Paleontology, palaeontology or palæontology (from Greek: paleo, "ancient"; ontos, "being"; and logos, "knowledge") is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because mankind has encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred in the year 2001.

Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list and Dr. Jeremy Montague's dinosaur genus database.

Laelaps trihedrodon was one of the many species described by Edward Drinker Cope that he referred to his preoccupied genus Laelaps, later renamed Dryptosaurus. Although the type specimen included a partial dentary, all material except for a collection of five damaged partial tooth crowns (AMNH 5780) has been lost. The rediscovered material had lately been mistaken by Mcintosh for the type specimen in 1998. However this identification was impossible because the type's teeth were described by Cope as "smooth" and having a "fine silky luster," while the AMNH 5780 teeth were thoroughly worn and had matrix clinging to them. Most of the type specimen's teeth were successional, but all the AMNH 5780 teeth were functional. AMNH 5780 has many features in common with Allosaurus and is probably referrable to that genus. However some of the Allosaurus-like characters of the tooth are primitive to theropods as a whole and may have been present in the less studied or poorly preserved Morrison theropod species. Consequently the synonymization of L. trihedrodon with Allosaurus is tentative, despite its high likelihood.