1801 in paleontology
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 1801.
Reptiles
- French anatomist Georges Cuvier restudied a bizzare fossil illustrated by Collini. He reinterpreted its forelimbs as wings and deemed it a flying reptile. This fossil would be named Pterodactylus in 1809.[2]
Paleontologists
- Birth of German paleontologist Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer[3]