micropalaeontologists
my-kroh-pay-lee-on-TOL-uh-jists
Definition
Scientists who study microscopic fossils to understand ancient life forms, environments, and geological history.
Etymology
The word is a combination of the Greek 'mikros' (small), 'palaios' (ancient), and 'ontos' (being), joined with the suffix '-logist' meaning one who studies a particular subject.
In the news
The article uses the term to describe the experts who rely on plankton fossils to date rocks and reconstruct ancient marine conditions, noting that these scientists have been hindered by standard laboratory methods that destroy certain types of fossils.
Scientists looked inside a rock pellet smaller than a grain of rice and found a 445-million-year-old world preserved within it — more than 20 microscopic marine organisms, including a species never seen before
Read the full article ↗ScienceBlog.com