Paleontology, anatomy and stratigraphy terms used on Dinopedia.
Taphonomy
Taphonomie
Branch of paleontology studying the processes by which organisms become fossils: death, decomposition, transport, burial, diagenesis, and exposure. The term comes from Greek taphos (grave) and nomos (law).
Paleontology
Lazarus taxon
Taxon Lazare
Taxonomic group that disappears from the fossil record for a long period then reappears as if resurrected. Named after the biblical Lazarus, this pattern usually reflects a preservation bias rather than true absence.
Paleontology
Thagomizer
Thagomizer
Popular term for the cluster of bony spikes at the end of a stegosaur's tail, likely used as a defensive weapon. The name was coined in 1982 by cartoonist Gary Larson in his Far Side comic strip and subsequently adopted by paleontologists.
Paleontology
Theory of evolution
Théorie de l'évolution
Foundational framework of modern biology, proposed by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in 1858, stating that species change over generations through natural selection acting on heritable variation.
Paleontology
Punctuated equilibrium
Théorie des équilibres ponctués
Evolutionary model proposed by Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould in 1972, arguing that evolution proceeds through long periods of morphological stasis punctuated by brief episodes of rapid change during speciation. Contrasted with Darwinian gradualism.
Paleontology
Volcanic trap
Trapp
Large igneous province formed by massive basaltic lava outpourings over vast areas. The Siberian Traps (end-Permian) and Deccan Traps (end-Cretaceous) are linked to mass extinction events.
Geology
Trilobite
Trilobite
Extinct marine arthropod that thrived from the Cambrian to the end of the Permian (541?252 Ma). Their body is divided into three longitudinal lobes and three regions: cephalon, thorax, and pygidium. They are excellent stratigraphic index fossils.
Biology
Tsunamite
Tsunamite
Sedimentary deposit left by a tsunami, characterized by a chaotic reworked layer often containing mixed marine and terrestrial faunas. Tsunamites are documented at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary.
Geology