All these exciting directions are paths that can be pursued through the study of paleontology. To enter paleontology a four-year undergraduate program followed by a M.Sc. is the minimum requirement. Students would normally take courses in the main geological subjects such as stratigraphy and sedimentology as well as in biology. Paleontology is usually available in geology programs and locally, advanced courses may be offered in the undergraduate program. Most paleontologists have doctoral degrees in which they complete a thesis on a particular specialty, usually certain kinds of organisms from a specified period of geological time.
Paleontologists specialize in five main areas.
Those who study the microscopic remains of organic microfossils, such as pollen and spores from plants, are called palynologists. Another group, the invertebrate paleontologists deal with invertebrate fossils such as corals , ammonites , trilobites and molluscs . Paleobotanists study fossil plants and vertebrate paleontologists study fish, mammals, dinosaurs and other vertebrates. Paleontologists are employed in universities, museums, government geological surveys and the petroleum industry. Palynologists, micropaleontologists and some invertebrate paleontologists tend to be employed in applied roles with surveys and companies and as consultants.