Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The branch of paleontology dealing with the study of fossilized footprints, tracks, burrows, or other traces as evidence of the activities of the organisms that produced them.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun That branch of paleontology which treats of fossil footprints; the science of fossil footprints; the study of those animals which are known only by their footprints.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Geol.) The branch of science which treats of fossil footprints.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun paleontology A branch of paleontology concerned with the study of trace fossils. It can be divided into paleoichnology and neoichnology.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Greek ikhnos, footprint + –logy.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From ichno- + -logy.

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Examples

  • The study of trace fossils - called ichnology - is very useful for reconstructing ancient environments.

    Wired Top Stories Brian Romans 2011

  • The work of this international group, published in the latest issue of Geologica Acta, is the first taphonomic (fossilisation process) study done on cetacean remains combined with other paleontological disciplines such as ichnology (the study of trace fossils).

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2009

  • The work of this international group, published in the latest issue of Geologica Acta, is the first taphonomic (fossilisation process) study done on cetacean remains combined with other paleontological disciplines such as ichnology (the study of trace fossils).

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2009

  • The work of this international group, published in the latest issue of Geologica Acta, is the first taphonomic (fossilisation process) study done on cetacean remains combined with other paleontological disciplines such as ichnology (the study of trace fossils).

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2009

  • A golobal overview of pterosaur ichnology: tracksite distribution in space and time. p187-198.

    Flugsaurier: Pterosaur papers in honour of Peter Wellnhofer ReBecca Foster 2009

  • A golobal overview of pterosaur ichnology: tracksite distribution in space and time. p187-198.

    Archive 2009-01-01 ReBecca Foster 2009

  • I read with interest Mark Roessler's article on the Hitchcock ichnology collection in the Amherst Museum of Natural History [ "Dinoscripture: The Older Testament," Dec. 3, 2009], looking for evidence that challenges "at least some of Darwin's theories," as promised in the second title.

    The Valley Advocate: News 2009

  • If he were alive today and still refused to accept the overwhelming evidence for evolution, he would have a very difficult time indeed advancing science in the field of ichnology.

    The Valley Advocate: News 2009

  • Here he pursued one of his major interests - ichnology (studies based on the discovery and analysis of burrows, tracks and trails of early mammals).

    Aspen Times - Top Stories 2009

Comments

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  • "That part of palæontology which treats of fossil footprints." (OED)

    September 5, 2008

  • And other traces of once living organisms, like burrows and toothmarks.

    September 5, 2008

  • Railway telegraphy term meaning "Of no importance". --US Railway Association, Standard Cipher Code, 1906.

    January 23, 2013

  • An animal can only die once, and when it does, there’s a vanishingly slim chance that it will become a fossil: Far, far more often than not, an animal’s carcass will decay and rot until there’s little proof that it ever existed at all. While it’s alive, though, a creature can stamp proof of itself all across the landscape. Ichnology is the study of those preserved tracks, burrows, and other “trace fossils”—and it’s a way for researchers to visualize an animal’s behavior and biomechanics without a body in sight.

    -- https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/white-sands-fossil-footprints

    December 3, 2019