Paleobiology

Paleobiology (sometimes spelled palaeobiology) is a growing and comparatively new discipline which combines the methods and findings of the natural science biology with the methods and findings of the earth science paleontology. It is occasionally referred to as "geobiology."

Paleobiological or paleobiologic research uses biological field research of current biota and of fossils millions of years old to answer questions about the molecular evolution and the evolutionary history of life. In this scientific quest, macrofossils, microfossils and trace fossils are typically analyzed. However, the 21st-century biochemical analysis of D.N.A. and R.N.A. samples offers much promise, as does the biometric construction of phylogenetic trees.

An investigator in this field is known as a paleobiologist. Some of the more important research areas of paleobiologists are listed below:

Paleobotany

 * applying the principles and methods of paleobiology to flora, especially green land plants, but also including the fungi and seaweeds (algae). See also plant fossil, mycology, phycology and dendrochronology.

Paleozoology

 * using the methods and principles of paleobiology to understand fauna, both vertebrates and invertebrates. See also vertebrate and invertebrate paleozoology, as well as paleoanthropology.

Micropaleobiology

 * applying paleobiologic principles and methods to archaea, bacteria, protists, microscopic pollen/spores, and perhaps someday viruses. See also microfossils, palynology, and microorganisms.

Paleobiochemistry

 * using the methods and principles of organic chemistry to detect and analyze molecular-level evidence of ancient life, both microscopic and macroscopic.

Paleoecology

 * examining past ecosystems, climates, and geographies so as to better comprehend prehistoric life.

Paleotaphonomy

 * analyzing the post-mortem history (for example, decay and decomposition) of an individual organism in order to gain insight on the behavior, death and environment of the fossilized organism.

Paleoichnology

 * analyzing the tracks, borings, trails, burrows, impressions, and other trace fossils left by ancient organisms in order to gain insight into their behavior and ecology.

Stratigraphic paleobiology

 * studying long-term secular changes, as well as the (short-term) bed-by-bed sequence of changes, in organismal characteristics and behaviors.  See also stratification, sedimentary rocks and the geologic time scale.

Evolutionary developmental paleobiology

 * examining the evolutionary aspects of the modes and trajectories of growth and development in the evolution of life -- clades both extinct and extant.  See also adaptive radiation, cladistics, evolutionary biology, developmental biology and phylogenetic tree.

Paleobiologists
The founder or "father" of modern paleobiology is said to be Baron Franz Nopcsa (1877 to 1933), a turn-of-the-century Balkan scientist. He is also known as Baron Nopcsa, Ferenc Nopcsa, and Franz Nopcsa von Felsö-Szilvás. He initially termed the discipline "paleophysiology."