Chimera (paleontology)

In paleontology, a chimera is a fossil that was reconstructed with elements coming from more than a single species or genus of animal. In other words, they are mistakes or sometimes hoaxes made by paleontologists, putting together parts that do not come from the same organism. A now classic example of chimera is Protoavis.

List of paleontological chimeras

Archaeoraptor^[1]^[2]

Avalonianus^[3]

Bagaraatan^[4]

Dakotaraptor^[5]^[6]

Dalianraptor?^[7]^[8]

Kootenichela?^[9]

Lametasaurus?^[10]

Luchibang^[11]

Ornithopsis hulkei^[12]

Piltdown Man^[13]

Polacanthoides?^[14]

Precursor? ^[15]

Protoavis^[16]^[17]

Saurophaganax^[18]

Teihivenator^[19]

Ultrasauros^[20]

References

^ Mayell, Hillary (2002-11-20). "Dino Hoax Was Mainly Made of Ancient Bird, Study Says". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
^ Rowe, Timothy; Ketcham, Richard A.; Denison, Cambria; Colbert, Matthew; Xu, Xing; Currie, Philip J. (March 2001). "The Archaeoraptor forgery". Nature. 410 (6828): 539–540. doi:10.1038/35069145. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 11279483. S2CID 205015615.
^ P. M. Galton. 1998. Saurischian dinosaurs from the Upper Triassic of England: Camelotia (Prosauropoda, Melanorosauridae) and Avalonianus (Theropoda, ?Carnosauria). Palaeontographica Abteilung A 250(4-6):155-172
^ Słowiak, Justyna; Brusatte, Stephen L; Szczygielski, Tomasz (2024-02-16). "Reassessment of the enigmatic Late Cretaceous theropod dinosaur, Bagaraatan ostromi". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad169. ISSN 0024-4082.
^ DePalma, Robert A.; Burnham, David A.; Martin, Larry D.; Larson, Peter L.; Bakker, Robert T. (2016-12-02). "Corrigendum to: The first giant raptor (Theropoda: Dromaeosauridae) from the Hell Creek Formation". Paleontological Contributions. doi:10.17161/1808.22120. hdl:1808/22120. S2CID 90672743.
^ Arbour, V.M.; Zanno, L.E.; Larson, D.W.; Evans, D.C.; Sues, H. (2015). "The furculae of the dromaeosaurid dinosaur Dakotaraptor steini are trionychid turtle entoplastra". PeerJ. 3: e1957. doi:10.7717/peerj.1691. PMC 4756751. PMID 26893972.
^ O'Connor, Sun, Xu, Wang and Zhou (2012). "A new species of Jeholornis with complete caudal integument." Historical Biology, 24(1): 29-41.
^ Matthew Martyniuk (2012-08-10). "DinoGoss: The Strange Bird Dalianraptor cuhe". Dinogoss.blogspot.com.au. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
^ Aria, Cédric; Zhao, Fangchen; Zeng, Han; Guo, Jin; Zhu, Maoyan (2020-01-08). "Fossils from South China redefine the ancestral euarthropod body plan". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 20 (1): 4. doi:10.1186/s12862-019-1560-7. ISSN 1471-2148. PMC 6950928. PMID 31914921.
^ Chakravarti, D. K., 1935, "Is Lametasaurus indicus an armored dinosaur?", American Journal of Science 30(5): 138-141
^ Hone, David W. E.; Jiang, Shunxing; Fitch, Adam J.; Xu, Yizhi; Xu, Xing (2024). "A reassessment on Luchibang xingzhe: A still valid istiodactylid pterosaur within a chimera". Palaeontologia Electronica. 27 (2). a41. doi:10.26879/1359.
^ Blows, W.T. (1995). "The Early Cretaceous brachiosaurid dinosaurs Ornithopsis and Eucamerotus from the Isle of Wight, England". Palaeontology. 38 (1): 187–197.
^ Webb, Jonathan (10 August 2016). "Piltdown review points decisive finger at forger Dawson". BBC. Archived from the original on 23 July 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
^ Nopcsa, F. (1928), "Palaeontological notes on reptiles." Geologica Hungarica, Series Palaeontologica, tomus, 1, -Pasc. 1, p. 1-84
^ Harrison, C. J. O.; Walker, C. A. (1977). "Birds of the British Lower Eocene". Tertiary Research, Special Paper. 3: 1–52.
^ Wagner, Jonathan R. (18 Oct 1997). "Re: Protoavis?". Dinosaur (Mailing list). Retrieved 2009-08-11.
^ Currie, Philip J.; Zhao, Xi-Jin (1993-10-01). "A new troodontid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) braincase from the Dinosaur Park Formation (Campanian) of Alberta". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 30 (10): 2231–2247. Bibcode:1993CaJES..30.2231C. doi:10.1139/e93-194. ISSN 0008-4077.
^ Danison, Andrew; Wedel, Mathew; Barta, Daniel; Woodward, Holly; Flora, Holley; Lee, Andrew; Snively, Eric (2024-12-21). "Chimerism in specimens referred to Saurophaganax maximus reveals a new species of Allosaurus (Dinosauria, Theropoda)". Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology. 12. doi:10.18435/vamp29404. ISSN 2292-1389.
^ Brownstein, Chase D. (2018-05-01). "A tyrannosauroid tibia from the Navesink Formation of New Jersey and its biogeographic and evolutionary implications for North American tyrannosauroids". Cretaceous Research. 85: 309–318. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.01.005. ISSN 0195-6671.
^ Curtice, B., Stadtman, K., and Curtice, L. (1996) "A re-assessment of Ultrasauros macintoshi(Jensen, 1985)." Pp. 87-95 in M. Morales (ed.), The Continental Jurassic: Transactions of the Continental Jurassic Symposium, Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin number 60.

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[1] Mayell, Hillary (2002-11-20). "Dino Hoax Was Mainly Made of Ancient Bird, Study Says". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-13.

[2] Rowe, Timothy; Ketcham, Richard A.; Denison, Cambria; Colbert, Matthew; Xu, Xing; Currie, Philip J. (March 2001). "The Archaeoraptor forgery". Nature. 410 (6828): 539–540. doi:10.1038/35069145. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 11279483. S2CID 205015615.

[3] P. M. Galton. 1998. Saurischian dinosaurs from the Upper Triassic of England: Camelotia (Prosauropoda, Melanorosauridae) and Avalonianus (Theropoda, ?Carnosauria). Palaeontographica Abteilung A 250(4-6):155-172

[4] Słowiak, Justyna; Brusatte, Stephen L; Szczygielski, Tomasz (2024-02-16). "Reassessment of the enigmatic Late Cretaceous theropod dinosaur, Bagaraatan ostromi". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad169. ISSN 0024-4082.

[5] DePalma, Robert A.; Burnham, David A.; Martin, Larry D.; Larson, Peter L.; Bakker, Robert T. (2016-12-02). "Corrigendum to: The first giant raptor (Theropoda: Dromaeosauridae) from the Hell Creek Formation". Paleontological Contributions. doi:10.17161/1808.22120. hdl:1808/22120. S2CID 90672743.

[:0-6] Arbour, V.M.; Zanno, L.E.; Larson, D.W.; Evans, D.C.; Sues, H. (2015). "The furculae of the dromaeosaurid dinosaur Dakotaraptor steini are trionychid turtle entoplastra". PeerJ. 3: e1957. doi:10.7717/peerj.1691. PMC 4756751. PMID 26893972.

[7] O'Connor, Sun, Xu, Wang and Zhou (2012). "A new species of Jeholornis with complete caudal integument." Historical Biology, 24(1): 29-41.

[8] Matthew Martyniuk (2012-08-10). "DinoGoss: The Strange Bird Dalianraptor cuhe". Dinogoss.blogspot.com.au. Retrieved 2014-02-02.

[9] Aria, Cédric; Zhao, Fangchen; Zeng, Han; Guo, Jin; Zhu, Maoyan (2020-01-08). "Fossils from South China redefine the ancestral euarthropod body plan". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 20 (1): 4. doi:10.1186/s12862-019-1560-7. ISSN 1471-2148. PMC 6950928. PMID 31914921.

[10] Chakravarti, D. K., 1935, "Is Lametasaurus indicus an armored dinosaur?", American Journal of Science 30(5): 138-141

[Hone2024-11] Hone, David W. E.; Jiang, Shunxing; Fitch, Adam J.; Xu, Yizhi; Xu, Xing (2024). "A reassessment on Luchibang xingzhe: A still valid istiodactylid pterosaur within a chimera". Palaeontologia Electronica. 27 (2). a41. doi:10.26879/1359.

[12] Blows, W.T. (1995). "The Early Cretaceous brachiosaurid dinosaurs Ornithopsis and Eucamerotus from the Isle of Wight, England". Palaeontology. 38 (1): 187–197.

[13] Webb, Jonathan (10 August 2016). "Piltdown review points decisive finger at forger Dawson". BBC. Archived from the original on 23 July 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.

[14] Nopcsa, F. (1928), "Palaeontological notes on reptiles." Geologica Hungarica, Series Palaeontologica, tomus, 1, -Pasc. 1, p. 1-84

[15] Harrison, C. J. O.; Walker, C. A. (1977). "Birds of the British Lower Eocene". Tertiary Research, Special Paper. 3: 1–52.

[16] Wagner, Jonathan R. (18 Oct 1997). "Re: Protoavis?". Dinosaur (Mailing list). Retrieved 2009-08-11.

[17] Currie, Philip J.; Zhao, Xi-Jin (1993-10-01). "A new troodontid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) braincase from the Dinosaur Park Formation (Campanian) of Alberta". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 30 (10): 2231–2247. Bibcode:1993CaJES..30.2231C. doi:10.1139/e93-194. ISSN 0008-4077.

[chimera-18] Danison, Andrew; Wedel, Mathew; Barta, Daniel; Woodward, Holly; Flora, Holley; Lee, Andrew; Snively, Eric (2024-12-21). "Chimerism in specimens referred to Saurophaganax maximus reveals a new species of Allosaurus (Dinosauria, Theropoda)". Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology. 12. doi:10.18435/vamp29404. ISSN 2292-1389.

[19] Brownstein, Chase D. (2018-05-01). "A tyrannosauroid tibia from the Navesink Formation of New Jersey and its biogeographic and evolutionary implications for North American tyrannosauroids". Cretaceous Research. 85: 309–318. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.01.005. ISSN 0195-6671.

[20] Curtice, B., Stadtman, K., and Curtice, L. (1996) "A re-assessment of Ultrasauros macintoshi(Jensen, 1985)." Pp. 87-95 in M. Morales (ed.), The Continental Jurassic: Transactions of the Continental Jurassic Symposium, Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin number 60.

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