Palaeontology

Palaeontology is like a big puzzle. But instead of puzzle pieces, we use fossils - which are like the bones or imprints of really old plants and animals that lived a long, long time ago.

Scientists who study palaeontology try to figure out what these old plants and animals looked like, how they lived, and any other cool facts they can learn. They do this by looking at the fossils they find and comparing them to things we already know about today's plants and animals.

For example, they might find the fossil of a dinosaur and see that it had big, sharp teeth. They can compare those teeth to those of other animals with similar teeth and figure out what the dinosaur might have eaten. Or they might find a fossil of a plant and see that it has a long, skinny stem. They can compare it to other plants and figure out if it grew in the ground or if it climbed up something.

Palaeontologists get really excited when they find new fossils, especially ones that tell them something they didn't know before. It's like they're detectives, trying to solve mysteries that happened a really, really long time ago!