paleoecologist

1 9.9

A scientist who studies places from long ago and the plants and animals there

noun
/ˌpeɪliˈoʊɪˌkɒlədʒɪst/

Specialized

: paleoecólogo

Paleoecologist David Burney studies how ancient ecosystems were affected by human arrival in Hawaii.

Examples

Chatters, a paleoecologist based in Richland, Washington.

Academic text (1995)
After the teeth were cleaned, to ensure that what we found was definitely part of the fossils, they were examined under a scanning electron microscope at the University of Iowa by Smithsonian paleoecologist Dolores Piperno.

Academic text (1991)
As a paleoecologist, he examines fossils to understand the climate and vegetation of prehistoric eras.
The paleoecologist presented findings on how ice age fauna interacted with their environment millions of years ago.

Surface Forms

paleoecologist singular

paleoecologists plural

Morphology

paleoecologist = ecologist (transparent) = paleo + ecologist + paleo

Meaning is directly derived from the productive combining form 'paleo-' (ancient) plus 'ecologist' (a scientist of ecosystems), so the specialized sense is predictable.

Etymology

The word paleoecologist breaks into paleo- 'ancient', eco- 'home' or 'environment', and -logist 'person who studies'. So a paleoecologist studies ancient environments and the plants and animals that lived there, which is exactly what the job means today.