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 2004.
| |||
---|---|---|---|
+... |
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Poinar & Poinar |
Oldest record of the protozoan family Trypanosomatidae, |
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Smith, Currah, & Stockey |
Appian Way Flora. |
Extinct bracket fungus |
||||
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Smith, Currah, & Stockey |
Barremian (Cretaceous) |
Longarm Formation. |
Extinct bracket fungus. |
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sp nov |
Valid |
Manchester & Dillhoff |
A beech tree species |
|||||
Sp nov. |
Valid |
Pigg, Ickert-Bond, & Wen |
Middle Miocene |
"Yakima Canyon Flora" |
A species of sweetgum |
|||
Sp nov |
Valid |
DeVore, Moore, Pigg, & Wehr |
oldest and only extinct species of Neviusia |
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sp nov |
jr synonym[8] |
Wunderlich |
Unknown |
Madagascar copal |
jr Synonym of Garcorops jadis |
|||
sp nov |
Valid |
Bosselaers |
Unknown |
Madagascar copal |
Possibly extant, but copal age is not determined |
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gen et sp nov |
valid |
Dlussky, Brothers & Rasnitsyn |
A Myrmicin ant, type species A. petrosa |
|||||
Gen et sp nov |
valid |
Dlussky, Brothers & Rasnitsyn |
A ponerin ant, two species |
|||||
Fam, gen et sp nov |
valid |
Koteja |
A scale insect, monotypic with Albicoccidae & A. dimai |
|||||
Fam, gen et sp nov |
valid |
Koteja |
A scale insect, monotypic with Burmacoccidae & B. danyi |
|||||
Carebara antiqua[12] |
Comb nov |
valid |
(Mayr, 1868) |
Middle Eocene |
Baltic amber |
Fossil myrmicine ant |
||
Sp nov |
jr synonym |
A stephanid wasp |
||||||
Gen et sp nov |
valid |
Nel & Perrault |
A stem group ant, |
|||||
gen et sp nov |
valid |
Koteja |
A scale insect, monotypic M. barbarae |
|||||
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Archibald |
Hat Creek Amber |
A Berothid lacewing |
||||
Palaeomyia[16] |
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Poinar |
A Phlebotomidae sand fly, type species P. burmitis |
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gomphonchus? minutus[17] |
Sp. nov |
Valid |
Valiukevičius |
Late Silurian |
Minija Formation |
An acanthodian belonging to the group Ischnacanthiformes and the family Ischnacanthidae. |
||
Sp. nov |
Valid |
Schultze & Märss |
Late Silurian |
A bony fish belonging to the group Lophosteiformes. |
||||
Sp. nov |
Valid |
Schultze & Märss |
Late Silurian |
A bony fish belonging to the group Lophosteiformes. |
||||
Sp. nov |
Valid |
Schultze & Märss |
Early Devonian |
A bony fish belonging to the group Lophosteiformes. |
||||
Sp. nov |
Valid |
Valiukevičius |
Late Silurian |
Targale Formation |
An acanthodian belonging to the group Climatiiformes and the family Climatiidae. |
|||
Sp. nov |
Valid |
Valiukevičius |
Late Silurian |
Minija Formation |
An acanthodian belonging to the group Climatiiformes and the family Climatiidae. |
|||
Perscheia[19] |
Gen. et sp. nov |
Valid |
Elliott, Mark-Kurik & Daeschler |
Nordstrand Point Formation |
A member of Pteraspidiformes belonging to the group Psammosteida and the family Obrucheviidae. The type species is P. pulla |
|||
Sp. nov |
Valid |
Valiukevičius |
Late Silurian |
Targale Formation |
An acanthodian belonging to the group Ischnacanthiformes and the family Poracanthidae. |
|||
Sp. nov |
Valid |
Valiukevičius |
Late Silurian |
Targale Formation |
An acanthodian belonging to the group Ischnacanthiformes and the family Poracanthidae. |
|||
Talimaalepis[20] |
Gen. et sp. nov |
Valid |
Žigaitė |
Dashtygoi Formation |
A thelodont, possibly a member of the group Phlebolepidiformes. The type species is T. rimae |
|||
Trimpleylepis[21] |
Gen. et 2 sp. nov |
Valid |
Miller, Märss & Blom |
Late Silurian |
A member of Anaspida belonging to the group Birkeniida, possibly a member of the family Septentrioniidae. The type species is T. juncta; genus also includes T. concatenata. |
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gen. et sp. nov |
Valid |
Lebedev |
A basal member of Tetrapoda. The type species is J. livnensis |
Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.[23]
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid |
Currie & Varricchio |
|||||||
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Kuang |
Middle Jurassic |
|||||
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Parish & Barrett |
||||||
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Martinelli & Forasiepi |
Late Cretaceous |
Bajo de Santa Rosa |
||||
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Apesteguía |
late Cretaceous |
|||||
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
You, Ji, Lamanna, |
late Cretaceous |
|||||
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Early Cretaceous |
||||||
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Calvo, Rubilar-Rogers, & Moreno |
Late Cretaceous |
|||||
Valid |
Xing & Wang |
|||||||
Valid |
Hwang, Norell, Ji, & Gao |
|||||||
Valid |
Bolotsky & Godefroit |
Late Cretaceous |
||||||
Valid |
Salgado, Garrido, Cocca, & Cocca |
|||||||
Valid |
Xu & Norell |
|||||||
Valid |
Naish, Martill, & Frey |
|||||||
Preoccupied name |
Lü, Tomida, Azuma, |
Renamed Nemegtomaia |
||||||
Nomen nudum |
Zhao & Tan |
|||||||
Valid |
Chinnery |
|||||||
Valid |
||||||||
Valid |
Xu, & Wang |
|||||||
Valid |
Sereno, Wilson & Conrad |
A ceratosaur; new genus for |
||||||
Valid |
Harris & Dodson |
|||||||
Valid |
Novas, Cambiaso, & Ambrosio |
|||||||
Valid |
Allain et al |
|||||||
Valid |
Leal, Azevedo, |
Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Avgodectes |
Valid |
Peters |
Early Cretaceous |
A pterosaur hatchling. | |||
Valid |
Gasparini Fernández de la Fuente |
Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) |
|||||
Nomen Nudum |
Maisch Matzke Ge Sun |
Late Jurassic (Tithonian) |
|||||
Valid |
Maisch, M.W., Matzke, A.T., and Ge Sun |
Early Cretaceous (Aptian) |
Name | Status | Authors Location | Notes | Images | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Crosbysaurus[46] | Valid non-dinosaurian taxon. |
|
USA | ||
Protecovasaurus[47] | Valid non-dinosaurian taxon. |
|
USA |
Name | Status | Novelty | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid |
Gen et sp. nov. |
Gong, Hou & Wang |
An Enantiornithes, |
|||||
Anserpica kiliani [49] |
Valid |
Gen et sp. nov. |
Marguerite Hugueney |
An Anseranatidae, the type species of Anserpica Mourer-Chauviré, Berthet & Hugueney, 2004. |
||||
Valid |
Gen et sp. nov. |
Ursula B. Göhlich |
Middle Miocene |
Mn 6 |
A Psittacidae, the type species of Bavaripsitta Mayr & Göhlich, 2004. |
|||
Borvocarbo guilloti [49] |
Valid |
Gen et sp. nov. |
Marguerite Hugueney |
MP 30, MN 1 |
A Phalacrocoracidae, the type species of Borvocarbo Mourer-Chauviré, Berthet & Hugueney, 2004. |
|||
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Early Oligocene |
A Gaviidae, not certain a species of Colymboides Milne-Edwards, 1868. |
|||||
Valid |
Gen et sp. nov. |
Early Oligocene |
A Trochilidae, the type species of Eurotrochilus Mayr, 2004. |
|||||
Valid |
Gen et sp. nov. |
USA: |
An Ornithurae, the type species of Iaceornis Clarke, 2004. |
|||||
Valid |
Gen et sp. nov. |
Hou Lianhai Zhang Fucheng |
An Enantiornithes, Euenantiornithes, the type species of Longirostravis Hou, Chiappe, Zhang et Chuong, 2004. |
|||||
Meridiocichla salotti [55] |
Valid |
Gen et sp. nov. |
Antoine Louchart |
Late Quaternary |
Corsica, Crete |
A Turdidae, the type species of Meridiocichla Louchart, 2004. |
||
Miopica paradoxa [56] |
Valid |
Gen et sp. nov. |
Denis V. Sobolev |
Middle Meothis |
A Corvidae, the type species of Miopica Kurochkin & Sobolev, 2004. |
|||
Mirolia brevirostrata [57] |
Valid |
Gen et sp. nov. |
Peter Ballmann |
Middle Miocene |
A Scolopacidae, the type species of Mirolia Ballmann, 2004. |
|||
Mirolia dubia [57] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Peter Ballmann |
Middle Miocene |
A Scolopacidae. |
|||
?Mirolia mascalidris [57] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Peter Ballmann |
Middle Miocene |
A Scolopacidae, not certain to belong in Mirolia Ballmann, 2004. |
|||
Mirolia parvula [57] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Peter Ballmann |
Middle Miocene |
A Scolopacidae. |
|||
Primobucco frugilegus [58] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Ilka Weidig |
Middle Eocene |
A Primobucconidae Feduccia et Martin, 1976. |
|||
Primobucco perneri [58] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Ilka Weidig |
Middle Eocene |
A Primobucconidae Feduccia et Martin, 1976. |
|||
Ramphastosula ramirezi [59] |
Valid |
Gen et sp. nov. |
Marcelo Stucchi Mario Urbina |
Early Pliocene |
A Sulidae, the type species of Ramphastosula Stucchi & Urbina, 2004. |
|||
Tyto mourerchauvireae [60] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Marco Pavia |
Early-Middle Pleistocene |
A Tytonidae. |
|||
Valid |
Gen et sp. nov. |
Zhang Fucheng Per G.P. Ericson |
An Enentiornithes Walker, 1981, this is the type species of the new genus, most probably a junior synonym of Hebeiornis fengningensis Yan, 1999. |
|||||
Valid |
Gen et sp. nov. |
A Rallidae, the type species of Vitirallus Worthy, 2004. |
||||||
Wingegyps cartellei [63] |
Valid |
Gen et sp. nov. |
Herculano M. F. de Alvarenga |
Late Pleistocene or Early Holocene |
Gruta dos Brejões |
A Cathartidae, the type species of Wingegyps Alvarenga & Olson, 2004. |
Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plesiopterys | Valid | O'Keefe | Toarcian | Posidonienschiefer | Germany |
Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ianthodon[64] | Valid | Kissel & Reisz | Kasimovian | USA | |||
Lobalopex[65] | Valid | Sidor, Hopson and Keyser | Lopingian | Teekloof Formation | South Africa | ||
Progalesaurus[66] | Valid | Sidor & Smith | Induan | Balfour Formation | South Africa | ||
Pyozia [67] | Valid | Anderson and Reisz | Capitanian | Krasnoschelsk Formation | Russia | ||
Rewaconodon[68] | Valid | Datta, Das & Luo | Late Triassic | Tiki Formation | India |
Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Charniodiscus procerus | Valid | LaFlamme et al., 2004 | Ediacaran | Mistaken Point Formation and Trepassey Formation | Canada |