1) What is the difference between paleontology, arthropology, and archeology?
2) How do paleontologists date their fossils in order to define the time period from which they came?
3) How can paleontologists use their findings to pridict the Earth's organic and inorganic past?
1. Paleontology is the study of fossils of organims and other ancient materials,archeology is the study of remains left by societies, and anthropology is the study of human cultures. Archeology is a subdivision of anthropolgy, paleontolgy is not.
ReplyDelete2.Paleontolgoists use carbon dating to date fossils.
3. Through paleontolgy they we can gain a better idea of what the environment was like millions of years ago as well as what plants and animals existed.
1. Archeologists work with ancient artifacts made by humans, Paleontology works with fossils left by ancient animals or plants, and anthropology (I'm assuming that's what you ment) related to human culture.
ReplyDelete2. To date their finds, paleontologists use stritigraphy, which uses the layers of rock and sediment where the fossil was found to date it.
3. By using the fossil record, paleontologists can see how organisms have evolved throughout Earth's history. By examining these fossils, paleontologists can also determine other important events in Earth's history, such as mass extinctions and geographical changes.
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ReplyDelete1. Paleontologists study fossils, archaeologists study human artifacts and remains, and anthropology is a social science studying human cultures.
ReplyDelete2. By using stratigraphy, and deciphering the "layer-cake" that is the sedimentary record.
3. By studying fossils they can learn what lived back then as well as how things evolved.