1763 in paleontology

Fossils

 * The end of a Megalosaurus thighbone, previously misinterpreted by Robert Plot to be the remains of an elephant brought to Britain by the Romans, is subject to further confusion when Richard Brooks publishes a paper naiming it Scrotum humanum. Although he meant this name metaphorically to describe the bone's appearance, this idea is taken seriously by French philosopher Jean-Baptiste Robinet, who believed that nature formed fossils in mimicry of portions of the human anatomy- such as the scrotum.