Question

Study of fossil is
(a) Palaeontology
(b) Herpetology
(c) Saurology
(d) Organic Evolution

Answer 1

Many important shreds of evidence are present around us that show evolution has indeed taken place on earth. The scientific study of life on earth, its geologic past is done by excavating the fossils from the deep layer of the earth.

Complete Step by Step Answer:
The study of a prior life, it's geological past, and classification of organisms based on the fossils of animals and plants are known as Palaeontology. The person who does this study is known as Palaeontologist.
Paleontology connects the evolutionary history of life and their interaction with each other through the fossils.
Paleontology includes various modern sciences like biometric, engineering, and mathematics.
Radiometric dating is used to estimate the dates the fossils belong. This method gives accurate data.
To find out how much the organisms are related to one another the Phylogenetics are used where the DNA is matched to know the similarities in the genomes.
So, the correct answer is, '(a) Palaeontology'.

Additional Information: With the course of evolution, many species go extinct from the earth forever. When the organisms die, its body decomposes and hence is lost in the environment. But when any body part or complete body gets preserved in the rocks or any other form, it becomes a fossil. Hence fossils are the preserved remains of the hard parts of the organisms like bones, teeth, shells, woods, etc. in the rock. As time passed, new rocks formed on the previously formed rocks, and hence a kind of sedimentation took place. The earth’s crust shows rocks or sediments of different ages and it was interpreted that the organisms who died earlier, fossils formed deeper layers and those died later the fossils formed are in the upper layers.

Note:
- The paleontology differs from archaeology as it excludes the study of material culture and human activity.
- By studying the fossils in the different sedimentary layers of the earth’s crust, one can determine the geological period in which the organisms existed.
- The evidence shows that there is an evolutionary relationship in the different geological periods. These pieces of evidence are known as Palaeontological Evidence.
- The rocks of an early era (Proterozoic era) contain a smaller number of fossils than the rocks of a later era. The only fossils present in this era are simple marine invertebrates. It is because the first life originated in the sea as a simple form.
- The distribution of the fossils indicates that the early fossils present in the bottom rocks are simple and thus, the evolution has occurred through the ages.