1804 in paleontology
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{{Year in paleontology header|1804}}
Mammals
- Georges Cuvier describes fossil from the Paris Basin. He determines that two particular taxa based on their fossils were similar to modern mammals such as tapirs, camels, or ruminants but otherwise were not close analogues. He names the perissodactyl Palaeotherium ("old beast") and the artiodactyl Anoplotherium ("unarmed beast").{{cite journal|last=Cuvier|first=Georges|year=1804|title=Sur les espèces d'animaux dont proviennent les os fossiles répandus dans la pierre à plâtre des environs de Paris|journal=Annales du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris|language=french|volume=3|pages=275–303|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/51193#page/343/mode/1up}}{{cite book|editor-last1=Chemla|editor-first1=Karine|editor-last2=Keller|editor-first2=Evelyn Fox|last=Belhoste|first=Bruno|year=2017|title=Cultures without Culturalism: The Making of Scientific Knowledge|chapter=Chapter 10: From Quarry to Paper. Cuvier’s Three Epistemological Cultures|publisher=Duke University Press|pages=250–277}}{{cite book|last=Wallace|first=David Rains|year=2004|title=Beasts of Eden: Walking Whales, Dawn Horses, and Other Enigmas of Mammal Evolution|chapter=Chapter 1: Pachyderms in the Catacombs|publisher=University of California Press|pages=1–13}}
=New taxa=
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Taxon
! Novelty ! Status ! Author(s) ! Age ! Unit ! Location ! Notes ! Images |
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Palaeotherium
| Gen. nov. | Valid | Cuvier | {{flag|France}} | Genus of equoid of the Palaeotheriidae, previously considered to be closely related to and resembling tapirs. | |
Anoplotherium
| Gen. nov. | Valid | Cuvier | {{flag|France}} | Genus of artiodactyl belonging to the Anoplotheriidae, endemic to western Europe. | |