Fudged late apology on such a science (13)

I believe the answer is:

palaeontology

'such a science' is the definition.
(palaeontology is a kind of science)

'fudged late apology on' is the wordplay.
'fudged' indicates anagramming the letters (I've seen 'fudge' mean this).
'late'+'apology'+'on'='lateapologyon'
'lateapologyon' is an anagram of 'PALAEONTOLOGY'.

(Another definition for palaeontology that I've seen is " The study of fossils".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.