1824 in paleontology

Dinosaurs

William Buckland realizes that fossils he previously believed to be of cetacean origin were actually Iguanodon fossils. This mistake cost him the chance to describe the genus himself.

Plesiosaurs

New taxa

Taxon

Novelty

Status

Author

Age

Unit

Location

Notes

Images

Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus

Sp. nov.

Valid

Sinemurian, 199 mya

England

Pterosaurs

Cuvier reiterated his previous conclusions that Pterodactylus was a reptile that flew with membranous wings. He also advanced novel speculations about its paleobiology, like that it used the claws on its wings to climb trees and "crawled" quadrupedally when not in flight rather than walking on its hind limbs.