Abstract

Paleontology is the study of the history of life through the fossil record. It is part of the Earth sciences because fossils derive from the geological record, and it is part of the biological sciences because paleontology concerns itself with the evolution of life. Paleontology has played a key role in informing anthropology about the history of our own species, Homo sapiens, along with its ancestors and extinct relatives. The fossil record also provides information about the ecological and environmental context in which humans and our ancestors evolved. Paleontology is concerned with evolutionary processes that apply to all species, including our own. The field of paleoanthropology includes researchers focused on human paleontology, primate paleontology, and vertebrate paleontologists studying other taxa associated with hominins or other primates.