pa·le·on·tol·o·gy
/ˌpālēənˈtäləjē/
noun
Paleontology or palaeontology (/ˌpeɪliɒnˈtɒlədʒi,
Paleontology lies on the border between biology and geology, but differs from archaeology in that it excludes the study of anatomically modern humans. It now uses techniques drawn from a wide range of sciences, including biochemistry, mathematics, and engineering. Use of all these techniques has enabled paleontologists to discover much of the evolutionary history of life, almost all the way back to when Earth became capable of supporting life, about 3.8 billion years ago.