xenopaleontology

English

Etymology

xeno- +‎ paleontology

Noun

xenopaleontology (uncountable)

1. (rare, science fiction) The study of past extraterrestrial life forms.
   • 1981 June, Joel Hagen, “Xenopaleontology”, in Heavy Metal, volume 5, number 3, page 42:

     Text excerpts from: An Introduction to Xenopaleontology: The Study of Ancient Extraterrestrial Life. Interplanetary Council Public Document #3664. 18, Mulburn, Peters, et. al., 2 May 2389.

   • 1990, Paul Preuss, The Medusa Encounter, Avon Books, →ISBN, page 122:

     J. Q. R. Forster, professor of xenopaleontology and xenoarchaeology at King's College, London, was engrossed in a leather-bound volume from a shelf of 19th-century classics when Blake and the commander entered the library.

   • 2004 March 9, Herb Schaltegger, “Re: "Avoiding the 'F word' on Mars -- F*SSIL" -- Oberg”, in alt.alien.visitors‎^[1] (Usenet):

     I would vehemently hope that in some far-future day a real, honest-to-goodness human geology/xenopaleontology crew is sent to Mars and that it sets down in that same area and seriously examines some of these things up close and^[sic] great detail.

   • 2014, Gavin Deas, Empires: Extraction, Hachette UK, →ISBN, page 26:

     When it had left the system, the tool-users were in the middle of a spirited attempt to wipe themselves out, which led the frigate to one hypothesis that the biological material the freighter was carrying had been some sort of xenopalaeontology expedition to preserve the species; […]