Timeline of paleontology

Timeline of paleontology

Antiquity – 16th century

17th century

  • 1665 — In his book Micrographia Robert Hooke compares petrified wood to wood, concludes that petrified wood formed from wood soaked in mineral-rich water, and argues that fossils like Ammonite shells were produced the same way, sparking debate over the organic origin of fossils and the possibility of extinction.
  • 1669 — Nicolas Steno writes that some kinds of rock formed from layers of sediment deposited in water, and that fossils were organic remains buried in the process.
  • 1699 - Edward Lhuyd names the new sauropod genus and species "Ruttelum implicatum". By doing so, he names the first prehistoric creature that is recognizable as a dinosaur.[citation needed]

18th century

  • 1770 — The fossilized bones of a huge animal are found in a quarry near Maastricht in the Netherlands. In 1808 Georges Cuvier identified it as an extinct marine reptile and in 1822 William Conybeare names it Mosasaurus.
  • 1789 — The skeleton of a large animal is unearthed in Argentina. In 1796 Cuvier reports that it had an affinity to modern tree sloths and names it Megatherium.
  • 1796 — Cuvier presents a paper on living and fossil elephants that shows that mammoths were a different species from any living elephant. He argues that this proved the reality of extinction, which he attributes to a geological catastrophe.
  • 1800 — Cuvier writes that a drawing of a fossil found in Bavaria shows a flying reptile; in 1809 he names it Pterodactyl.

19th century

20th century

21st century

See also


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