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 1874.
Dinosaurs
- Richard Owen publishes a monograph on Wealden and Purbeck reptiles, classifying Scelidosaurus, Iguanodon and Echinodon in the new dinosaur clade Prionodontia.[2]
New taxa
Ichthyosaurs
New taxa
| Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Valid |
Seeley |
Middle Jurassic (Callovian) |
An ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur. |
Plesiosaurs
New taxa
| Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Valid |
Seeley |
Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) |
A cryptoclidid, new genus for "Plesiosaurus" megadeirus Seeley, 1869 |
||||
|
Valid |
Seeley |
Early Jurassic (Hettangian-Sinemurian) |
A member of Microcleididae; new genus for "Plesiosaurus" rugosus Owen, 1840. | ||||
|
Hector |
Late Cretaceous (late Campanian-Maastrichtian) |
An elasmosaurid. | |||||
|
Valid |
Seeley |
Middle Jurassic (Callovian) |
A cryptoclidid. | ||||
|
Valid |
Seeley |
Early Jurassic (Toarcian) |
A rhomaleosaurid; new genus for "Plesiosaurus" cramptoni Carte and Bailey, 1863 |
Pterosaurs
Newly named pterosaurs
| Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Valid |
Owen |
Early Cretaceous (Valanginian) |
A member of Ornithocheiridae. |
||||
|
Jr. synonym |
Owen |
Jr. synonym of Ornithocheirus. |
Squamates
Newly named mosasaurs
| Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taniwhasaurus | Valid | Hector | Late Campanian | Conway Formation |
 |
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.
- ^ Owen, R. (1874). Monograph on the Fossil Reptilia of the Wealden and Purbeck Formations. Supplement No. V. Dinosauria (Iguanodon). Palaeontographical Society. pp. 1–18.
- ^ a b c d e Cope, E.F. (1874). "Review of the Vertebrata of the Cretaceous Period found west of the Mississippi River". Bulletin of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories. First Series. 2: 3–48.
- ^ Cope, E.F. (1874). "Report on the stratigraphy and Pliocene vertebrate paleontology of northern Colorado". Bulletin of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories. 1 (1): 9–22.
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