Paleontology or palaeontology 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 1859.
Plants
Angiosperms
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Synonymized taxa | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Sp nov |
jr synonym |
First described as a violaceous species. |
Dinosaurs
New taxa
| Taxon | Novelty | Status | Author(s) | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compsognathus longipes | Gen. et. sp. nov. | Valid | Wagner | Tithonian | Solnhofen Limestone |  Germany
|
A compsognathid. | 
|
| Hadrosaurus foulkii[3] | Gen. et sp. nov. | Valid | Leidy | Campanian | Woodbury Formation |  New Jersey
|
A hadrosaurid. | |
| "Scelidosaurus"[4] | Invalid | Nomen nudum | Owen | Sinemurian | Blue Lias |  UK
|
A basal thyreophoran. | 
|
Pterosaurs
- Buckman described a clutch of 4.5 cm long oval-shaped fossil eggs from Middle Jurassic marine rock in the United Kingdom. He erected the new oogenus and oospecies Oolithes bathonicae for them, the first time fossil eggs had been given their own unique taxonomic name.[5]
New taxa
| Taxon | Novelty | Status | Author(s) | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dimorphodon[4] | Gen. nov. | Valid | Owen | Sinemurian | Blue Lias | UK
|
A new generic name for Pterodactylus macronyx. | 
|
Synapsids
Non-mammalian
| Taxon | Novelty | Status | Author(s) | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galesaurus | 252 Millions of years ago |  South Africa
|
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.
- ^ Correa-Narvaez, J. E.; Manchester, S. R. (2021). "Distribution and Morphological Diversity of Palaeocarpinus (Betulaceae) from the Paleogene of the Northern Hemisphere". The Botanical Review. 88 (2): 161–203. doi:10.1007/s12229-021-09258-y. S2CID 237795532.
- ^ Leidy, J. 1859. Extinct vertebrata from the Judith River and Great Lignite Formations of Nebraska. American Philosophical Society Transactions 11:pp. 139-154.
- ^ a b Owen, R. 1859. On the order of fossil and recent reptilia, and their distribution in time. Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science: pp. 153-166.
- ^ Wellnhofer, Peter (2008). "A short history of pterosaur research". Zitteliana B. 28: 7–19.
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