Paleontology is what science? What does paleontology study?

Paleontology is a science that studies the features of the structure and life activity of organisms that existed in the geological past, according to the preserved fossil remains, traces of life activity and oricotocenosis.

Modern paleontology

It can also be described as a science that studies all manifestations of life that are accessible to research in past ecological periods at all levels of life (organism, population, biogeocenosis).

The object of the study allows us to state that paleontology is a biological science that is closely related to geology, which makes extensive use of research results and at the same time serves as an indispensable source of information about the environment of life. It is this relationship that determines the integrity of paleontology, which tracks together with other factors the evolution of the development of living nature in the distant geological past.

Goal and tasks

As already mentioned, the science of paleontology studies extinct organisms that lived in the geological past. That is, the purpose of the study involves the elucidation of all aspects of their existence. This, in particular, the structure (morphology) and taxonomy; Distribution in space and time; Ways and patterns of evolution; Way of life and habitat.

All tasks are interrelated. So, the very study of morphological features is not an end in itself, but is in close connection with the systematization of organisms. A strictly scientific system can not be built without studying evolutionary aspects, and the paths of historical development of groups of animals and plants can not be traced without information about the consistent arrangement of their residues in the layers and the influence of environmental factors on organisms. Morphofunctional analysis gives an idea of the relationship of a way of life with the morphology of beings. Thus, the ultimate and most important task of paleontology is the knowledge of the evolution of the organic world in the historical development of the Earth.

Classification

Paleontology is the science of extinct organisms of various origins. This criterion formed the basis of classification, and also determined the existence of several divisions:

• Paleozoology deals with the study of fossil remains of organisms of animal origin. It, in turn, is divided into two sections: the first explores ancient invertebrates, and the second - the ancient vertebrates.
• Paleobotany is dedicated to the study of fossil plants. There are many branches of science in its structure. This is paleoalogology (study of fossil algae), and paleopolanology (studying fossilized pollen residues and spores of ancient plants), etc.
• Paleomycology. The object of its study are fossil fossils .
• Micropaleontology. This conditional name is used when it comes to the study of the remains of ancient microorganisms (benthic protozoa, ostracods, various zooplankton and phytoplankton, bacteria).
• Paleoecology studies the connections of organisms that existed in the distant past, among themselves and with their environment in the scale of the population and ecosystem.
• Paleobiogeography considers regularities of locations of ancient organisms in close connection with the evolution of climates, tectonics, etc.
• Biostratonomy and tafonomy deal with the study of patterns of distribution and burial of ancient remnants.

History of paleontology: origins

The correct interpretation of knowledge about the nature of fossils is the merit of Chinese and European naturalists of the Renaissance. In the XVII century, two scientists (N. Steno, R. Guk) practically simultaneously, independently of each other, begin to speak for the first time of extinct species. And MV Lomonosov after a hundred years develops the views of his predecessors, suggesting that in the living nature, in the process of its formation, constant evolutionary changes occurred.

The same ideas are advanced by scientists from other countries: the Frenchmen J. Buffon and J. Sulawy, the British J. Getton.

The foundations of paleontology began to form when, at the beginning of the 19th century, William Smith was able to substantiate the mechanism for determining the age group of geological strata by the example of invertebrate fossils and based on his assumptions the first geological map in history.

Paleontology as a scientific discipline. History of formation

The foundation of it as a scientific discipline is the merit of J. Cuvier, who, having carried out a profound comparative anatomical analysis of the remains of the bones of ancient mammals, in fact created the paleontology of vertebrates.

A few decades later the French botanist Adolf Bronyar published his work "Histories of Fossil Plants". Thus, he laid the foundations of paleobotany.

Paleontology is a science that was formerly called petromatognosia. The first mention of the current name dates back to the beginning of the XIX century. Finally, science acquired its name in the 1840s, when the Frenchman D. Orbigny began to use the term "paleontology" in his publications.

Relationship with other sciences

Paleontology is a scientific discipline that is in close connection with other biological sciences. This relationship is mainly due to the partial use of methods of related sciences: population genetics, developmental biology, cytology, biochemistry, biometrics and others.

Conducting modern paleontological studies is often accompanied by the use of new methods based on the application of various kinds of radiation, chemical analysis, electron and scanning microscopy, etc. A close interrelation and mutual enrichment with such disciplines as comparative anatomy, morphology and taxonomy of animals and plants is proved. The need for morpho-functional analysis and study of morphogenesis of skeletal structures of fossils stipulates interpenetration of paleontology, physiology, embryology, biomechanics.

At the present stage, there is an expansion of the connections of paleontology with ecological sciences (biogeocenology, biogeography) in view of the accumulation of a large amount of material that allows comparative historical analysis of ancient organisms with the help of methods of actualism.