Vertebrate paleozoology Non-mammalian synapsids described in 1854 Name Status Authors Age Unit Location Notes ImagesBathygnathusLeidy, J. 1854. Remarks on Bathygnathus borealis (Article XVI). Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia (2nd Series) Volume VIII, part 4: pp. 449-451;Valid Joseph LeidyEarly PermianUnnamed unitA sphenacodontid pelycosaur.
Nothosaurs described in 1854 Name Status Authors Age Location Notes Deirosaurus Junior synonymOwenLate TriassicJunior synonym of Lariosaurus.
Prehistoric dinosaurs described in 1854 Name Status Authors Age Unit Location NotesImages LeptospondylusOwen, R. 1854. Descriptive catalogue of the fossil organic remains of reptilia contained in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. British Museum (Natural History), London: 184 pages. Junior synonym.Sir Richard OwenEarly Jurassic (Hettangian-Sinemurian)Upper Elliot FormationJunior subjective synonym of Massospondylus. Massospondylus ValidSir Richard OwenEarly Jurassic (Hettangian-Sinemurian)Upper Elliot Formation
A massospondylid. a Small Plant-Eating Sauropodomorph. Nuthetes ValidSir Richard OwenEarly Cretaceous (Berriasian)Purbeck Group A dromaeosaurid. Pachyspondylus Junior synonym.Sir Richard OwenEarly Jurassic (Hettangian-Sinemurian)Upper Elliot FormationJunior subjective synonym of Massospondylus.
Literature The Fossil Spirit: A Boy's Dream of Geology by John Mill was published. The story features a fakir from Hindostan telling a group of boys about his past lives as prehistoric creatures across geologic time. One such life as was lived as an Iguanodon who was attacked by a Megalosaurus. Apart from this fight scene, paleontologist William A. S. Sarjeant has dismissed the book as a "singularly turgid and heavily didactic text."
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