1877 in paleontology

Arthropods

Newly named crustaceans

Newly named insects

Fish

Non-dinosaurian reptiles

Dinosaurs

''Laelaps trihedrodon'', Cope criticizes ''Dryptosaurus''

O. W. Lucas collected the first remains of what would later in the year be named Laelaps trihedrodon from Quarry I of the Saurian Hill at Garden Park, Colorado. Edward Drinker Cope would describe the material later in the year in a short paper titled "On a carnivorous dinosaurian from the Dakota beds of Colorado." The "Dakota beds" he references are actually Morrison Formation strata. Cope claims to have a skeleton of unspecified completeness on which to establish the new species, but only describes a partial dentary which has 5 successional teeth, 2 functional teeth, and one tooth missing from its socket. All of the preceding material has since been lost to science with the exception of 5 broken, partial tooth crowns. From the now missing dentary, Cope infers that the creature is a carnivore and compares its dentition to that belonging to other members of his infamous genus "Laelaps", L. aquilunguis and L. incrassatus. Cope concludes the paper with a pointed criticism of his rival O. C. Marsh's attempt to rename Laelaps as the genus Dryptosaurus because the generic name Laelaps has been used in entomology. Cope claims that since the mite genus Laelaps was a synonym that the name was not truly preoccupied and Marsh's erection of Dryptosaurus has therefore created a new, redundant synonym of Laelaps the dinosaur. However, subsequent researchers have supported Marsh's new name.

''Apatosaurus''

• Apatosaurus specimen found with preserved gastroliths.

New genera

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Synapsids

Non-mammalian

Footnotes

References

• Cannon, G.L. (1907). Sauropodan gastroliths. Science 24, 116.
• Cope, E.D. (1877). On a carnivorous dinosaurian from the Dakota beds of Colorado. Bull. U.S. Geol. Surv. Territories 3: 805–806.
• Sanders F, Manley K, Carpenter K. Gastroliths from the Lower Cretaceous sauropod Cedarosaurus weiskopfae. In: Tanke D.H, Carpenter K, editors. Mesozoic vertebrate life: new research inspired by the paleontology of Philip J. Currie. Indiana University Press; Bloomington, IN: 2001. pp. 166–180.

References

1. Etheridge, R.. (1877). "On the Occurrence of a Macrurous Decapod (Anthrapalæmon? Woodwardi, sp. nov.) in the Red Sandstone, or lowest group, of the Carboniferous Formation in the South-east of Scotland". Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society.
2. Peach, B. N.. (1908). "Monograph on the higher Crustacea of the Carboniferous rocks of Scotland". Printed for H.M. Stationery off., by J. Hedderwick & sons, ltd.
3. Scudder, S. H. (1877). "Appendix to Mr. George M. Dawson's report. The insects of the Tertiary beds at Quesnel". Geological Survey of Canada, Report of Progress for.
4. (1996). "First reliable record of a fossil species of Anthomyiidae (Diptera), with comments on the definition of recent and fossil clades in phylogenetic classification". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.
5. (1930). "The fossil ants of North America.". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology.
6. (2016). "The ant ''Aphaenogaster dlusskyana'' sp. nov. (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from the Sakhalin amber—the earliest described species of an extant genus of Myrmicinae". Paleontological Journal.
7. (1893). "Catalogus Hymenopterorum hucusque descriptorum systematicus et synonymicus.". W. Engelmann.
8. (1890). "The Tertiary insects of North America.". United States Geological Survey of the Territories, Washington.
9. (1994). "Catalogue of the Fossil Flies of the World (Insecta: Diptera)". Backhuys Publishers.
10. Grande, Lance. (1984). "Paleontology of the Green River Formation, with a review of the fish fauna". Bulletin of the Wyoming State Geological Survey.
11. "Introduction," Chure (2001) page 11.
12. Cope (1887) pages 805-806.
13. "Description of 5780," Chure (2001) page 11.
14. Cope (1887) page 806.
15. Cannon (1907). Sanders, Manley, and Carpenter (2001), "Table 12.1" page 167.