paleontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

, a chimera is a

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

that was reconstructed with elements coming from more than a single

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of animal. In other words they are mistakes or sometimes hoaxes made by paleontologists, putting together parts that do not come from the same organism. A now classic example of chimera is ''

Protoavis ''Protoavis'' (meaning "first bird") is a problematic taxon known from fragmentary remains from Late Triassic Norian stage deposits near Post, Texas. Much controversy remains over the animal, and there are many different interpretations of what ...

''.

List of paleontological chimeras

Archaeoraptor "Archaeoraptor" is the informal generic name for a fossil chimera from China in an article published in ''National Geographic'' magazine in 1999. The magazine claimed that the fossil was a " missing link" between birds and terrestrial theropod ...

* ''

Dalianraptor ''Dalianraptor'' (meaning "Dalian thief") is a dubious genus of prehistoric bird that lived in China about 120 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous Period that was found in the Jiufotang Formation of China that was initially believed to ...

''? * ''

Lametasaurus ''Lametasaurus'' ( - meaning "Lameta lizard") named for the Lameta Formation, Jabalpur, India, is the generic name given to a possibly chimeric dinosaur species. History of discovery Between October 1917 and 1919 Charles Alfred Matley excavated ...

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'' *

Piltdown Man The Piltdown Man was a paleoanthropological fraud in which bone fragments were presented as the fossilised remains of a previously unknown early human. Although there were doubts about its authenticity virtually from the beginning, the remains ...

* ''

Ultrasauros ''Supersaurus'' (meaning "super lizard") is a genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic period. The type species, ''S. vivianae'', was first discovered by Vivian Jones of Delta, Colorado, in the m ...

'' * ''

Ornithopsis hulkei ''Ornithopsis'' (meaning "bird-likeness") was a medium-sized Early Cretaceous sauropod dinosaur, from England. The type species, which is the only species seen as valid today, is ''O. hulkei''. History of discovery Gideon Algernon Mantell descr ...

'' *

Teihivenator This list of informally named dinosaurs is a listing of dinosaurs (excluding Aves; birds and their extinct relatives) that have never been given formally published scientific names. This list only includes names that were not properly published ...

* ''

Dakotaraptor ''Dakotaraptor'' (meaning “thief from Dakota”) is a potentially chimaeric genus of large dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous period. The remains have been found in the Maastrichtian stage of ...

''? * ''

Avalonianus ''Avalonianus'' is a highly dubious and possibly invalid genus of archosaur from the Late Triassic of England. It was first described in 1898 by Harry Seeley with the name ''Avalonia'',H. G. Seeley. 1898. On large terrestrial saurians from the Rh ...

'' * ''

Kootenichela ''Kootenichela deppi'' is an extinct arthropod described from the Middle Cambrian of the Kootenay National Park, Canada. It is originally considered to be a member of "great appendage arthropods", although subsequent studies questioned its affini ...

''? * ''

Polacanthoides ''Polacanthoides'' (meaning ''Polacanthus like'') is an extinct genus of nodosauridae, nodosaurid dinosaur from Europe. It lived about 140 to 135 million years ago in what is now England. It was named by Nopsca in 1928. The type specimen is BMNH ...

''?Nopcsa, F. (1928), "Palaeontological notes on reptiles." Geologica Hungarica, Series Palaeontologica, tomus, 1, -Pasc. 1, p. 1-84

References

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