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1874 In Paleontology
Dinosaurs Publications *Richard Owen publishes a monograph on Wealden and Purbeck reptiles, classifying ''Scelidosaurus'', ''Iguanodon'' and ''Echinodon ''Echinodon'' is a genus of heterodontosaurid dinosaur that lived during the earliest Cretaceous of southern England and possibly western France in the Berriasian epoch. The first specimens were jaw bones named ''Echinodon becklesii'' by Sir Ric ...'' in the new dinosaur clade Prionodontia. Newly named dinosaurs Ichthyosaurs New taxa Plesiosaurs New taxa Pterosaurs Newly named pterosaurs Squamates Newly named mosasaurs References {{Reflist 1870s in paleontology Paleontology, 1874 In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Owen
Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804 – 18 December 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and paleontologist. Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkable gift for interpreting fossils. Owen produced a vast array of scientific work, but is probably best remembered today for coining the word '' Dinosauria'' (meaning "Terrible Reptile" or "Fearfully Great Reptile"). An outspoken critic of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, Owen agreed with Darwin that evolution occurred, but thought it was more complex than outlined in Darwin's ''On the Origin of Species''. Owen's approach to evolution can be considered to have anticipated the issues that have gained greater attention with the recent emergence of evolutionary developmental biology. Owen was the first president of the Microscopical Society of London in 1839 and edited many issues of its journal – then known as ''The Microscopic Journal''. Owen also c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ischyrosaurus
"Ischyrosaurus" (meaning "strong lizard", for its large humerus; name in quotation marks because it is preoccupied) was a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Kimmeridgian-age Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay of Dorset, England. History and taxonomy "Ischyrosaurus" is based on a partial humerus (NHMUK R41626) found in 1868. John Hulke described it briefly in 1869, then named it in 1874. The genus is preoccupied by a name Edward Drinker Cope coined in 1869. Like most sauropod remains from the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous of Europe, it was initially synonymized with ''Ornithopsis'' to create the new combination ''O. manseli'',Lydekker, R. (1888). ''Catalogue of the Fossil Reptilia and Amphibia in the British Museum (Natural History). Part I. Containing the Orders Ornithosauria, Crocodilia, Dinosauria, Squamata, Rhynchocephalia, and Proterosauria.'' British Museum (Natural History):London, 1-309. then wih ''Pelorosaurus'' as ''P. manseli''. von Huene, F. (1909). Skizze zu einer Sys ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eretmosaurus
''Eretmosaurus'' is an extinct genus of plesiosaur. Taxonomic history ''Eretmosaurus'' was coined by Harry Govier Seeley for ''Plesiosaurus rugosus'' Owen, 1840. Richard Owen had coined the name ''P. rugosus'' for numerous vertebrae from the Early Jurassic Blue Lias of Gloucestershire and other unspecified locations in the UK. Later, Owen described a headless skeleton (NHMUK 14435) that he assigned to ''P. rugosus'',R. Owen. 1865. A monograph of the fossil Reptilia of the Liassic formations. Part I, Sauropterygia. Palaeontographical Society Monographs 17(75):1-40 and Seeley used NHMUK 14435 as the basis for coining a new genus for this species. See also * List of plesiosaur genera * Timeline of plesiosaur research * * List of plesiosaurs This list of plesiosaurs is a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the order Plesiosauria, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera that are now cons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cryptoclidid
Cryptoclididae is a family of medium-sized plesiosaurs that existed from the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous. They had long necks, broad and short skulls and densely packed teeth. They fed on small soft-bodied preys such as small fish and crustaceans. The earliest members of the family appeared during the early Bajocian, and they represented the dominant group of long-necked plesiosaurs during the latter half of the Jurassic. Classification In 2010, two supposed late Cretaceous members of the group were reclassified as other kinds of plesiosauroids. ''Kaiwhekea'' was reclassified to Leptocleididae, and ''Aristonectes'' was transferred to Elasmosauridae. Cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to d ... based on Ketchum and Benson (2010): References External ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colymbosaurus
''Colymbosaurus'' is a genus of cryptoclidid plesiosaur from the Late Jurassic ( Callovian-Tithonian) of the UK and Svalbard, Norway. There are two currently recognized species, ''C. megadeirus'' and ''C. svalbardensis''. Both species are relatively medium-sized plesiosaurs, reaching in length and in body mass. Taxonomy The first remains attributate to ''Colymbosaurus'' were described as a new species of ''Plesiosaurus'', ''P. trochantericus''. The holotype of the species, NHMUK 31787, a humerus (upper arm bone), comes from the Kimmeridgian Kimmeridge Clay Formation of Shotover, Oxfordshire, England. Richard Owen, however, misidentified the bone as a femur, an identification corrected in an 1871 publication on the geology of Oxfordshire. In the meantime, other plesiosauroid remains were being described from the Kimmeridge Clay by independent workers. The species ''Plesiosaurus megadeirus'' was coined for two partial postcranial specimens in a publication cataloging Mesozoi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ophthalmosaurid
Ophthalmosauridae is an extinct family of thunnosaur ichthyosaurs from the Middle Jurassic to the early Late Cretaceous (Bajocian - Cenomanian) worldwide. Almost all ichthyosaurs from the Middle Jurassic onwards belong to the family, until the extinction of ichthyosaurs in the early Late Cretaceous. Opthalmosaurids appeared worldwide during early Bajocian, subsequent to the disappearance of most other ichthyosaur lineages after the end of the Toarcian. Currently, the oldest known ophthalmosaurids is ''Mollesaurus'' from the early Bajocian of Argentina, as well as indeterminate remains of the same age from Luxembourg and Canada. Named by George H. Baur, in 1887, the family contains the basal taxa like ''Ophthalmosaurus''. Appleby (1956) named the taxon Ophthalmosauria which was followed by some authors, but these two names are often treated as synonyms; Ophthalmosauridae has the priority over Ophthalmosauria. However, some researchers argue that Ophthalmosauridae should be restricte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oxford Clay Formation
The Oxford Clay (or Oxford Clay Formation) is a Jurassic marine sedimentary rock formation underlying much of southeast England, from as far west as Dorset and as far north as Yorkshire. The Oxford Clay Formation dates to the Jurassic, specifically, the Callovian and Oxfordian ages, and comprises two main facies. The lower facies comprises the Peterborough Member, a fossiliferous organic-rich mudstone. This facies and its rocks are commonly known as lower Oxford Clay. The upper facies comprises the middle Oxford Clay, the Stewartby Member, and the upper Oxford Clay, the Weymouth Member. The upper facies is a fossil poor assemblage of calcareous mudstones. Oxford Clay appears at the surface around Oxford, Peterborough and Weymouth and is exposed in many quarries around these areas. The top of the Lower Oxford Clay shows a lithological change, where fissile shale changes to grey mudstone. The Middle and Upper Oxford Clays differ slightly, as they are separated by an argillaceou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Callovian
In the geologic timescale, the Callovian is an age and stage in the Middle Jurassic, lasting between 166.1 ± 4.0 Ma (million years ago) and 163.5 ± 4.0 Ma. It is the last stage of the Middle Jurassic, following the Bathonian and preceding the Oxfordian. Stratigraphic definitions The Callovian Stage was first described by French palaeontologist Alcide d'Orbigny in 1852. Its name derives from the latinized name for Kellaways Bridge, a small hamlet 3 km north-east of Chippenham, Wiltshire, England. The base of the Callovian is defined as the place in the stratigraphic column where the ammonite genus ''Kepplerites'' first appears, which is the base of the biozone of '' Macrocephalites herveyi''. A global reference profile (a GSSP) for the base had in 2009 not yet been assigned. The top of the Callovian (the base of the Oxfordian) is at the first appearance of ammonite species '' Brightia thuouxensis''. Subdivision The Callovian is often subdivided into three substages ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ophthalmosaurus
''Ophthalmosaurus'' (meaning "eye lizard" in Greek) is an ichthyosaur of the Jurassic period (165–150 million years ago). Possible remains from the Cretaceous, around 145 million years ago, are also known. It was a relatively medium-sized ichthyosaur, measuring long and weighing . Named for its extremely large eyes, it had a jaw containing many small but robust teeth. Major fossil finds of this genus have been recorded in Europe with a second species possibly being found in North America. Description ''Ophthalmosaurus'' was a medium-sized ichthyosaur, measuring long and weighing . It had a robust, streamlined body that was nearly as wide as it was tall in frontal view. Like other derived ichthyosaurs ''Ophthalmosaurus'' had a powerful tail ending in a pronounced bi-lobed caudal fluke whose lower half was formed around the caudal spine whereas the upper lobe was made up entirely from soft tissue. The limbs of ''Ophthalmosaurus'' were short and rounded with the forelimbs bein ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triceratops
''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of herbivore, herbivorous Chasmosaurinae, chasmosaurine Ceratopsidae, ceratopsid dinosaur that first appeared during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 68 million years ago in what is now North America. It is one of the last-known non-avian dinosaur genera, and became extinct in the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago. The name ''Triceratops'', which literally means 'three-horned face', is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words () meaning 'three', () meaning 'horn', and () meaning 'face'. Bearing a large bony neck frill, frill, three horn (anatomy), horns on the skull, and a large four-legged body, exhibiting convergent evolution with rhinoceroses and bovines, ''Triceratops'' is one of the most recognizable of all dinosaurs and the most well-known ceratopsid. It was also one of the largest, up to long and in body m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polyonax
''Polyonax'' (meaning "master over many") was a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur from the late Maastrichtian-age Upper Cretaceous Denver Formation of Colorado, United States. Founded upon poor remains, it is today regarded as a dubious name. History During an 1873 trip through the western US, paleontologist and naturalist Edward Drinker Cope collected some fragmentary dinosaurian material which he soon named as a new genus.Cope, E.D. (1874). Report on the stratigraphy and Pliocene vertebrate paleontology of northern Colorado. ''Bulletin of the U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories''. 9:9-28. Catalogued today as AMNH FR 3950, the type material included three dorsal vertebrae, limb bone material, and what are now known to be horn cores, from a subadult individual. Although it was briefly mixed up with hadrosaurs, and even considered to be a possible synonym of ''Trachodon'',Hatcher, J.B. (1902). The genus and species of the Trachodontidae (Hadrosauridae, Cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sauropod
Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their body), and four thick, pillar-like legs. They are notable for the enormous sizes attained by some species, and the group includes the largest animals to have ever lived on land. Well-known genera include ''Brachiosaurus'', ''Diplodocus'', ''Apatosaurus'' and ''Brontosaurus''. The oldest known unequivocal sauropod dinosaurs are known from the Early Jurassic. ''Isanosaurus'' and ''Antetonitrus'' were originally described as Triassic sauropods, but their age, and in the case of ''Antetonitrus'' also its sauropod status, were subsequently questioned. Sauropod-like sauropodomorph tracks from the Fleming Fjord Formation (Greenland) might, however, indicate the occurrence of the group in the Late Triassic. By the Late Jurassic (150 million yea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
