古生物学术语表

Ghost Lineage

A lineage inferred to have existed from phylogenetic evidence but lacking fossil documentation. Ghost lineages …

Laser-Stimulated Fluorescence

A technique using ultraviolet or violet lasers to reveal soft-tissue outlines and feather impressions in …

Collagen Preservation

The survival of original protein fragments in fossilized bone. Collagen sequences have been recovered from …

Finite Element Analysis

A computational engineering method applied to fossil bones to model how forces were distributed during …

Lazarus Taxon

A taxon that appears in the fossil record, disappears for a significant interval, then reappears. …

Ancient DNA

Genetic material recovered from fossil or sub-fossil specimens. Ancient DNA degrades rapidly at ambient temperatures; …

Bayesian Phylogenetics

A statistical approach to phylogenetic inference that incorporates prior probabilities and produces probability distributions over …

Molecular Phylogenetics

Reconstructing evolutionary trees using molecular sequence data rather than or in addition to morphology. Applied …

Parsimony

The principle of preferring the evolutionary tree that requires the fewest evolutionary changes to explain …

3D Photogrammetry

Creating precise three-dimensional digital models of fossils from photographs taken at multiple angles. Photogrammetry enables …

Cladistic Analysis

A method of classification that groups organisms based on shared derived characters. Cladistic analysis of …

Crown Group

The clade comprising the living members of a group, their last common ancestor, and all …

Digital Endocast

A virtual model of the brain and inner ear made from CT scans of the …

Stem Group

All fossil relatives of a living group that fall outside the crown group. Non-avian dinosaurs …

Synchrotron Scanning

High-energy X-ray imaging at particle accelerator facilities that reveals microscopic structures inside fossils non-destructively. Synchrotron …