1887 in paleontology

List of years in paleontology
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In science 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890
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Paleontology, palaeontology or [palæontology (from Greek: paleo, "ancient"; ontos, "being"; and logos, "knowledge") 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 mankind has 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 1887.

Lepidosaurs

Name	Status	Authors		Age	Unit	Location	Notes
Patricosaurus	Nomen dubium	Harry Govier Seeley		Middle Cretaceous (late Albian to early Cenomanian)	Cambridge Greensand	UK	An indeterminate lepidosaur.[2]

Archosaurs

Classification Events

• Harry Govier Seeley divides the Dinosaurs into two taxa based on the configuration of their hip bones.^[3]

Newly named dinosaurs

Name	Status	Authors		Age	Unit	Location	Notes
Aristosuchus	Valid	Harry Govier Seeley		Early Cretaceous (Barremian)	Wessex Formation	UK	A compsognathid.
Ornithodesmus	Valid	Harry Govier Seeley		Early Cretaceous (Barremian)	Wessex Formation	UK	A member of Paraves.

Plesiosaurs

New taxa

Name	Status	Authors		Notes
Orophosaurus	Valid	Cope
Piptomerus	Valid	Cope

Plants

The Fossil Grove was discovered in Glasgow, Scotland. It contains the fossilised stumps of eleven extinct Lepidodendron trees, which are sometimes described as "giant club mosses" but they may be more closely related to quillworts.

Paleontologists

• Death of George Bax Holmes, a wealthy fossil collector who collaborated with Sir Richard Owen. His collection remains preserved in Brighton's Booth Museum of Natural History.^[4]

References

1. 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.
2. Barrett and Evans, 2002. A reassessment of the Early Cretaceous reptile ‘Patricosaurus merocratus’ Seeley from the Cambridge Greensand, Cambridgeshire, UK. Cretaceous Research. 23, 231-240.
3. Farlow, James O.; M. K. Brett-Surmann (1999). The Complete Dinosaur. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 16. ISBN 0-253-21313-4.
4. Farlow, James O.; M. K. Brett-Surmann (1999). The Complete Dinosaur. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 15. ISBN 0-253-21313-4.