1903 in paleontology
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life 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 1903.
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Archosauromorphs
    
    Newly named dinosaurs
    
Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.[2]
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gen et sp | Valid | Morrison Formation, Colorado | ||||||
| Haplocanthosaurus[4] | gen et sp | Valid; nomen conservandum | Morrison Formation, Colorado | New name for "Haplocanthus", mistakenly thought preoccupied |  | |||
| gen et sp | Morrison Formation, Colorado | Erroneously thought preoccupied by Haplacanthus Agassiz, 1945 and renamed Haplocanthosaurus. | ||||||
| gen et sp | Valid | Morrison Formation, Wyoming | Known from a single skull and partial skeleton. | |||||
| gen | Valid | Sânpetru Formation, Transylvania | new genus for Limnosaurus Nopcsa, 1899. | |||||
Sauropterygians
    
- Plesiosaur gastroliths documented.[8]
Newly named plesiosaurs
    
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gen et sp | Valid | Kiowa Shale, Kansas | first described as a pterosaur; reidentified in the 1970s | |||||
| gen et sp | Valid |  Brachauchenius lucasi pursuing a generic hesperornithiform bird. | ||||||
| gen et sp | Valid | Smoky Hill Chalk, Kansas | 
 | A polycotylid. | ||||
Synapsids
    
    Non-mammalian
    
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gen et sp | Valid | Middle Abrahamskraal Formation |  | |||||
| gen et sp | Valid |  | ||||||
| gen et sp | Valid | Middle Abrahamskraal Formation | ||||||
Cetaceans
    
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ssp. nov | Valid | Capellini | Late Oligocene (Chattian) | Unnamed deposit | A squalodontid; now recognized as a species of Eosqualodon. | |||
Pholidotes
| Name | Authors | Age | Location | Notes | Images | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metacheiromys | Wortman | 48 Million years ago. | An Eocene Mammal related to modern pangolins. | 
References
    
- Gini-Newman, Garfield; Graham, Elizabeth (2001). Echoes from the past: world history to the 16th century. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. ISBN 9780070887398. OCLC 46769716.
- Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
- Riggs, E.S. 1903. Brachiosaurus altithorax, the largest known dinosaurs. Amer. J. Science 15 (4):pp. 299-306.
- Hatcher, J.B. 1903. Osteology of Haptocanthosaurus. with description of a new species, and remarks on the probable habits of the Sauropoda and the age and origin of the Atlantosaurus beds. Mem. Carnegie Mus. 2: pp. 1-72.
- Hatcher, J.B. 1903. A new name for the Dinosaur Haplocanthus Hatcher. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 16: p.100.
- Osborn, H. F. 1903. Ornitholestes hermanni, a new compsognathoid dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 19: pp. 459-464.
- Nopcsa, F. 1903. Telmatosaurus, new name for the dinosaur Limnosaurus. Geol. Mag. (ser. 4) 10:pp. 94-95.
- Williston (1903). Sanders, Manley, and Carpenter (2001), "Table 12.1" page 167.
- 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.
- Williston, Samuel Wendel; 1903. North American Plesiosaurs; Field Columbian Museum Publication 73, Geological Series; II(I); Field Columbian Museum, Chicago.












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