1957 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 1957.
Scientific advances
Invertebrate paleozoology
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Gen et sp nov |
jr synonym |
Viana & Haedo Rossi, 1957 |
Ventana Formation |
Extinct Myrmeciin ant genus, |
Vertebrate paleozoology
Data coutersy of George Olshevky's dinosaur genera list.[3]
| Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lexovisaurus[4] | Nomen dubium |
Middle Jurassic (Callovian) |
A stegosaurid. | |||||
| Lusitanosaurus[5] | Nomen dubium |
|
Early Jurassic |
Unnamed unit |
A basal thyreophoran. | |||
| Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Valid |
|
Middle Triassic |
Potrereillos Formation |
A traversodontid; a replacement name for Colbertia Minoprio (1954) | ||||
|
Scalenodontoides[7] |
Valid |
|
A traversodontid. | |||||
People
Awards and recognition
Popular culture
Literature
- Plutonia: An Adventure Through Prehistory by Russian geologist Vladimir Obruchev was published. The novel depicts a team of scientists, who find an arctic entry to a subterranean realm populated by dinosaurs. Other forms of prehistoric life and giant tortoises also made an appearance in Obruchev's underworld. Paleontologist William A. S. Sarjeant describes this novel's ending as "blea[k]" because after returning to the surface all of the scientists become involved in World War I and "all their trophies and even their lives are lost." The novel's portrayal of sauropods as being able to move about effectively on land was notable because at the time most scientists believed that sauropods relied on buoyancy in water to help support their body weight.[8]
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.
- ↑ Dlussky, G.M. (2012). "New Fossil Ants of the Subfamily Myrmeciinae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Germany". Paleontological Journal 46 (3): 288–292. doi:10.1134/s0031030111050054.
- ↑ Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Retrieved 2008-08-07.
- ↑ Hoffstetter, R. 1957. Quelques observations sur le Stegosaurines. Bulletin du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris (2nd series) 29: pp. 537- 547.
- ↑ Lapparent, A.F. de and G. Zbyszewski. 1957. Les dinosauriens du Portugal. Mémoires du Service géologique du Portugal 2: pp. 1-63.
- ↑ Mionoprio, J. L., 1957, Nota aclaratoria sobre Colberta muralis: Ameghiniana, v. 1, p. 144.
- ↑ A. W. Crompton and F. Ellenberger. 1957. On a new cynodont from the Molteno Beds and the origin of the tritylodontids. Annals of the South African Museum 44:1-14
- ↑ Sarjeant, W. A. S., 2001, Dinosaurs in fiction: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 504-529.