Dinosaurs 101

We know so much about dinosaurs, but who figured it out?

Paleontologists of course!!

Here are some fun facts about Paleontologists

1. Paleontology is the study of prehistoric life on Earth, going as far back as 3.8 billion years ago and is what you could call a combination of geology (rocks) and biology.

2. The word paleontology is Greek and comes from a combination of palaios and logos, respectively meaning “old or ancient” and “words or study”.

3. For people that are interesting in pursuing a career in paleontology, you generally need a PhD.  Some of top schools in the US for paleontology include the University of California, Chicago, Michigan, Kansas, Iowa, Ohio State, Cincinnati, and Texas.

4. Dating the fossils can be challenging as radiometric dating doesn’t work to well with locations that fossils are usually found. Stratigraphy is usually used instead, which is estimating the age of the rocks around the fossil and putting the fossil age somewhere in between.

Maybe someday you could become a Paleontologist!