Paleozoology

Palaeozoology, also spelled as Paleozoology (Greek: παλαιόν, palaeon "old" and ζῷον, zoon "animal"), is the branch of paleontology, paleobiology, or zoology dealing with the recovery and identification of multicellular animal remains from geological (or even archeological) contexts, and the use of these fossils in the reconstruction of prehistoric environments and ancient ecosystems.

Other popularly known animal-derived macrofossils include trilobites, crustaceans, echinoderms, brachiopods, mollusks, bony fishes, sharks, Vertebrate teeth, and shells of numerous invertebrate groups.

This is because hard organic parts, such as bones, teeth, and shells resist decay, and are the most commonly preserved and found animal fossils.

Exclusively soft-bodied animals—such as jellyfish, flatworms, nematodes, and insects—are consequently rarely fossilized, as these groups do not produce hard organic parts.

All vertebrates are studied under standard evolutionary generalizations of behavior and life process, although there is controversy over whether population can be accurately estimated from limited fossil resources.

Amphioxus does not possess bone, making it an invertebrate, but it has common features with vertebrates including a segmented body and a notochord.

This information can be used to determine which species were most dominant and which had the largest population at a time period or in a geological region.

Stock and Howard determined this unit to be problematic for quantitative purposes as an excess of a small fossil—such as teeth—could exaggerate quantity of the species.

[3] R. Lee Lyman, Professor and Chair Department of Anthropology at the University of Missouri,[4] writes that paleozoological research can provide data such as extinction rates and causes and "benchmark" peaks and drops in population which can be used to predict future patterns and to design maximally effective methods of controlling these patterns.