1879 in paleontology

List of years 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 1879.

Ichthyosaurs

Name	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes
Sauranodon	Junior homonym	Marsh	Late Jurassic (Oxfordian)	Sundance Formation	United States	Preoccupied by Sauranodon Jourdan, 1862; renamed Baptanodon Marsh, 1880.

Archosauromorphs

Newly named non-avian dinosaurs

Name	Status	Authors		Age	Unit	Location	Notes
Anoplosaurus[2]	Valid	Harry Govier Seeley		middle Cretaceous (late Albian-early Cenomanian)	Cambridge Greensand	United Kingdom	A nodosaurid ankylosaur, a member of Struthiosaurinae. The type species is A. curtonotus.
Brontosaurus	Valid	Othniel Charles Marsh		Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian-Tithonian)	Morrison Formation	US	An apatosaurine diplodocid.
Camptonotus[3]	Preoccupied.	Othniel Charles Marsh		Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian-Tithonian)	Morrison Formation	US	Preoccupied by Uhler, 1864. Later renamed Camptosaurus.
Coelurus[3]	Valid	Othniel Charles Marsh		Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian-Tithonian)	Morrison Formation	US	A basal coelurosaur. The type species is Coelurus fragilis.
Eucercosaurus[2]	Nomen dubium	Harry Govier Seeley		middle Cretaceous (late Albian-early Cenomanian)	Cambridge Greensand	United Kingdom	An dubious ornithopod.
Labrosaurus[4]	Valid	Othniel Charles Marsh		Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian-Tithonian)	Morrison Formation	US	Junior subjective synonym of Allosaurus. The type species is Allosaurus lucaris Marsh, 1878.
Syngonosaurus[2]	Nomen dubium	Harry Govier Seeley		middle Cretaceous (late Albian-early Cenomanian)	Cambridge Greensand	United Kingdom	A dubious ornithopod. The type species is S. macrocercus.
Vectisaurus[5]	Nomen dubium	Hulke		early Cretaceous (Barremian)	Wessex Formation	United Kingdom	A dubious iguanodont. The type species is Vectisaurus valdensis.

Synapsids

Non-mammalian

Name	Status	Authors	Discovery year	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Macromerion	Valid

References

1. 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.
2. Seeley, H. G., 1879, On the Dinosauria of the Cambridge Greensand: Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, v. 35, p. 591-636.
3. Marsh, O. C., 1879. Notice of New Jurassic Reptiles: American Journal of Science, 3rd series, v. 18, p. 501-505.
4. Marsh, O. C., 1879. Principal Characters of American Jurassic Dinosaurs. Part II: American Journal of Science, 3rd series, v. 17, p. 86-92.
5. Hulke, J. W., 1879, Vectisaurus valdensis, a new Wealden Dinosaur: Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, v. 35, p. 421-424.