Glossaire de palรฉontologie
essential terms and definitions for paleontology and dinosaur science.
Stratigraphy & Dating
15 termsTerms related to geological time, rock layers, and methods for determining the age of fossils.
Index Fossil
A fossil of an organism that lived for a short, well-defined time period and is โฆ
Superposition
The principle that in undisturbed rock sequences, lower layers are older than upper layers. This โฆ
Taphonomy
The study of what happens to organisms after death, including decay, burial, and fossilization processes. โฆ
Unconformity
A surface representing a gap in the geological record where erosion or non-deposition occurred. Unconformities โฆ
K-Pg Boundary
The geological boundary marking the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction 66 million years ago. An asteroid impact โฆ
Formation
A distinct rock unit with consistent characteristics, often named for the location where it was โฆ
Iridium Anomaly
An unusually high concentration of the element iridium in geological layers corresponding to the K-Pg โฆ
Impact Winter
The hypothesized period of global cooling following the Chicxulub asteroid impact, caused by dust and โฆ
Lagerstรคtte
An exceptional fossil deposit with unusually high preservation quality or quantity. The Yixian Formation in โฆ
Mesozoic Era
The Age of Reptiles spanning 252 to 66 million years ago. Divided into three periods: โฆ
Radiometric Dating
Methods using the decay of radioactive isotopes to determine the absolute age of rocks and โฆ
Assemblage Zone
A stratigraphic interval characterized by a specific combination of fossil taxa. Dinosaur assemblage zones help โฆ
Biostratigraphy
The use of fossil organisms to date and correlate rock layers. Index fossils that lived โฆ
Correlation
The process of matching rock layers of the same age from different locations. Paleontologists use โฆ
Facies
A body of rock with characteristic features reflecting the environment in which it was deposited. โฆ