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 1804.
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Mammals edit
- Georges Cuvier describes fossil from the Paris Basin. He determines that two particular taxa based on their fossils were similar to modern mammals such as tapirs, camels, or ruminants but otherwise were not close analogues. He names the perissodactyl Palaeotherium ("old beast") and the artiodactyl Anoplotherium ("unarmed beast").[2][3]
Newly named mammals edit
| Taxon | Novelty | Status | Author(s) | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
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| Palaeotherium | Gen. nov. | Valid | Georges Cuvier | Late Eocene | Paris Basin |  France
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Genus of equoid of the Palaeotheriidae, previously considered to be closely related to and resembling tapirs. |
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| Anoplotherium | Gen. nov. | Valid | Georges Cuvier | Late Eocene | Paris Basin | France
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Genus of artiodactyl belonging to the Anoplotheriidae, endemic to western Europe. |
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References edit
- ^ 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.
- ^ Belhoste, Bruno (2017). "Chapter 10: From Quarry to Paper. Cuvier's Three Epistemological Cultures". In Chemla, Karine; Keller, Evelyn Fox (eds.). Cultures without Culturalism: The Making of Scientific Knowledge. Duke University Press. pp. 250–277.
- ^ Wallace, David Rains (2004). "Chapter 1: Pachyderms in the Catacombs". Beasts of Eden: Walking Whales, Dawn Horses, and Other Enigmas of Mammal Evolution. University of California Press. pp. 1–13.