Editing 1861 in science (section)

==Paleontology==
* August 15 – First description of ''[[Archaeopteryx]]'', based on a feather found in [[Bavaria]];<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Meyer|first1=Hermann von|authorlink=Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer|title=Vogel-Federn und Palpipes priscus von Solenhofen|journal=Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geognosie, Geologie und Petrefaktenkunde|date=1861-08-15|page=561|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6RAFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA561|trans-title=Bird feathers and ''Palpipes priscus'' [a crustacean] from Solenhofen|language=German|quote=Aus dem lithographischen Schiefer der Brüche von ''Solenhofen'' in ''Bayern'' ist mir in den beiden Gegenplatten eine auf der Ablösungs- oder Spaltungs-Fläche des Gesteins liegende Versteinerung mitgetheilt worden, die mit grosser Deutlichkeit eine Feder erkennen lässt, welche von den Vogel-Federn nicht zu unterscheiden ist. (From the lithographic slates of the faults of Solenhofen in Bavaria, there has been reported to me a fossil lying on the stone's surface of detachment or cleavage, in both opposing slabs, which can be recognized with great clarity [to be] a feather, which is indistinguishable from a bird's feather.)}}</ref> in September the first complete identified skeleton is found near [[Langenaltheim]] in Germany.<ref>[[Natural History Museum, London]] BMNH 37001. {{cite book|last=Chiappe|first=Luis M.|title=Glorified Dinosaurs|publisher=UNSW Press|year=2007|location=Sydney|pages=118–146|isbn=978-0-471-24723-4}}</ref>