Paleobiology

Fossil mytilid bivalves attached to a gastropod in shallow marine sediments of the Jurassic Matmor Formation, southern Israel.

Paleobiology is a branch of science which studies animals, plants and microbes buried in rock. These stoney items are called fossils. Paleobiology combines biology with the study of these fossils. There are several branches of paleobiology:

Paleobotany – Study of ancient plants
Paleozoology
Micropaleobiology
Paleobiochemistry
Paleoecology – Uses fossils to learn about how the environment was long ago
Taphonomy
Paleoichnology
Stratigraphic paleobiology
Evolutionary developmental paleobiology – Studies how animals changed over time