From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpaleontologypal‧e‧on‧tol‧o‧gy (also palaeontology British English) /ˌpæliɒnˈtɒlədʒi, ˌpeɪ- $ ˌpeɪliɑːnˈtɑː/ noun [uncountable] HEthe study of fossils (=ancient bones, plants etc that have been preserved in rock) —paleontologist noun [countable]
Examples from the Corpus
paleontology• But the early debates were conducted almost entirely in terms of comparative anatomy and paleontology.• Many of his paleontology colleagues, however, were predictably outraged, and some remain so to this day.• Two years ago Santana do Cariri, a small town in the heart of the Araripe region, reopened its paleontology museum.• But the same kind of eclipse did not affect that other great area devoted to reconstructing the history of life: paleontology.• The late nineteenth century saw a major expansion of paleontology as new areas were opened up for exploration.• Thus paleontology, the study of ancient life, took its place beside geology.Origin paleontology (1800-1900) paleo- + Greek onta “living things” + English -ology 