In the early days of paleontology, paleontologists focused on collecting fossils and turning them into display pieces. Not much science was actually done. Paleontologists just wanted to find the new scariest monster and get famous from it. Now, we are more interested in doing proper science and sharing our findings with everyone. There are many ways for people to research fossils, which are typically based on their own personal passions. Being a paleontologist is about finding your passion and sharing it with others. Hopefully we can pique your interest with some examples of what people can do with fossils.
Taphonomy is the study of decay, fossilization, and the preservation/erosion of fossil material. Taphonomists look at the many factors occurring after the death of an organism which impacted the conditions of fossils. Taphonomic factors can impact the remains of an organism before they fossilize, during fossilization, and after they have fossilized.
Paleobiology aims to understand how fossil organisms behaved and functioned during its life. For instance, paleobiology can be used to find out the bite force of Tyrannosaurus rex. Suddenly Tyrannosaurus rex is a dynamic animal again with the right research. We can also look at the pathologies of individual specimens, the diseases and injuries that impacted an individual. What caused an injury, what healed, how did it heal, and what never healed? These are all questions to ask with pathology.
Paleoecology is similar to paleobiology. Paleoecology looks at fossil material in order to understand how life worked. Modern ecology looks at how living and non-living components of an environment interact with each other in order to create a dynamic ecosystem. Paleoecology aims to do the same thing. Paleoecologists have an additional challenge to completing this task. Modern ecologists can make direct observations on how ecosystems behave, paleoecologists cannot since the ecosystems they study are long gone. Paleoecologists have to use multiple environmental proxies to make inferences on what past environments might have been like.
Paleoclimatologists use similar methods as paleoecologists, but focus more so on the climate of the environment.
Paleoanthropologists combine paleontology and archeology. By looking at hominid fossils and artifacts, paleoanthropologists try to understand humanity’s past. Paleoanthropologists want to understand the long span of human history that was never recorded. Sometimes the material paleoanthropologists work with is so recent it is not fully fossilized.
Paleoartists combine science and art to better communicate and interpret paleontological findings. Science communication improves the impact of research. Many people are visual learners so effective paleoart comes in handy. It is one thing to draw a cartoon of a dinosaur with oversized teeth and random spikes everywhere. It is another matter to depict extinct animals in a scientifically meaningful way based on the data available.
And most importantly, we need the public. Public interest in paleontology is what keeps us going. It funds our work and gives us the motivation we need to keep pushing paleontology forward.