1. the study of fossilized footprints, tracks, and other traces left by ancient organisms
Usage: scientific/paleontological term; often used in geology and evolutionary biology

Examples

• Ichnology has revealed important information about how dinosaurs walked and behaved.
• The paleontologist specialized in ichnology, examining ancient trackways preserved in rock.
• Through ichnology, scientists discovered evidence of social behavior in prehistoric animals.
• The museum's ichnology exhibit displayed casts of footprints from the Mesozoic era.
• Ichnology complements skeletal fossil evidence by showing how creatures moved through their environments.