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 2003.
| |||
---|---|---|---|
+... |
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sp nov |
Valid |
Kotyk, Basinger, & McIlver |
the oldest confirmed species of Chamaecyparis[2] |
|||||
Tsuga swedaea[3] |
Sp nov |
Valid |
LePage |
A hemlock species |
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Araripia florifera[4] |
Gen et sp |
Valid |
Mohr & Eklund |
|||||
Sp nov |
Valid |
Pigg, Manchester, & Wehr |
A hornbeam |
|||||
Sp nov |
Valid |
Pigg, Manchester, & Wehr |
A hazelnut |
|||||
Palaeocarpinus barksdaleae[5] |
Sp nov |
Valid |
Pigg, Manchester, & Wehr |
A betulaceous fruit |
||||
Palaeocarpinus dentatus[5] |
Comb nov |
Valid |
"Stump lake", Coldwater Beds |
A betulaceous fruit; |
||||
Palaeocarpinus stonebergae[5] |
Sp nov |
Valid |
Pigg, Manchester, & Wehr |
A betulaceous fruit |
||||
Pseudosalix[6] |
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Boucher, Manchester, & Judd |
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cratonia cotyledon[7] |
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Rydin, Mohr, & Friis |
A relative to Welwetschia |
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Get et sp nov |
Valid |
Hibbett et al |
An agaricalean fungus |
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cornupalpatum[9] |
Gen et sp nov |
valid |
Poinar & Brown |
An Ixodid hard tick |
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Archimyrmex piatnitzkyi[10] |
Comb nov. |
vaild |
(Viana & Haedo Rossi) |
Ventana Formation |
A myrmeciine ant. |
|||
Comb nov. |
valid |
(Rossi de Garcia) |
Ventana Formation |
A myrmeciine ant. |
||||
Subfam. Gen. et Sp. nov |
Valid |
Bolton |
A stem group ant, type species B. clavata |
|||||
Sp. nov |
valid |
Engel & Archibald |
first apoid bee fossil described from Canada |
|||||
Lasioglossum celinae[13] |
Sp. nov |
Valid |
Nel & Petrulevicius |
Dauphin |
A sweat bee |
|||
Gen et sp nov |
Jr synonym |
Nel & Petrulevicius |
Aquitanian |
Bes-Konak |
An apine bee, |
|||
Sp nov |
valid |
Makarkin & Archibald |
An ithionid giant lacewing |
|||||
Paraelectrobombus[13] |
Gen et sp nov |
Jr synonym |
Nel & Petrulevicius |
Aquitanian |
Bes-Konak |
Described as an Electrobombini bee |
||
sp nov |
synonym |
A snakefly. |
||||||
Sp. nov |
valid |
Engel & Archibald |
Coldwater beds, Princeton Group |
A Hemerobiinae lacewing |
||||
Xylocopa celineae[13] |
Sp nov |
valid |
Nel & Petrulevicius |
Camoins-les-Bains |
German paleontologist and stratigrapher Heinz Walter Kozur (1942-2013) described the conodont genus Carnepigondolella.
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid |
This was one of the largest herbivores of their time |
Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.[18]
Name | Status | Authors | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
"Abdallahsaurus"[19] |
|
Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Giraffatitan or Brachiosaurus |
|||
"Blancocerosaurus"[20] |
|
Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Giraffatitan or Brachiosaurus | |||
Amazonsaurus[21] | Valid taxon |
|
Brazil | ||
Antetonitrus[22] | Valid taxon |
|
South Africa | ||
Aviatyrannis[23] | Valid taxon |
|
Portugal | ||
Bainoceratops[24] | Valid taxon |
|
China | ||
Brohisaurus | Valid taxon |
|
Pakistan | ||
Colepiocephale[25] | Valid taxon |
|
Canada | ||
"Domeykosaurus" | Nomen nudum |
Rubilar-Rogers and Vargas vide:
|
Chile | ||
Dromaeosauroides[26] | Valid taxon |
|
Denmark | ||
Equijubus[27] | Valid taxon |
|
China | ||
Ferganasaurus[28] | Valid taxon |
|
Kyrgyzstan | ||
Fukuisaurus[29] | Valid taxon |
|
Japan | ||
Gobititan[30] | Valid taxon |
|
China | ||
Hanssuesia[25] | Valid taxon |
|
Canada ( Alberta) | ||
Heyuannia[31] | Valid taxon |
|
China | ||
Hongshanosaurus[32] | Valid taxon |
|
China | ||
Isisaurus[33] | Valid taxon |
|
India | ||
"Issasaurus"[19] |
|
Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Dicraeosaurus |
|||
Lamaceratops[34] | Valid taxon |
|
China | ||
"Ligomasaurus"[19] |
|
Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Giraffatitan or Brachiosaurus |
|||
Lusotitan[35] | Valid taxon |
|
Portugal | ||
Magnirostris[36] | Valid taxon |
|
China | ||
Mendozasaurus[37] | Valid taxon |
|
Argentina | ||
"Mohammadisaurus"[19] |
|
Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Tornieria | |||
"Mtapaiasaurus"[19] |
|
Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Giraffatitan or Brachiosaurus |
|||
"Mtotosaurus"[19] |
|
Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Dicraeosaurus |
|||
"Nteregosaurus"[19] |
|
Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Janenschia |
|||
"Nyororosaurus"[19] |
|
Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Dicraeosaurus |
|||
Olorotitan[38] | Valid taxon |
|
Russia | ||
Platyceratops[34] | Valid taxon |
|
Mongolia | ||
Rajasaurus[39] | Valid taxon |
|
India | ||
Rinconsaurus[40] | Valid taxon |
|
Argentina | ||
"Salimosaurus"[19] |
|
Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Giraffatitan or Brachiosaurus |
|||
"Selimanosaurus"[19] |
|
Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Dicraeosaurus |
|||
Serendipaceratops[41] | Valid taxon |
|
Australia | ||
Shenzhousaurus[42] | Valid taxon |
|
China | ||
Shuangmiaosaurus[43] | Valid taxon |
|
China | ||
Silesaurus[44] | Valid taxon |
|
Poland | ||
Sinornithomimus[45] | Valid taxon |
|
China | ||
Sphaerotholus[46] | Possible junior synonym of Prenocephale |
|
|||
"Wangonisaurus"[19] |
|
Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Giraffatitan or Brachiosaurus |
|||
Yixianosaurus[47] | Valid taxon |
|
China | ||
Zalmoxes[48] | Valid taxon |
|
Romania | ||
Zupaysaurus[49] | Valid taxon |
Arcucci & Coria |
Argentina |
Name | Status | Novelty | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Amanuensis pickfordi [50] |
Gen. et sp. nov |
valid |
Middle Miocene |
A Sagittariidae, relative of the secretarybird. The type species of Amanuensis Mourer-Chauviré, 2003. |
||||
Valid |
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Bonnie E. Gulas-Wroblewski Anton F.-J. Wroblewski |
Middle Eocene |
USA: |
The type species of Amitabha Gulas-Wroblewski & Wroblewski, 2003. Placed in crown Galliformes, but only compared with Phasianidae, not with other Eocene birds from North America. |
|||
Anhinga minuta [52] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Herculano M. F. de Alvarenga Edson Guilherme |
Huayquerian-Montehermosian, Solimõas Formation |
An Anhingidae. |
|||
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Vitilevu |
A Scolopacidae. |
|||||
Diomedea tanakai [54] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Paul G. Davis |
Late Early Miocene |
A Diomedeidae. |
|||
Eoeurypyga olsoni [55] |
Nomen Nudum |
Thesis name. |
Ilka Weidig |
Early Eocene |
USA: |
A Eurypygidae. |
||
Falco umanskajae [56] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Denis V. Sobolev |
A Falconidae. |
||||
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Graham M. Wragg |
Late Pleistocene-Holocene |
A Columbidae. |
||||
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Subresent |
USA: |
|||||
Macranhinga ranzii [52] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Herculano M. F. de Alvarenga Edson Guilherme |
Huayquerian-Montehermosian |
An Anhingidae. |
|||
Milvago carbo [59] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
William Suárez Duque |
Quaternary, possibly Late Pleistocene or Early Holocene |
Las Breas de San Felipe |
A Falconidae. |
||
Morus peruvianus [60] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Marcelo Stucchi |
A Sulidae. |
||||
Gen. et sp. nov |
valid |
Middle Miocene |
Initially thought to be an Idiornithidae, Cariamiformes but in 2011 reinterpreted as an Opisthocomidae, a relative of the hoatzin.[61] The type species of Namibiavis Mourer-Chauviré, 2003. |
|||||
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
W. R. P. Bourne N. P. Ashmole K. E. L. Simmons |
Subrecent |
An Ardeidae. |
||||
Palaeogrus mainburgensis [63] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Ursula B. Göhlich |
Upper Freshwater Molasse |
A Gruidae. |
|||
Parargornis messelensis [64] |
Valid |
Gen. nov et Sp. nov. |
Early Middle Eocene |
An Apodiformes, Cypselavidae Mourer-Chauviré, 2006. |
||||
Shandongornis yinansis [65] |
Valid |
Gen. nov et Sp. nov. |
Hou Lianhai |
A Phasianidae. |
||||
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Steven D. Emslie Carlos Guerra Correa |
Mejillones Formation |
A Spheniscidae. |
||||
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Marcello Stucchi Mario Urbina Alfredo Giraldo |
Late Miocene |
A Spheniscidae. |
||||
Sula magna [60] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Marcello Stucchi |
A Sulidae. |
||||
Sula sulita [60] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Marcello Stucchi |
A Sulidae. |
||||
Wyomingcypselus pohli [55] |
Nomen Nudum |
Thesis name. |
Ilka Weidig |
Early Eocene |
USA: |
An Apodiformes. |
|
|
|
Name | Status | Authors | Discovery year | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid |
|
Upper Carboniferous |
||||||
Valid |
|
|||||||
Valid |
|
|||||||
Valid |
|
|||||||
Valid |
|
Upper/Middle Permian |
an anomodont | |||||
Valid |
|
Middle/Upper Permian |
an anomodont; replacement name for Lanthanocephalus Modesto, Rubidge & Welman, 2002, preoccupied by the cnidarian genus Lanthanocephalus Williams & Starmer, 2000[73] | |||||
Valid |
|
|||||||
Valid |
|
Middle Triassic |
an anomodont; new genus for "Parakannemeyeria" brevirostris |
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Caracal depereti[76] |
Sp nov |
Disputed |
Morales et al. |
Pliocene |
A Caracal. Boscaini et al. (2016) considered this species to be a junior synonym of Lynx issiodorensis.[77] |
|||
Guangxicyon[78] | Gen. et sp. nov. | Valid | Zhai et al. | Eocene | Nadu Formation | China | An amphicyonid. | |
Iridodon[79] |
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Morlo & Gunnell |
A limnocyonid hyaenodont.The type species is I. datzae. |
||||
Kogolepithecus[80] |
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Pickford et al. |
Miocene |
A catarrhine of uncertain affinity. The type species is K. morotoensis. |
|||
Yuesthonyx[81] | Gen. et sp. nov. | Valid | Tong, Wang & Fu | Paleocene | Dazhang Formation | China | A tillodont. The type species is Y. tingae. |