In biomimetic design, functional systems, principles, and processes observed in nature are
used for the development of innovative technical systems. The research on functional features is
often carried out without giving importance to the generative mechanism behind them: evolution.
To deeply understand and evaluate the meaning of functional morphologies, integrative structures,
and processes, it is imperative to not only describe, analyse, and test their behaviour, but also to
understand the evolutionary history, constraints, and interactions that led to these features. The
discipline of palaeontology and its approach can considerably improve the efficiency of biomimetic
transfer by analogy of function; additionally, this discipline, as well as biology, can contribute to the
development of new shapes, textures, structures, and functional models for productive and generative
processes useful in the improvement of designs. Based on the available literature, the present
review aims to exhibit the potential contribution that palaeontology can offer to biomimetic processes,
integrating specific methodologies and knowledge in a typical biomimetic design approach,
as well as laying the foundation for a biomimetic design inspired by extinct species and evolutionary
processes: Paleomimetics. A state of the art, definition, method, and tools are provided, and
fossil entities are presented as potential role models for technical transfer solutions