What is a Paleontologist? Exploring the Role of These Ancient Detectives Paleontology, the scientific study of life that existed millions of years ago, offers us a glimpse into Earth’s ancient past. The individuals at the forefront of this fascinating field are known as paleontologists. But what is a paleontologist, and what exactly do they do?…
Paleontologists work to understand extinct organisms. Paleontologists use their creativity to learn about past life. Paleontology blends multiple science disciplines such as geology, biology, chemistry, and more. Paleontology also has a healthy amount of artist contributions; paleoart, which reimagines fossil organisms as living specimens, and museum exhibits require an artistic eye. The ways people can…
Typically the first question someone interested in paleontology asks themselves is “what type of fossils do I want to work with?”First, let’s answer the question “what is a fossil?” A fossil is evidence of a previously living organism preserved as a geologic object. These range from bones turning into stone, to impressions of leaves being…
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…
Paleontologists learn about the past by working with fossils and their associated rock formations. There are many ways to work with fossils which can be classified into broader categories. Typically we divide working with fossils into field work, lab work, and collections work. Regardless of what environment we work in and how we work with…