= Paleontology
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= Palaeontology
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<Paleontology> investigates past life through <fossils> and their geological context. It combines <anatomy>, <ecology>, <evolution> and evidence about burial and preservation to infer what extinct <organisms> were like and how life changed.
The connection between evidence and history is the central challenge. A <fossil> may preserve a <tooth> but lose its surrounding <soft tissues>; absence of a visible character need not mean the living <organism> lacked it. <Taphonomy> therefore informs both reconstruction of individual <organisms> and interpretation of the <fossil record>.
Experiments following <carcass decay> test that inference directly: anatomically selective loss can remove derived characters and produce <stemward slippage> in a <phylogenetics> analysis.<Non-random decay of chordate characters causes bias in fossil interpretation by Robert S. Sansom and others>[Experimental character-loss sequences]{ref}
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