[[Datoteka:Maybug.jpg|mini|250px|desno|Prednja krila kornjaša su hitinizirana, a stražnja opnasta.]]
Palinologija proučava današnje i fosilne palinomorfe (čestice između 5 i 500 μm), koji se mogu naći u slojevima stijena, ukljućujući i [[pelud]]. Na osnovu peluda, može se odrediti i vegetacija u prošlosti, kao i klima. Pelud može izdržati dugo vremena, a možemo ga naći i u slojevima jezera, močvara i delta rijeka. Prema peludu možemo istraživati zadnjih 2,5 milionamilijuna godina. <ref> Langdon PG.: "Reconstructing climate and environmental change in northern England through chironomid and pollen analyses: evidence from Talkin Tarn, Cumbria" [http://www.springerlink.com/content/t7m324u675701133/] Barber KE.,Lomas-Clarke SH.</ref> <ref> Birks HH.: "The importance of plant macrofossils in the reconstruction of Lateglacial vegetation and climate: examples from Scotland, western Norway, and Minnesota, USA" 2003., [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6VBC-47YH3W8-2/2/fde5760538b5b3adb92d8564ea968b9a]</ref> <ref> Miyoshi N.: "Palynology of a 250-m core from Lake Biwa: a 430,000-year record of glacial–interglacial vegetation change in Japan" 1999. </ref> <ref> Colin Prentice, Bartlein, Patrick J., Webb, Thompson: Vegetation and Climate Change in Eastern North America Since the Last Glacial Maximum" [http://jstor.org/stable/1941558] 1991.</ref>
