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