Paleontology encompasses many subdisciplines

These include:

• the study of microscopic fossils (micropaleontology)
• the study of fossil plants (paleobotany)
• the study of pollen and spores produced by land plants and protists (palynology)
• the study of invertebrate animal fossils (invertebrate paleontology)
• the study of prehistoric human and proto-human fossils (human paleontology)
• the study of the processes of decay, preservation and the formation on fossils (taphonomy)
• the study of fossil tracks, trails and footprints (ichnology)
• and the study of the ecology and climate of the past (paleoecology).