Palaeontographical Society

Last updated

The Palaeontographical Society is a learned society, established in 1847, and is the oldest extant Society devoted to the advancement of palaeontological knowledge.

Contents

The Society publishes monographs that further its primary purpose, which is to promote the description and illustration of fossil floras and faunas from Great Britain and Ireland. [1] Since starting publishing in March 1848 (Searles Valentine Wood's work [2] ) the Society has published over 600 monographs.

History

The precursor of the Paleontographical Society was The London Clay Club, which was founded in 1836 by James Scott Bowerbank and six other naturalists; the Club was superseded in 1847 by the Palaeontographical Society. [3] The first council of the Society was presided over by Sir Henry Thomas de la Beche. Initial membership included: Prof. Thomas Bell, Frederick E. Edwards, Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton, Hugh Falconer, William H. Fitton, J.W. Flower, Prof. Edward Forbes, Levett Landon Boscawen Ibbetson, Charles Lyell, John Morris, Prof. John Phillips, Joseph Prestwich, Daniel Sharpe, James Smith, Nathaniel T. Wetherell and Alfred White; the Treasurer was Searles Wood, and Honorary Secretary was J.S. Bowerbank. Thirty-seven local secretaries were also appointed. Notable members of the Society included Robert Heddle, William King, Charles Maclaren, Gideon Mantell, Sir Roderick Murchison and Reverend Adam Sedgwick. The membership totalled almost 600 individuals and institutions. In the following years, eminent scientists such as Richard Owen, Charles Darwin, Robert Chambers and Laurent-Guillaume de Koninck joined the ranks of the Society.

Grants and awards

The Palaeontographical Society offers financial support for research dedicated to the taxonomy and systematic palaeontology of British and Irish fossils. [4] The Edward Forbes Prize is awarded for publication excellence by early career researchers in the field of taxonomic and systematic palaeontology; is presented at the Society’s Annual General Meeting. The Richard Owen Research Fund assists with travel, visits to museums, field work, etc. within the Society’s remit.

The Palaeontographical Society Medal is awarded biennially in recognition of a sustained and important series of contributions to the taxonomic and systematic palaeontology of Great Britain and Ireland, especially those which address problems of palaeogeography, palaeoecology and phylogeny. Recipients are not limited to palaeontologists based in the UK and Ireland.

Palaeontographical Society Medal recipients have been:

Famous contributors

Many famous names have published monographs through the Palaeontographical Society. Charles Darwin published his monograph on fossil barnacles, [5] and Richard Owen set out his early descriptions of dinosaurs, [6] as well as his monograph on Mesozoic fossil mammals. [7]

Selected monographs published by the Society

Presidents of the society

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Wright (geologist)</span> 19th-century Scottish physician and paleontologist

Dr Thomas Wright FRS FRSE FGS was a Scottish surgeon and palaeontologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Davidson (palaeontologist)</span> British palaeontologist (1817–1885)

Thomas Davidson was a British palaeontologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John William Salter</span> English naturalist, geologist, and palaeontologist

John William Salter was an English naturalist, geologist, and palaeontologist.

<i>Cetiosaurus</i> Extinct species of reptile

Cetiosaurus meaning 'whale lizard', from the Greek keteios/κήτειος meaning 'sea monster' and sauros/σαυρος meaning 'lizard', is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Period, living about 168 million years ago in what is now Britain.

<i>Altispinax</i> Genus of reptiles (fossil)

Altispinax is a genus of large predatory theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous period of what is now the Wadhurst Clay Formation of East Sussex, England.

Marmarospondylus is a dubious genus of sauropod dinosaur from Middle Jurassic deposits in the English Midlands.

<i>Ornithopsis</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Ornithopsis is a genus of sauropod dinosaur, from the Early Cretaceous of England. The type species, which is the only species seen as valid today, is O. hulkei, which is only known from fragmentary remains, and has been regarded by many authors as dubious.

<i>Nuthetes</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Nuthetes is the name given to a genus of theropod dinosaur, likely a dromaeosaurid, known only from fossil teeth and jaw fragments found in rocks of the middle Berriasian age in the Cherty Freshwater Member of the Lulworth Formation in England and also the Angeac-Charente bonebed in France. As a dromaeosaurid, Nuthetes would have been a small predator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilfred Hudleston Hudleston</span> English geologist, ornithologist and paleontologist

Wilfred Hudleston Hudleston FRS was an English geologist, ornithologist and paleontologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Darwin bibliography</span> Writings of the English scientist

This is a list of the writings of Charles Darwin.

<i>Belemnotheutis</i> Genus of molluscs

Belemnotheutis is an extinct coleoid cephalopod genus from the middle and upper Jurassic, related to but morphologically distinct from belemnites. Belemnotheutis fossils are some of the best preserved among coleoids. Remains of soft tissue are well-documented in some specimens, even down to microscopic muscle tissue. In 2008, a group of paleontologists even recovered viable ink from ink sacs found in several specimens.

Leslie Reginald Cox FRS was an English palaeontologist and malacologist.

<i>Eretmosaurus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Eretmosaurus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur.

Leonard Frank Spath FRS was a British geologist specialising in malacology and ammonitology.

<i>Pleurosternon</i> Extinct genus of turtles

Pleurosternon is an extinct genus of freshwater pleurosternid turtle from the latest Jurassic to earliest Cretaceous of Europe. Its type species, P. bullockii was described by the paleontologist Richard Owen in 1853. Since then, and throughout the late 19th century, many fossil turtles were incorrectly assigned to this genus, though only two are currently considered valid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pteranodontoidea</span> Clade of ornithocheiroid pterosaurs from the Cretaceous period

Pteranodontoidea is an extinct clade of ornithocheiroid pterosaurs from the Early to Late Cretaceous of Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and South America. It was named by Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner in 1996. In 2003, Kellner defined the clade as a node-based taxon consisting of the last common ancestor of Anhanguera, Pteranodon and all its descendants. The clade Ornithocheiroidea is sometimes considered to be the senior synonym of Pteranodontoidea, however it depends on its definition. Brian Andres in his analyses, converts Ornithocheiroidea using the definition of Kellner (2003) to avoid this synonymy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charmouth Mudstone Formation</span> Geological formation in England

The Charmouth Mudstone Formation is a geological formation in England, dating to the Early Jurassic (Sinemurian–Pliensbachian). It forms part of the lower Lias Group. It is most prominently exposed at its type locality in cliff section between Lyme Regis and Charmouth but onshore it extends northwards to Market Weighton, Yorkshire, and in the subsurface of the East Midlands Shelf and Wessex Basin. The formation is notable for its fossils, including those of ammonites and marine reptiles and rare dinosaur remains. The formation played a prominent role in the history of early paleontology, with its Lyme Regis-Charmouth exposure being frequented by fossil collectors including Mary Anning.

Helen Marguerite Muir-Wood was a British paleontologist and historian of paleontology who spent her career at London's Natural History Museum. She is a recipient of the prestigious Lyell Medal for her contributions to the field.

Hylaeochelys is an extinct genus of plesiochelyid turtle that lived during the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous in Portugal, Spain, France, and southern England. The type species was originally named by Richard Owen as Pleurosternon latiscutatum in 1853, before being moved to the new genus Hylaeochelys by Richard Lydekker in 1889. Other species included in the genus are H. belli, H. kappa and H. lata, originally named under different genera by Gideon Mantell and Owen, respectively. All species are represented by carapaces, primarily from the Lulworth Formation of the Purbeck Limestone Group that was deposited during the Berriasian.

References

  1. Palaeontographical Society's official website
  2. Wood, S.V. 1848. The Crag Mollusca. Part I, Univalves Part 1. Monograph of the Palaeontographical Society London: pp i–xii, 1–208, pls 1–21, (Publ 1, part of Volume 1).
  3. "Obituary. Frederick Erasmus Edwards, F.G.S." (PDF). The Geological Magazine. New Series. Decade II. Volume II: 571–572. November 1875.
  4. Palaeontographical Society – Research Funding – Details of Awards/Grants
  5. Darwin, C. 1851. The fossiI Lepadidae. Monograph of the Palaeontographical Society London: pp. 1-vi. 1–88. pls. i–v (Publ 13, part of Volume 5).
  6. Owen, R. 1855. The fossil Reptilia of the Wealden and Purbeck formations. Part 2, Dinosauria. Monograph of the Palaeontographical Society London: pp. 1–54, pls i–xix, xviA. (Publ 27, part of Volume 8).
  7. Owen, Richard. 1871. Monograph of the fossil Mammalia of the Mesozoic Formations. Monograph of the Palaeontographical Society London: pp. i–vi, 1–115, pls 1–4. (Issue 110, part of Volume 24)
  8. "Biographical Notes on Geological Survey Staff" (PDF). British Geological Survey. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  9. Schindler, M. Arthur Smith Woodward:: His Life and Influence on Modern Vertebrate. p. 44.
  10. "Introduction and Bibliography" (PDF). Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  11. "Michael Robert House, 1930–2002". The Geological Society. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  12. "Contributor Profiles". Nature. Retrieved 23 August 2019.