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The Ultimate Paleontology Challenge

Know the Basics of Paleontology.
Sucheta Pradhan
If you’re interested in learning about the history and evolution on Earth, you should study Paleontology. Take this challenge to gauge if you’re well-versed with the basics!
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A Scientific Field
Paleontology deals not only with the origin, but also evolution of life on Earth and interactions between organisms that lived through the various historical epochs.
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What’s the Link?
As it studies historical living organisms, paleontology is considered the branch of biology. It is also linked to geology as it studies soils, sediments, and fossils to understand evolution.
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Branched Out
There are seven distinct branches of Paleontology viz., paleobotany, paleozoology, paleoecology, paleobiology, micropaleonotology, palynology, and ichnology.
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What’s Your Profession?
Qualified paleontologists may occupy key positions in professions such as teaching, research, museum curation, oceanography, climatology, state/national park ranger, and so on.
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The Life History
Paleontological study begins from the earliest stages of life on Earth. It involves everything from microorganisms to dinosaurs to marine life. It, however, does not involve the study of Homo sapiens.
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Lost in Antiquity
Paleontological studies trace back evolutionary history to more than 3,000 million years ago (mya). But there have been disputed fossil reports of organisms dating back to almost 3,400 mya too.
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The First Avians
Jurassic was the period when the first birds appeared on the face of the Earth. They are said to have evolved from theropod dinosaurs that had three-toed limbs and hollow bones.
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The First Flowers
Flowering plants first appeared on Earth and even diversified in the Early Cretaceous period between 130 mya and 90 mya. The earliest flowering plant fossil was found in the Yixian Formation, China.
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Extinct (or not)?
Although most dinosaurs went extinct almost 65 mya, one of their groups survived. Birds share several peculiar characteristics with dinosaurs - feathers, three-toed feet, and wishbone.
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Changing Biodiversity
Mass extinction a.k.a. extinction event or biotic crisis is a speedy dip in Earth’s biodiversity. It occurs when the rate of extinction rises significantly in comparison to the rate of speciation.
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The Greek Connection
Herodotus (484–425 BC),  was an ancient Greek writer, geographer, and historian who wrote about marine fossils. His writings indicated that land was once under the surface of water.
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Deep in the Sea
Literally meaning “giant tooth”, Megalodon is an extinct giant shark species that lived between 1.5 mya and 3.6 mya. It is named so as its giant tooth fossils have been recovered by paleontologists.
Did you answer all questions correctly? Do you think you are a paleontology expert now? Let’s see how you have fared!