Home / Common Fossils of Oklahoma / What do paleontologists do? Paleontologists study the record of life on Earth left as fossils. More than 99 percent of all species that have ever lived are extinct, so paleontologists will not run out of work any time soon.

What does a paleontologists do?

Paleontologists use fossil remains to understand different aspects of extinct and living organisms. Individual fossils may contain information about an organism's life and environment.

What are 3 roles paleontologist performs in their job?

determines location of fossils. excavates layers of sedimentary rock to locate fossils. gathers information on the fossils (age, location, etc) uses specific tools to excavate (chisels, drills, picks, shovels, brushes)