Etymologically, Paleontology is a word composed of three Greek terms: palaios (ancient), ontos (to be), and logos (treatise, study). Being understood as the science that studies the vegetal and animal beings of the past periods or previous to the current one, which is based on the fossil remains of them.
In sedimentary rocks there are usually remains of living beings from other eras. These beings have undergone a radical change in their nature, having lost almost all, and sometimes completely, animal or plant matter, which was replaced by another mineral or inorganic matter. This operation was carried out with such complete accuracy that the beings preserve not only the shape and appearance, but the smallest details of their organization.
Paleontology is a basic science within the field of Geology and Biology, it constitutes one of the richest sources of information about the history of life; His studies also provide a large amount of information on other aspects of Earth's history such as geological events, geographical changes that have occurred over time, climates that have existed, age of the strata of the earth's crust and ancient sedimentary environments.
At the beginning of the 19th century, when the basic principles of modern geology were established, the true nature of fossils was not known. When determining its application in the relative dating of the strata of the earth's crust and glimpsing its usefulness in the determination of ancient sedimentary environments, Paleontology became consolidated as a formal science.
Given how wide and varied the field of paleontology is, you need to draw on techniques and knowledge from other sciences, using chemical and physical analysis methods as well as mathematical and statistical analysis. Paleontology supports and relies on stratigraphy, sedimentology, petrography, zoology, botany, genetics, embryology, ecology, systematics, or any other area that has a better understanding of fossils.
Paleontology divides its field of research into different disciplines, such as paleobiology, paleobotany, palaeozoology (it differs in invertebrate paleontology and vertebrate paleontology), stratigraphic paleontology (biostratigraphy), biochronology, palaeoecology, palaeogeography, paleobiogeography, and palaeoychnology.
Likewise, the existence of fossils of reduced size has favored the appearance of micropaleontology, which deals with fossilized forms that represent a microscopic character.
