1973 in paleontology

Summary

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 1973.

List of years in paleontology (table)
In science
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
+...

Plants edit

Conifers edit

Name Novelty Status Authors Age Unit Location Notes Images

Pinus arnoldii[2]

Sp nov

valid

Miller

Eocene
Ypresian

Okanogan Highlands
Allenby Formation
Princeton Chert

  Canada
  British Columbia

A 5-needle pine cone species

Pinus similkameenensis[2]

Sp nov

valid

Miller

Ypresian

Okanogan Highlands
Allenby Formation
Princeton Chert

  Canada
  British Columbia

A 5-needle pine needle species

Angiosperms edit

Name Novelty Status Authors Age Type locality Location Notes Images

Eorhiza[3][4]

Gen et sp nov

valid

Robison & Person

Eocene
Ypresian

Okanogan Highlands
Allenby Formation
Princeton Chert

  Canada
  British Columbia

A semi-aquatic flowering plant of uncertain affiliation
The type species is E. arnoldii
Possibly a monocot related to Acorus

Arthropods edit

Insects edit

Name Novelty Status Authors Age Unit Location Notes Images

Epiborkhausenites[5]

Gen et sp. nov

valid

Skalski

Bartonian

Baltic amber

  Lithuania

An Oecophoridae moth, type species E. obscurotrimaculatus

Tortricidrosis[6]

Gen. et sp. nov

Valid

Skalski

Lutetian

Baltic amber

  Europe

A Tortricidae moth. The type species is T. inclusa.

 
Tortricidrosis inclusa

Conodonts edit

Name Novelty Status Authors Age Unit Location Notes Images

Protoprioniodus[7]

Gen. nov

valid

McTavish

Lower Ordovician

Emanuel Formation

  Australia

Archosauromorphs edit

Newly named crurotarsins edit

Name Novelty Status Authors Age Unit Location Notes Images

Lisboasaurus[8]

Gen. nov

valid

Seiffert

Middle Jurassic

Guimarota lignite Crocodylomorph

Newly named dinosaurs edit

Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.[9]

Name Novelty Status Authors Age Unit Location Notes Images

Efraasia[10]

gen nov

Valid

Galton

Middle Norian

Löwenstein Formation

basal sauropodomorph

Kelmayisaurus[11]

gen et sp nov

Valid

Zhiming

Early Cretaceous

Lianmugin Formation

carcharodontosaurid

Phaedrolosaurus[11]

gen et sp nov

nomen dubium

Zhiming

Early Cretaceous

Lianmugin Formation

described from a single tooth

Phyllodon[12]

Gen et sp nov

Valid

Thulborn

Middle Jurassic

Guimarota lignite

possible Hypsilophodontid

Shantungosaurus[13]

gen et sp nov

Valid

Hu

Late Cretaceous

largest known ornithischian

 
Shantungosaurus

Trimucrodon[12]

Gen et sp nov

nomen dubium

Thulborn

Middle Jurassic

Guimarota lignite

Ornithischian of uncertain placement

Tugulusaurus[11]

gen et sp nov

Valid

Zhiming

Early Cretaceous

Tugulu Group

coelurosaurian

Wuerhosaurus[11]

gen et sp nov

Valid

Zhiming

Early Cretaceous

Tugulu Group

one of the last stegosaurians

 
Wuerhosaurus

Newly named birds edit

Name Novelty Status Authors Age Unit Location Notes Images

Atlantisia elpenor [14]

Sp. nov.

valid

Storrs L. Olson

Late Holocene-Subrecent

A Rallidae, transferred to the new genus Mundia by Bourne, Ashmole et Simmons, 2003,[15] it is the type species of the new genus.

Garganoaetus freudenthali [16]

Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.

valid

Peter Ballmann

Early Pliocene

MN 14-15

An Accipitridae.

Garganoaetus murivorus [16]

Sp. nov.

valid

Peter Ballmann

Early Pliocene

MN 14-15

An Accipitridae.

Gypaetus osseticus [17]

Sp. Nov.

Nomen Nudum

Nikolay I. Burchak-Abramovich

Middle Pleistocene

An Accipitridae.

Ichthyophaga australis [18]

Sp. nov.

valid

Collin J. O. Harrison

Cyril A. Walker

Holocene

Chatham Island

An Accipitridae, transferred to the genus Haliaeetus.

Idiornis gaillardi [19]

Sp. nov.

valid

Joel Cracraft

Eocene or Oligocene

Phosphorites du Quercy

A Gruiformes, Idiornithidae Brodkorb, 1965, transferred to the genus Dynamopterus Milne-Edwards, 1892 by Cécile Mourer-Chauviré, 2013.[20]

Lophopsittacus bensoni [21]

Sp. nov.

valid

David T. Holyoak

Subrecent

Mauritius

A Psittacidae, transferred to the genus Psittacula by Julian P. Hume, 2007.[22]

Palaeoaramides minutus [19]

Sp. nov.

valid

Joel Cracraft

Middle Miocene

Grive-St.-Alban

A Rallidae.

Palaeorallus brodkorbi [19]

Sp. nov.

valid

Joel Cracraft

Early Eocene

Wasatch Formation

A Rallidae.

?Palaeospheniscus huxleyorum [23]

Sp. nov.

valid

George G. Simpson

Miocene

Ysterplaats

A Spheniscidae, not for sure a member of the genus Palaeospheniscus Moreno et Mercerat, 1891.

Porzana astrictocarpus [14]

Sp. nov.

valid

Storrs L. Olson

Late Holocene-Subrecent

A Rallidae.

"Primobucco" kestneri [24]

Sp. nov.

valid

Alan Feduccia

Early Eocene

Wasatchian

Green River Formatie

A ?Galbulae the species does not belong in Prinobucco, nor in Neanis, it was transferred to by Feduaccia, 1976,[25] it needs a new genus.

Quercyrallus quercy [19]

Sp. nov.

valid

Joel Cracraft

Eocene or Early Oligocene

Phosphorites du Quercy,

MP 16-28

A Rallidae.

Tyto gigantea [26]

Sp. nov.

valid

Peter Ballmann

Early Pliocene

MN 14-15

A Tytonidae.

Tyto robusta [26]

Sp. nov.

valid

Peter Ballmann

Early Pliocene

MN 14-15

A Tytonidae.

Wyleyia valdensis [27]

Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.

valid

Colin J. O. Harrison

Cyril A. Walker

Early Cretaceous

Weald Clay

An Enantiornithes Walker, 1981, Enantiornithidae Nessov & Borkin, 1983, known from a single humerus, this is the type species of the new genus.

Newly named pterosaurs edit

Name Novelty Status Authors Age Unit Location Notes Images

Eudimorphodon

Gen et sp nov

Valid

Zambelli

Norian

  Italy

 
Eudimorphodon ranzii

Noripterus[28]

gen et sp nov

Valid

Yang (aka C.-C. Young)

early Cretaceous

Lianmuqin Formation

  China

 
Noripterus complicidens

References edit

  1. ^ 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. ^ a b Miller, C. N. Jr. (1973). "Silicified cones and vegetative remains of Pinus from the Eocene of British Columbia" (PDF). Contributions of the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology. 24: 101–118.
  3. ^ Robison, C.R.; Person, C.P. (1973). "A silicified semiaquatic dicotyledon from the Eocene Allenby Formation of British Columbia". Canadian Journal of Botany. 51: 1373–1377. doi:10.1139/b73-172.
  4. ^ Stockey, R.A.; Pigg, K.B. (1994). "Vegetative growth of Eorhiza arnoldii Robison and Person from the Middle Eocene Princeton chert locality of British Columbia". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 155 (5): 606–616. doi:10.1086/297199.
  5. ^ Skalski, A.W. (1973). "Studies on the Lepidoptera from fossil resins. Part II. Epiborkhausenites obscurotrimaculatus gen. et sp. nov. (Oecophoridae) and a tineid-moth discovered in the Baltic amber" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 18 (1): 153–160. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  6. ^ Maria Heikkilä; John W. Brown; Joaquin Baixeras; Wolfram Mey; Mikhail V. Kozlov (2018). "Re-examining the rare and the lost: a review of fossil Tortricidae (Lepidoptera)". Zootaxa. 4394 (1): 41–60. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4394.1.2. PMID 29690381.
  7. ^ Prioniodontacean conodonts from the Emanuel Formation (Lower Ordovician) of Western Australia. RA McTavish, Geologica et Palaeontologica, 1973
  8. ^ Seiffert, J. 1973. Upper Jurassic Lizards from Central Portugal. Contribuicao para o conhecimento da Fauna do Kimeridgiano da Mina de Lignito Guimarota (Leiria, Portugal). Servicox Geologicos de Portugal, Memoria 22 (new series): pp. 7-88.
  9. ^ Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
  10. ^ Galton, P.M. (1973). "On the anatomy and relationships of Efraasia diagnostica (V. Huene) n. gen., a prosauropod dinosaur (Reptilia: Saurischia) from the Upper Triassic of Germany". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 47 (3–4): 229–255. doi:10.1007/bf02985709. S2CID 84931897.
  11. ^ a b c d Dong, Z.M. 1973. Dinosaurs from Wuerho. Reports of Paleontological Expedition to Sinkiang (II), Pterosaurian Fauna from Wuerho, Sinkiang. Memories of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Academy of Science 11: pp. 45-52.
  12. ^ a b Thulborn, R.A. (1973). "Teeth of ornithischian dinosaurs from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal, with a description of a hypsilophodontid (Phyllodon henkeli gen. et sp. nov.) from the Guimarota Lignite". Memória Serivoços Geológicos de Portugal. Nova Série. 22: 89–134.
  13. ^ Hu, C. 1973. A new hadrosaur from the Cretaceous of Chucheng. Shantung. Acta Geol. Sinica 2: pp. 179-202.
  14. ^ a b Storrs L. Olson (1973). "Evolution of the Rails of the South Atlantic Islands (Aves: Rallidae)" (PDF). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. 152 (152): 1–53. doi:10.5479/si.00810282.152.
  15. ^ W. R. P. Bourne, N. P. Ashmole & K. E. L. Simmons (2003). "A New Subfossil Night Heron and a New Genus for the Extinct Rail for Ascension Island, Central Tropical Atlantic Ocean" (PDF). Ardea. 91 (1): 45–51.
  16. ^ a b Peter Ballmann (1973). "Fossile Vögel aus dem Neogen der Halbinsel Gargano (Italien)". Scripta Geologica. 17: 1–75.
  17. ^ Nikolay I. Burchak-Abramovich (1973). "?". Report Presented to the 5th Soviet Congress on the Quaternary Period.
  18. ^ Collin J. O. Harrison & Cyril A. Walker (1973). "An Undescribed Extinct Fish-Eagle from the Chatham Islands". Ibis. 115 (2): 274–277. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1973.tb02645.x.
  19. ^ a b c d Joel Cracraft (1973). "Systematics and Evolution of the Gruiformes (Class, Aves) 3. Phylogeny of the Suborder Grui" (PDF). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 151: 1–127.
  20. ^ Cécile Mourer-Chauviré (2013). "Idiornis Oberholser, 1899 (Aves, Gruiformes, Cariamae, Idiornithidae): a Junior Synonym of Dynamopterus Milne-Edwards, 1892 (Paleogene, Phosphorites du Quercy, France)". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. 270 (1): 13–22. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2013/0355.
  21. ^ David T. Holyoak (1973). "An Undescribed Parrot from Mauritius". Ibis. 115 (3): 417–419. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1973.tb01980.x.
  22. ^ Julian P. Hume (1973). "Reappraisal of the Parrots (Aves: Psittacidae) from the Mascarene Islands, with Comments on Their Ecology, Morphology, and Affineties" (PDF). Zootaxa. 1513: 1–76.
  23. ^ George G. Simpson (1973). "Tertiary Penguins (Spenisciformes: Spheniscidae) from Ysterplaats, Cape Town, South Africa". South African Journal of Science. 69: 342–344.
  24. ^ Alan Feduccia (1973). "A New Eocene Zygodactyl Bird". Journal of Paleontology. 47 (3): 501–503.
  25. ^ Alan Feduccia (1976). "Neanis schucherti Restudied: Another Eocene Piciform Bird" (PDF). In Collected Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring the 90th Birthday of Alexander Wetmore Ed.: Storrs. L. Olson; Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 27: 95–99.
  26. ^ a b Peter Ballmann (1973). "Fossile Vögel aus dem Neogen der Halbinsel Gargano (Italien)" (PDF). Scripta Geologica. 17: 1–75.
  27. ^ Colin J. O. Harrison & Cyril A. Walker (1973). "Wyleyia: a New Bird Humerus from the Lower Cretaceous of England" (PDF). Palaeontology. 16 (4): 721–728. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-06.
  28. ^ Young, Z. (1973). "[Pterosaurs from Wuerho]. Reports of Paleontological Expedition to Sinkiang (II): Pterosaurian Fauna from Wuerho, Sinkiang". Memoirs of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology Academia Sinica. 11: 18–35.