Paleovirology (The science of "fossil viruses") is the study of viruses or old viral strains that existed in the past and can not be found today. She seeks to trace the waves of past viral infections and come to understand how the infected organisms were able to guard against these attacks. In this way, the knowledge gained contributes to providing a conceptual framework and tools for the development of new medical strategies for the control of pathogenic viruses.
In general, viruses can not fossilize. Therefore, indirect methods are used for their reconstitution. For example, viruses can cause the evolution of their hosts and the signatures of this evolution can be found and interpreted.