1840 in paleontology
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Paleontology or palaeontology (from Greek: paleo, "ancient"; ontos, "being"; and logos, "knowledge") is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils.[1] This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 1840.
Anapsids
Newly named anapsids
| Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Preoccupied |
Fitzinger |
Early Permian |
Unnamed unit (coal deposits) |
Preoccupied by a non-dinosaurian archosaur named by Geoffroy Saint-Hilare in 1833. Renamed Sphenosaurus. A procolophonid. | |||
Archosauromorphs
Newly named basal archosauromorphs
| Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Riley |
Stutchbury |
Late Triassic (?Rhaetian) |
An archosaur of unknown affinities | ||||
Newly named dinosaurs
Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.[2]
| Name | Status | Authors | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Valid |
Fitzinger |
Junior synonym of Hylaeosaurus. | ||
|
Valid |
Fitzinger |
An iguanodont. New name for "Iguanodon" mantelli von Meyer (1832) (=Iguanodon anglicus Holl (1829)). | ||
Plesiosaurs
Newly named plesiosaurs
| Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Valid |
Owen |
Early Jurassic (Hettangian-Sinemurian) |
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|
Valid |
Owen |
Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) |
A thalassophonean pliosaurid. | ||||
|
Valid |
Owen |
Early Jurassic (Hettangian-Sinemurian) |
A pliosaurid. | ||||
|
Valid |
Owen |
Early Jurassic (Hettangian-Sinemurian) |
A microcleidid. | ||||
|
Valid |
Owen |
Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) |
A cryptoclidid. | ||||
Mammals
Newly named cetaceans
| Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Valid taxon. |
Early Miocene (Burdigalian) |
Unnamed unit |
A squalodontid. | ||||
References
- ↑ Gini-Newman, Garfield; Graham, Elizabeth (2001). Echoes from the past: world history to the 16th century. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. ISBN 9780070887398. OCLC 46769716.
- ↑ Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Retrieved 2008-08-07.
- 1 2 Fitzinger, L.J. 1840. Über Palaeosaurus sternbergii, eine neue Gattung vorweltlicher Reptilien und die Stellung dieser Thiere im Systeme überhaupt. Wiener Mus. Annalen II: pp. 175-187 + plate XI.