1997 in paleontology
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Paleontology or palaeontology 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 humans have 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
Cycadophytes
Cycadophyte research
- Hopkins and Johnson briefly report the first occurrence of cycad leaves from the Eocene Okanagan Highlands Klondike Mountain Formation[2] which will later be identified to the family Zamiaceae.[3]
Angiosperms
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sp nov | valid | Call & Dilcher | Species of Eucommia. | |||||
Sp nov | valid | Call & Dilcher | Talahatta Formation | Species of Eucommia. |
Fungi
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gen et sp nov | Valid | Hibbett, Grimaldi, & Donoghue | A tricholomataceous fungi | | ||||
Protomycena[5] | Gen et sp nov | Valid | Hibbett, Grimaldi, & Donoghue | A mycenaceous fungi | |
Paleomycological research
- LePage et al briefly describe the first instance of ectomycorrhizae in the fossil record, based on specimens from the Eocene Okanagan highlands Princeton chert site. The fungi are associated with Pinus roots and were considered similar to the modern fungal genera Rhizopogon and Suillus[6]
Arthropoda
Insects
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sp. nov | Valid | Grimaldi, Agosti, & Carpenter | An ant of uncertain subfamily placement. | |||||
Boyeria europaea[8] | Comb nov | valid | (Nel, Arillo, & Martínez-Delclòs) | An Aeshnid dragonfly. | ![]() | |||
Gen et sp. nov | Valid | Grimaldi, Agosti, & Carpenter | Turonian | New Jersey amber | A stem group ant, type species B. clavata | ![]() | ||
Comb nov | valid | (Mayr, 1868) | Middle Eocene | Baltic amber | Fossil Dolichoderine ant, | ![]() | ||
Gen et comb nov | jr synonym | Martins-Neto | A Kalligrammatid lacewing, new genus for Panfilovia adamsi | |||||
Makarkiniinae[9] | Subfam nov | jr synonym | Martins-Neto | lacewing subfamily, syn of Kalligrammatidae |
Plesiosaurs
Newly Named Plesiosaurs
Currently Valid Plesiosaur Genera Named in 1997 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Status | Authors | Location | Images |
Augustasaurus | Valid taxon |
Rieppel Bucher | ![]() | |
Libonectes | Valid taxon |
| ![]() | |
Maresaurus | Valid taxon |
|
Archosauromorphs
Pseudosuchians
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Type locality | Country | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
"Baru" huberi[10] | Sp. nov | Willis | Late Oligocene | White Hunter Site of the Riversleigh WHA | A mekosuchine crocodilian. Although named as a species of Baru, later research considers it to be a distinct genus. | ![]() | ||
Baru wickeni[10] | Sp. nov | Valid | Willis | Late Oligocene | White Hunter Site of the Riversleigh WHA | ![]() | A mekosuchine crocodilian. It was established based on new material from the Riversleigh as well as material previously assigned to Baru darrowi. | ![]() |
Sp. nov | Valid | Willis | Late Oligocene | White Hunter Site of the Riversleigh WHA | ![]() | A mekosuchine crocodilian. The first species of Mekosuchus to have been named from continental Australia. | ||
Sp. nov | Valid | Willis & Molnar | Late Pleistocene | Terrace Site of the Riversleigh WHA | ![]() | A mekosuchine crocodilian and species of Pallimnarchus, described as having been more gracile than Pallimnarchus pollens. The species is valid, but now placed in the genus Paludirex. | ||
Quinkana meboldi[10] | Sp. nov | Valid | Willis | Late Oligocene | White Hunter Site of the Riversleigh WHA | ![]() | A mekosuchine crocodilian. It was a smaller species of the genus Quinkana. |
General pseudosuchian research
- A review of Australasian fossil crocodilians is published by Willis (1997).[12]
Pterosaurs
Newly Named Pterosaurs
Currently Valid Pterosaur Genera Named in 1997 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Status | Authors | Location | Images |
Eosipterus | Valid taxon |
| ![]() |
Non-avian dinosauromorphs
- 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.[13]
- Panoplosaurus gastroliths documented.[14]
Newly named non-avian dinosauromorphs
Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.[15]
Name | Status | Authors | Location | Notes | Images | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Archaeoceratops[16] | Valid taxon |
| ![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() | ||
Gojirasaurus[17] | Valid taxon | ![]() ![]() | ||||
Hudiesaurus[18] | Valid taxon | ![]() | ||||
Protarchaeopteryx[19] | Valid taxon |
|
| ![]() | ||
Rinchenia[20] | Valid taxon | |||||
Siluosaurus[21] | Nomen dubium. | ![]() | ||||
Unenlagia[22] | Valid taxon |
|
| ![]() |
Birds
Newly named birds
Name | Status | Novelty | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aramus paludigrus [23] | Sp. nov. | Valid | An Aramidae. | |||||
Athene angelis [24] | Sp. nov. | Valid | 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;[25] subsequently made the type species of a separate genus Houornis.[26] | |||||
Chauvireria balcanica [27] | Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. | Valid | Zlatozar N. Boev | Late Pliocene | A Phasianidae. | |||
Confuciusornis chuonzhous [25] | 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. | |||
Confuciusornis suniae [25] | 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. | |||
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 [28] | 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 | A Galbulidae. | ||||||
Sp. nov. | Valid | Jirí Mlíkovský | Late Pliocene | MN 15-16 | ||||
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. | ||||
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. | |||||
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 [31] | Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. | Valid | Tim T. Tokaryk Stephen L. Cumbaa John E. Storer | An Hesperornithiformes Fürbringer, 1888, Baptornithidae American Ornithologists’ Union, 1910, this is the type of the new genus. | ||||
Pasquiaornis tankei [31] | Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. | Valid | Tim T. Tokaryk Stephen L. Cumbaa John E. Storer | An Hesperornithiformes Fürbringer, 1888, Baptornithidae American Ornithologists’ Union, 1910. | ||||
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. | Valid | Wanganui Subdivision | A Rallidae. | |||||
Sp. nov. | Valid | Amadeo M. Rea | Late Pleistocene | Cave Deposits | A Psittacidae. | |||
Rupelrallus saxoniensis [34] | Gen. nov et Sp. nov. | Valid | Karlheinz Fischer | Middle Oligocene | MP 23-24 | A Gruiformes, Parvigruidae G. Mayr, 2005. | ||
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. | |||||
Sp. nov. | Valid | A Charadriidae. | ||||||
Urmiornis brodkorbi [36] | 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. |
Synapsids
Eutherians
Name | Status | Authors | Discovery year | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid |
| 1997 | ![]() | |||||
Valid |
| 1997 | An astrapotherian, a species of Xenastrapotherium | |||||
Valid |
| 1997 |
| 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.
- ^ Hopkins, D.; Johnson, K. (1997). "First Record of cycad leaves from the Eocene Republic flora" (PDF). Washington Geology. 25 (4): 37. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ Dillhoff, R.M.; Leopold, E.B.; Manchester, S.R. (2005). "The McAbee flora of British Columbia and its relations to the Early-Middle Eocene Okanagan Highlands flora of the Pacific Northwest" (PDF). Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 42 (2): 151–166. Bibcode:2005CaJES..42..151D. doi:10.1139/e04-084.
- ^ a b Call, V.B.; Dilcher, D.L. (1997). "The fossil record of Eucommia (Eucommiaceae) in North America". American Journal of Botany. 84 (6): 798–814. doi:10.2307/2445816. JSTOR 2445816. PMID 21708632. S2CID 20464075.
- ^ a b 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. JSTOR 2446289.
- ^ LePage, B. A.; Currah, R. S.; Stockey, R. A.; Rothwell, G. W. (1997). "Fossil ectomycorrhizae from the middle Eocene". American Journal of Botany. 84 (3): 410–412. doi:10.2307/2446014. JSTOR 2446014. PMID 21708594. S2CID 29913925.
- ^ a b Grimaldi, D.; Agosti, D.; Carpenter, J. M. (1997). "New and rediscovered primitive ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in Cretaceous amber from New Jersey, and their phylogenetic relationships" (PDF). American Museum Novitates (3208): 1–43.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Nel, A.; Arillo, A.; Martínez-Delclòs, X. (1996). "New fossil Odonata (Insecta) from the upper Miocene of France and Spain (Anisoptera and Zygoptera)". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. 199 (2): 167–219. doi:10.1127/njgpa/199/1996/167.
- ^ a b Bechly, G.; Makarkin, V. N. (2016). "A new gigantic lacewing species (Insecta: Neuroptera) from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil confirms the occurrence of Kalligrammatidae in the Americas". Cretaceous Research. 58: 135–140. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2015.10.014.
- ^ a b c d Willis, P.M.A. (1997). "New crocodilians from the late Oligocene White Hunter Site, Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland". Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. 41: 423–438. ISSN 0079-8835.
- ^ Willis, P.M.A.; Molnar, R.E. (1997). "A review of the Plio-Pleistocene crocodilian genus Pallimnarchus" (PDF). Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales (117): 223–242.
- ^ Willis, P. M. A. (1997). "Review of fossil crocodilians from Australasia". Australian Zoologist. 30 (3): 287–298. doi:10.7882/AZ.1997.004. S2CID 84580859.
- ^ 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". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.; Puerta P.F. (1997). "New evidence concerning avian origins from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia". Nature. 387 (6631): 390–392. Bibcode:1997Natur.387..390N. doi:10.1038/387390a0. S2CID 4353732.
- ^ a b 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 de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris. 324: 677–684. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-07-27. Retrieved 2014-08-07.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Hou Lianhai (1997). "Mesozoic Birds of China" (PDF). Natou, Taiwan: Taiwan Feng Huang Gu Bird Garden, English Translation: 1–153.
- ^ Min Wang; Di Liu (2015). "Taxonomical reappraisal of Cathayornithidae (Aves: Enantiornithes)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 14: 1–19. doi:10.1080/14772019.2014.994087. S2CID 86665059.
- ^ 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. doi:10.52321/GeolBalc.27.3-4.69. S2CID 256180034.
- ^ 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. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-01-22. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
- ^ Hou Lianhai (1997). "A Carinate Bird from the Upper Jurassic of Western Liaoning, China". Chinese Science Bulletin. 42 (5): 413–417. Bibcode:1997ChSBu..42..413H. doi:10.1007/bf02884235. S2CID 129885640.[dead link]
- ^ a b 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 Albuquerque, 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, Section C. Série 4. 18 (1): 607–614.
- ^ Aleksandr A. Karkhu (1997). "A New Species of Urmiornis (Gruiformes: Ergilornithidae) from the Early Miocene of Western Kazakhstan". Paleontological Journal. 31: 102–107.
- ^ a b c 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.