What is Paleohistology?

Paleohistology is a highly specialized field within paleontology that studies ancient fossilized tissues such as bone, cartilage, and teeth, using techniques such as thin sectioning, histological staining, and microscopy (for cellular structures). By analyzing the microstructure of fossilized tissues, paleohistologists can provide a very wide variety of insights from extinct organisms, such as: physiology, growth patterns, metabolic rates, adaptations, vertebrate evolution, the origin of flight in birds, the evolution of mammalian reproduction, the diversity of dinosaur life, population demographics, habitat preferences, responses to environmental change, past environments and ecosystems, long-term effects of climate change, mass extinctions, and other evolutionary processes.