Paleohistology

Paleohistology studies microscopic structures preserved in fossilized tissues, especially bone and teeth, to investigate growth, physiology, and life history in extinct organisms.

Bone histology: The microscopic study of bone tissue, including its cells, matrix, and internal architecture. Fossil bone microstructure is paleohistology’s most extensively studied tissue record.
Skeletochronology: The estimation of age from periodic growth marks in bones or other hard tissues. Paleohistologists use preserved growth marks to estimate individual ages.
Histology: The study of the microscopic structure of tissues. Paleohistology applies histological methods to tissues preserved in fossils.
Tyrannosaurus rex: A large carnivorous theropod dinosaur that lived in western North America near the end of the Cretaceous Period. Histological studies of its bones have informed estimates of growth and maturity.
Growth ring: A repeated band or line in biological material that records an interval of growth. Researchers test whether each visible bone mark represents a consistent time interval.
Growth marks: Periodic features in hard tissues that record changes in growth over time. Their spacing and repetition can reveal growth rhythms in fossil bones and teeth.
Dinosaur paleobiology: The study of dinosaurs’ biology, behavior, growth, and ecology using fossil evidence. Bone histology has reshaped estimates of dinosaur growth rates and life histories.
Bone: A mineralized connective tissue that forms the skeletons of vertebrates. Its layered and cellular architecture supplies much of the fossil evidence studied.
Maiasaura: A large duck-billed dinosaur known from extensive fossil remains in Montana. Its fossils helped connect bone growth records with development in a dinosaur population.
Lines of arrested growth: Narrow marks in bone associated with a temporary slowdown or cessation of growth. Their timing and annual regularity remain central to age estimates from fossil bones.

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