paleosystematics
Paleosystematics is a branch of paleontology that focuses on the classification, nomenclature, and evolutionary relationships of extinct organisms. It integrates principles from systematics—the scientific study of the diversity of life and its evolutionary history—with paleontological data to reconstruct phylogenetic trees and understand the evolutionary trajectories of past species.
The field emerged as a response to the need for a structured approach to categorizing fossils, drawing
Key methods in paleosystematics include cladistic analysis, which organizes species into groups based on shared derived
Paleosystematics plays a critical role in reconstructing ancient ecosystems, tracking the rise and fall of major