Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of
prehistoriclife 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 1808.
Fossils
The famed
Georges Cuvier publishes illustrations of vertebrae discovered near
Honfleur. He mistakenly describes them as
crocodilian, although later researchers have concluded that these remains almost certainly belonged to a
theropod dinosaur.[2]
References
^Gini-Newman, Garfield; Graham, Elizabeth (2001). Echoes from the past: world history to the 16th century. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
ISBN9780070887398.
OCLC46769716.
^Farlow, James Orville; Brett-Surmann, M. K. (1999). The Complete Dinosaur. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 6.
ISBN9780253213136.
OCLC37107117.