1997 in paleontology
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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.[1] 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 or were published in the year 1997.
Plants
Angiosperms
Prehistoric angiosperms described in 1997 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Fungi
newly named
Prehistoric fungi described in 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Plesiosaurs
Newly Named Plesiosaurs
Currently Valid Plesiosaur Genera Named in 1997 | |||
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Name | Status | Authors | Images |
Augustasaurus | Valid taxon |
Rieppel Bucher | |
Libonectes | Valid taxon |
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Maresaurus | Valid taxon |
| |
Pterosaurs
Newly Named Pterosaurs
Currently Valid Pterosaur Genera Named in 1997 | |||
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Name | Status | Authors | Images |
Eosipterus | Valid taxon |
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Archosauromorps
Dinosaurs
- Paleontologist Karen Chin received a coprolite that was excavated during 1995 from strata dating back to the Maastrichtian in Saskatchewan, Canada. The specimen was about 17 inches (44 cm) long and contained fragments of bone. Due to its size, contents and age, the coprolite was believed to have been the remains of Tyrannosaurus rex feces. This discovery was announced in a 1998 paper published in the journal Nature.
- A Saharan expedition under the leadership of Paul Sereno yielded fruit when a team member stumbled on the bones and skull of Nigersaurus taqueti. During this and a subsequent 1999 expedition about 80% of the animal's skeleton were discovered. Later in the year of the second expedition, a formal description of the animal was published.
- French paleontologist Philippe Taquet reported the finding of fossilized theropod embryos preserved in Portuguese dinosaur eggs. These eggs were from the Jurassic period dating to about 140 million years ago, nearly twice as old as any previously recovered dinosaur embryos, which had only been known from about 70 million years ago in Late Cretaceous strata.
- Psittacosaurus gastroliths documented.[4]
- Panoplosaurus gastroliths documented.[5]
Newly named dinosaurs
Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.[6]
Name | Status | Authors | Notes | Images | |
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"Araucanoraptor"[7] | Nomen nudum later called Neuquenraptor |
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![]() The unpublished name "Wyomingraptor" was a junior synonym of Allosaurus. | |
Archaeoceratops[8] | Valid taxon |
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“Beelemodon”[9] | Nomen nudum |
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"Chihuahuasaurus"[10] | Nomen nudum later called Sonorasaurus |
Ratkevich vide: |
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"Cinizasaurus" | Nomen ex dissertatione |
Heckert vide:
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|
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"Colossosaurus" | Nomen nudum later called Pelorosaurus |
Mantell vide:
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“Eohadrosaurus” | Nomen nudum. Found to be synonymous with Eolambia before a formal description could be published. | ||||
Gojirasaurus[11] | Valid taxon | ||||
Hudiesaurus[12] | Valid taxon | ||||
"Microcephale"[13] | Nomen nudum | ||||
"Orcomimus"[14] | Nomen nudum |
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Protarchaeopteryx[15] | Valid taxon |
|
|
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Rinchenia[16] | Valid taxon | ||||
Siluosaurus[17] | Nomen dubium. | ||||
Unenlagia[18] | Valid taxon |
|
|
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"Wyomingraptor" | Nomen nudum; junior synonym of Allosaurus |
|
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Birds
Newly named birds
Name | Status | Novelty | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
D. Tab Rasmussen |
An Aramidae. |
|||||
Athene angelis [20] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Cécile Mourer-Chauviré Michelle Salotti Elizabeth Pereira Yves Quinif Jean-Yves Courtois Jean-Noël Dubois Jean-Claude La Milza |
Middle Pleistocene |
A Strigidae. |
|||
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Hou Lianhai |
A member of Enantiornithes Walker, 1981. Originally described as a species of Cathayornis;[21] subsequently made the type species of a separate genus Houornis.[22] |
|||||
Chauvireria balcanica [23] |
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Zlatozar N. Boev |
Late Pliocene |
MN 17 |
A Phasianidae. |
||
Confuciusornis chuonzhous [21] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid ? |
Hou Lianhai |
Lower Yixian Formation |
A Confuciusornithidae Hou, Zhou, Gu et Zhang, 1995, possibly a synonym of Confuciusornis sanctus L. H. Hou, Zhou, Gu et Zhang, 1995. |
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Confuciusornis suniae [21] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid ? |
Hou Lianhai |
Lower Yixian Formation |
A Confuciusornithidae Hou, Zhou, Gu et Zhang, 1995, possibly a synonym of Confuciusornis sanctus L. H. Hou, Zhou, Gu et Zhang, 1995. |
|||
Cuspirostrisornis houi [21] |
Gen. nov et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Hou Lianhai |
An Enantiornithes Walker, 1981, Cuspirostrisornithidae Hou, 1997, this is the type species of the new genus. |
||||
Eutreptodactylus itaboraiensis [24] |
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Robert F. Baird Patricia Vickers Rich |
Late Paleocene |
Sao Jose de Itaborai |
Described in the Cuculidae, transferred to the Gracilitarsidae Mayr, 2001 by Mayr. |
||
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
D. Tab Rasmussen |
La Victoria Formation |
A Galbulidae. |
||||
Heliadornis paratethydicus [25] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Jirí Mlíkovský |
Late Pliocene |
MN 15-16 |
A Phaethontidae. |
||
Largirostrornis sexdentoris [21] |
Gen. nov et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Hou Lianhai |
Valanginian, Jiufotang Formation |
An Enantiornithes Walker, 1981, Cuspirostrisornithidae Hou, 1997, this is the type species of the new genus. |
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Liaoningornis longidigitris [26] |
Gen. nov et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Hou Lianhai |
An Enantiornithes Walker, 1981, Liaoningornithiformes L. H. Hou, 1997, Liaoningornithidae Hou, 1997, this is the type species of the new genus. |
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Longchengornis sanyanensis [21] |
Gen. nov et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Hou Lianhai |
An Enantiornithes Walker, 1981, Cuspirostrisornithidae Hou, 1997, this is the type species of the new genus. |
||||
Pasquiaornis hardiei [27] |
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Tim T. Tokaryk Stephen L. Cumbaa John E. Storer |
An Hesperornithiformes Fürbringer, 1888, Baptornithidae American Ornithologists’ Union, 1910, no type species was designated for the new genus. |
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Pasquiaornis tankei [27] |
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Tim T. Tokaryk Stephen L. Cumbaa John E. Storer |
An Hesperornithiformes Fürbringer, 1888, Baptornithidae American Ornithologists’ Union, 1910, no type species was designated for the new genus. |
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Pleistorallus flemingi [28] |
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Wanganui Subdivision |
A Rallidae. |
||||
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Amadeo M. Rea |
Late Pleistocene |
Cave Deposits |
A Psittacidae. |
|||
Rupelrallus saxoniensis [30] |
Gen. nov et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Karlheinz Fischer |
Middle Oligocene |
MP 23-24 |
A Gruiformes, Parvigruidae G. Mayr, 2005. |
||
Songlingornis linghensis [21] |
Gen. nov et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Hou Lianhai |
An Ornithuromorphae Chiappe, Ji, Ji et Norell, 1999, Songlingornithidae Hou, 1997, this is the type species of the new genus. |
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Vanellus madagascariensis [31] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
A Charadriidae. |
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Urmiornis brodkorbi [32] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Aleksandr A. Karkhu |
Early Miocene |
Lower Tarkhanian-Burdigalian? |
An Eogruidae Wetmore, 1934, perhaps should be transferred to the genus Amphipelargus Lydekker, 1891. |
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Synapsids
Non-mammalian
Name | Status | Authors | Discovery year | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
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' |
Valid |
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' |
Valid |
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Eutherians
Name | Status | Authors | Discovery year | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Granastrapotherium snorki[33] |
Valid |
|
1997 |
|
| |||
Valid |
|
1997 |
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An astrapotherian, a species of Xenastrapotherium | ||||
Valid |
|
1997 |
Late Oligocene - Early Miocene |
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An astrapotherian, a species of Xenastrapotherium |
Humans
- Genetecist Michael Hammer reported findings that demonstrate that after the initial "out of Africa" radiation of modern humans at about 100,000 years ago, some humans eventually returned to Africa between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago.
Exopaleontology
- Richard B. Hoover of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center photographs what he believes to be microfossils in the martian Murchison meteorite.
References
- ↑ Gini-Newman, Garfield; Graham, Elizabeth (2001). Echoes from the past: world history to the 16th century. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. ISBN 9780070887398. OCLC 46769716.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Call, V.B.; Dilcher, D.L. (1997). "The fossil record of Eucommia (Eucommiaceae) in North America" (PDF). American Journal of Botany 84 (6): 798–814. doi:10.2307/2445816. PMID 21708632.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 hibbet, D.S.; Grimaldi, D.S.; Donoghue, M.J. (1997). "Fossil mushrooms from Miocene and Cretaceous ambers and the evolution of Homobasidiomycetes". American Journal of Botany 84 (8): 981–991. doi:10.2307/2446289.
- ↑ Xu (1997). Sanders, Manley, and Carpenter (2001), "Table 12.1" page 167.
- ↑ Carpenter (1997). Sanders, Manley, and Carpenter (2001), "Table 12.1" page 167.
- ↑ Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Retrieved 2008-08-07.
- ↑ Novas, F.E. 1997. South American Dinosaurs. In: Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs (J. Currie and K. Padian, Eds.). Academic Press, San Diego, California/London, UK: pp. 678-689.
- ↑ Dong, Z.M. and Y. Azuma. 1997. On a primitive neoceratopsian from the Early Cretaceous. In: Sino-Japanese Slik Road Dinosaur Expedition (Z.M. Dong, ed.). China Ocean Press, Beijing: pp. 68-89.
- ↑ Bakker, R.T 1997. Raptor family values: Allosaur parents brought giant carcasses into their lair to feed their young. In: Dinofest International: Proceedings of a Symposium sponsored by Arizona State University (D.L. Wolberg, E. Stump, and G.D. Rosenberg, eds.). Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia: pp. 51-63.
- ↑ Ratkevich, R.P. 1997. Sonorasaurus: Dinosaur of the dessert. Tucson, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Publication Series vide [Anonymous] 1997.
- ↑ Carpenter, K. 1997. A giant coelophysoid (Ceratosauria) theropod from the Upper Triassic of New Mexico, USA. Neües Jahrbuch fur Geologie und Palaontologie, Abhandlungen, 205 (2): pp. 189-208.
- ↑ Dong, Z.-M. 1997. A Gigantic Sauropod (Hudiesaurus sinojapanorum gen. et. sp. nov.) from the Turpan Basin, China. In: Sino-Japanese Silk Road Dinosaur Expedition (Z.-M. Dong, ed.). China Ocean Press: pp. 102-110.
- ↑ Sereno, P.C. 1997. Systematics, evolution and polar wanderings of margin-headed dinosaurs (Ornithischia: Marginocephalia). In: The age of dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia (M.Benton, E. Kurochkin, M. Shishkin and D. Unwin, eds.). Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, UK.
- ↑ Triebold, M. 1997. The Sandy Site: small dinosaurs from the Hell Creek Formation of South Dakota. Dinofest 1997: pp. 245-248.
- ↑ Ji, Q. and S. Ji. 1997. A Chinese archaeopterygian, Protarchaeopteryx gen. nov. Geological Science and Technology (Di Zhi Ke Ji) 238 (1997): pp. 38-41.
- ↑ Barsbold, 1997 vide Osmolska, H., P.J. Currie, and B. Barsbold. 2004. Oviraptorosauria, Chapter Eight: Holtz, T. R., Jr (2004) Tyrannosauroidea; Chapter Five. In: The Dinosauria (2nd edition, D.B. Weishampel, P. Dodson, and H. Osmolska, eds.). California University Press: pp. 165-183.
- ↑ Dong, Z.-M. 1997. A small ornithopod from Mazongshan area, Gansu Province, China. In: Sino-Japanese Silk Road Dinosaur Expedition (Z.- M. Dong, ed.). China Ocean Press, Beijing: pp. 24–26.
- ↑ Novas, F.E. and P.F. Puerta. 1997. New evidence concerning avian origins from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia. Nature 387: pp. 390- 392.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 D. Tab Rasmussen (1997). "Birds". In: Kay, R.F.; Madden, R.H.; Cifelli, R.L. & Flynn, J.J., eds. Vertebrate Paleontology in the Neotropics: the Miocene Fauna of La Venta, Colombia Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.: 171–183.
- ↑ Cécile Mourer-Chauviré, Michelle Salotti, Elizabeth Pereira, Yves Quinif, Jean-Yves Courtois, Jean-Noël Dubois & Jean-Claude La Milza (1997). "Athene angelis n. sp. (Aves, Strigiformes) Nouvelle Espèce Endémique Inlaire Éreinte du Pléistocène Moyen et Supérieur de Corse (France)" (PDF). Comptes Rendus Acad. Sci. Paris 324: 677–684.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5 21.6 21.7 Hou Lianhai (1997). "Mesozoic Birds of China" (PDF). Natou, Taiwan: Taiwan Feng Huang Gu Bird Garden, English Translation: 1–153.
- ↑ Min Wang and Di Liu (2015). "Taxonomical reappraisal of Cathayornithidae (Aves: Enantiornithes)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. in press. doi:10.1080/14772019.2014.994087.
- ↑ Zlatozar N. Boev (1997). "Chauvireria balcanica Gen. N., Sp. N. (Perdicinae - Galliformes) from the Middle Villafranchian of Western Bulgaria". Geologica Balcanica 27 (3-4): 69–78.
- ↑ Robert F. Baird & Patricia Vickers Rich (1997). "Eutreptodactylus itaboraiensis Gen. et Sp. Nov., an Early Cuckoo (Aves: Cuculidae) from the Late Paleocene of Brazil". Alcheringa 21 (2): 123–127. doi:10.1080/03115519708619179.
- ↑ Jirí Mlíkovský (1997). "A New Tropicbird (Aves: Phaethontidae) from the Late Miocene of Austria" (PDF). Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien. Ser. A 98: 151–154.
- ↑ Hou Lianhai (1997). "A Carinate Bird from the Upper Jurassic of Western Liaoning, China". Chinese Science Bulletin 42 (5): 413–417. doi:10.1007/bf02884235.
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 Tim T. Tokaryk, Stephen L. Cumbaa & John E. Storer (1997). "Early Cretaceous Birds from Saskatchewan, Canada, the Oldest Avifauna Known from North-America". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 17 (1): 172–176. doi:10.1080/02724634.1997.10010961.
- ↑ Trevor H. Worthy (1997). "A Mid-Pleistocene Rail from New Zealand". Alcheringa 21 (1): 71–78. doi:10.1080/03115519708619186.
- ↑ Amadeo M. Rea (1997). "The Indeterminate Parrot of Nuevo León". in: A. R. Phillips & R. W. Dickerman (comp.): The Era of Allan R. Phillips; a Festschrift Alberquerque, New Mexico, Horizon Communications, Robert Dickerman: 167–176.
- ↑ Karlheinz Fischer (1997). "Neue Vogelfunde aus dem Mittleren Oligozän des Weißelsterbeckens bei Leipzig (Sachsen)". Mauritiana 16: 271–288.
- ↑ Steven M. Goodman (1997). "Description of a New Species of Subfossil Lapwing (Aves: Charadriiformes, Charadriidae, Vanellus) from Madagascar". Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, série 4, Section C 18 (1): 607–614.
- ↑ Aleksandr A. Karkhu (1997). "A New Species of Urmiornis (Gruiformes: Ergilornithidae) from the Early Miocene of Western Kazakhstan". Palaeontological Journal 31: 102–107.
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 Johnson, Steven C. & Madden, Richard H. 1997. Uruguaytheriinae Astrapotheres of Tropical South America. Chapter 22 in Vertebrate Paleontology in the Neotropics. The Miocene Fauna of La Venta, Colombia. Edited by Richard F. Kay, Richard H. Madden, Richard L. Cifelli, and John J. Flynn. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington and London.
- Carpenter, K. (1997) Ankylosaurs. In J.O. farlow and M.K. Brett-Surman (eds.), The complete dinosaur, pp. 307–316. Bloomington Indiana University Press.
- Xu, X. (1997) A new psittacosaur (Psittacosaurus mazongshanensis sp. nov.) from Mazongshan area, Gansu province, China. In. Z.-M. Dong (ed.), Sino-Japanese Silk Road Dinosaur Expedition, pp. 48–67. Institute of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology Academia Sinica. Beijing: China Ocean Press.
- Sanders F, Manley K, Carpenter K. Gastroliths from the Lower Cretaceous sauropod Cedarosaurus weiskopfae. In: Tanke D.H, Carpenter K, editors. Mesozoic vertebrate life: new research inspired by the paleontology of Philip J. Currie. Indiana University Press; Bloomington, IN: 2001. pp. 166–180.