1971 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 1971.

Arthropods

Crustaceans

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Location	Notes	Images
Oplophorus roselli^[2]	Sp nov	jr synonym	Via	Barremian	Las Hoyas	Spain	Moved to the genus Delclosia
Pseudastacus llopisi^[2]	Sp nov	jr synonym	Via	Barremian	Las Hoyas	Spain	A crayfish, moved to the genus Austropotamobius in 1997.^[3]

Plants

Angiosperms

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Location	Notes	Images
Holmskioldia quilchenensis^[4]	Sp nov	jr synonym	Mathewes & Brooke	Ypresian	Coldwater Beds	Canada British Columbia	A mallow relative. moved to Florissantia quilchenensis (1992)	Florissantia quilchenensis

Conodonts

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Country/subdivision
Baltoniodus^[5]	gen nov	valid	Maurits Lindström	Sweden
Paracordylodus^[5]	gen nov	valid	Maurits Lindström	Sweden
Microzarkodina^[5]	gen nov	valid	Maurits Lindström	Sweden

Archosauromorphs

Newly named pseudosuchians

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country/subdivision	Notes	Image
Venaticosuchus^[6]	gen et sp nov	valid	Bonaparte	Late Triassic		Argentina	an ornithosuchid	Venaticosuchus rusconii

Newly named dinosaurs

Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.^[7]

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country/subdivision	Notes	Image
Nemegtosaurus^[8]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Nowinski	Late Cretaceous	Nemegt Basin	Mongolia
Yaverlandia^[9]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Galton	Lower Cretaceous	Wessex Formation	England	Maniraptoran?

Newly named onithodirans

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country/subdivision	Notes	Image
Lagerpeton^[10]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Romer	Ladinian	Chañares Formation	Argentina	A member of the lagerpetonidae.	Lagerpeton
Lagosuchus^[10]	fam et gen et sp nov	valid	Romer	Ladinian	Chañares Formation	Argentina

Newly named birds

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country/subdivision	Notes	Image
Anser devjatkini^[11]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Kurochkin	Late Miocene	Hyargas Nuur Formation	Mongolia	An Anatidae.
Antillovultur^[12]	Gen. et sp. nov.	jr synonym	Arredondo	Late Quaternary	Las Breas de San Felipe	Cuba	An accipitrid, Type species A. varonai, moved to Gymnogyps varonai (2003),^[13]
Bathornis minor^[14]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Cracraft	Early Miocene		USA South Dakota	A bathornithid
Bucorvus brailloni^[15]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Brunet	Middle Miocene		Morocco	A bucorvid.
Campephilus dalquesti^[16]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Brodkorb	Late Pliocene (Blancan)		USA Texas	A picid.
Cerorhinca minor^[17]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Howard	Late Miocene - Late Pliocene	Almejas Formation	Mexico	An alcid.
Cygnus pristinus^[11]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Kurochkin	Late Miocene - Early Pliocene	Chirgiz-Nur Formation	Mongolia	An anatid.
Dolichonyx kruegeri^[18]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Fischer & Stephan	Late Pleistocene	"Cave deposits"	Cuba	An icterid.
Eutreptornis^[14]	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Cracraft	Middle Eocene	Uinta Formation	USA Utah	A bathornithid. Type species E. uintae
Fulica picapicensis^[18]	Sp. nov.	jr synonym	Fischer & Stephan	Quaternary	"Cave deposits"	Cuba	A flightless rallid, moved to Nesotrochis picapicensis (1974).
Grus cubensis^[19]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Fischer & Stephan	Late Pleistocene	"Cave deposits"	Cuba	A crane. Moved to Antigone cubensis (2020).^[20]	Antigone cubensis (top)
Macrorhamphus finitimus^[11]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Kurochkin	Pliocene		Mongolia	A scolopacid, Moved to Limnodromus finitimus.
Mancalla cedrosensis^[17]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Howard	Early Pliocene	Almejas Formation	Mexico	A mancaline alcid
Onychopteryx^[21]	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Cracraft	Early Eocene	Casamajor Formation	Argentina	An onychopterygid Type species O. simpsoni
Phalacrocorax mongoliensis^[11]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Kurochkin	Late Miocene - Pliocene		Mongolia	A phalacrocoracid.
?Platydyptes marplesi^[22]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Simpson	Early or Middle Oligocene (Duntroonian)		New Zealand	A spheniscid.
Progrus^[23]	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Bendukidze	Middle - Late Eocene	Kalmakpai River	Kazakhstan	An eogruid. Type species P. turanicus Moved to Eogrus turanicus.
Proplegadis^[24]	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Harrison & Walker	Early Eocene		UK England	A possible phaethontid, Type species P. fisheri
Puffinus tedfordi^[17]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Howard	Early Pliocene	Almejas Formation	Mexico	A procellariid.
Spheniscus predemersus^[25]	Sp. nov.	jr synonym	Simpson	Late Pliocene	Langebaanweg fossil site	South Africa	A spheniscid, Moved to Inguza predemersus (1975)^[26]
Spizaetus tanneri^[27]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Martin	Early Pleistocene	Broadwater Formation	USA Nebraska	An accipitrid.
Struthio transcaucasicus^[28]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Burchak-Abramovich & Vekua	Late Pliocene (Akchagil age)		Georgia	A struthionid.
Wimanornis^[29]	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Simpson	Eocene	Seymour Island	Antarctica	A basal spheniscid Type species W. seymourensis

Newly named pterosaurs

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country/subdivision	Notes	Image
Araripesaurus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Price	Early Cretaceous	Santana Formation	Brazil	an ornithocheirid	Araripesaurus.
Sordes	gen et sp nov	Valid	Sharov	Late Jurassic	Karabastau Svita	Kazakhstan	possible rhamphorhynchid	Sordes pilosus

Other Animals

Name	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Chondroplon	Valid	Wade	Ediacaran		Australia Russia	Sometimes considered a synonym of Dickinsonia

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.
^ ^a ^b Via, Luis (1971). "Crustáceos decápodos del Jurásico Superior de Montsech (Lérida)". Cuadernas de Geología Ibérica. 2: 607–612.
^ Garassino, Alessandro (1997). "The macruran decapod crustaceans of the Lower Cretaceous (Lower Barremian) of Las Hoyas (Cuenca, Spain)". Atti della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale in Milano. 137 (1–2): 101–126.
^ Manchester, S.R. (1992). "Flowers, fruits and pollen of Florissantia, an extinct malvalean genus from the Eocene and Oligocene of western North America". American Journal of Botany. 79 (9): 996–1008. doi:10.2307/2444909. JSTOR 2444909.
^ ^a ^b ^c Lindström Maurits (1971). "Vom Anfang, Hochstand und Ende eines Epikontinentalmeeres". Geologische Rundschau. 60 (2): 419–438. Bibcode:1971GeoRu..60..419L. doi:10.1007/BF02000464. S2CID 128476116.
^ Bonaparte, J.F. 1970. Annotated list of the South American Triassic tetrapods. Second Gondwana Symposium South Africa, Proceedings and Papers: pp. 665-682.
^ Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
^ Nowinski, A. 1971. Nemegtosaurus mongoliensis n. gen., n. sp (Sauropoda) from the uppermost Cretaceous of Mongolia. Palaeontol. Polonica 25: pp. 57-81.
^ Galton, P.M. 1971. A primitive dome-headed dinosaur (Ornithischia: Pachycephalosauridae) from the Lower Cretaceous of England, and the function of the dome in pachycephalosaurids. J. Paleontol. 45: pp. 40-47.
^ ^a ^b Romer, A.S. 1971. The Chañares (Argentina) Triassic reptile fauna. X. Two new but incompletely known long-limbed pseudosuchians. Breviora 378: pp. 1-10.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Evgeny N. Kurochkin (1971). "[On the Pliocene Avifauna of Mongolia]". Transactions of the Joint Soviet-Mongolian Geological Expedition. 3 (5): 58–69.
^ Oscar Arredondo (1971). "Nuevo Género y Especie de Ave Fósil (Accipitriformes: Vulturidae) del Pleistoceno de Cuba". Memoria de la Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales la Salle. 31 (90): 309–323.
^ Suárez, W.; Emslie, S.D. (2003). "New fossil material with a redescription of the extinct condor Gymnogyps varonai (Arredondo, 1971) from the Quaternary of Cuba (Aves: Vulturidae)" (PDF). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 116 (1): 29–37.
^ ^a ^b Joel Cracraft (1971). "Systematics and Evolution of the Gruiformes (Class, Aves) 2. Additional Comments on the Bathornithidae, with Descriptions of a New Species" (PDF). American Museum Novitates (2449): 1–14.
^ J. Brunet (1971). "Oiseaux Miocénes de Beni Mellal (Maroc), un Complément à Leur Étude". Notes et Mémoires, Service Géologique (Morocco). 31: 109–111.
^ Pierce Brodkorb (1971). "The Paleospecies of Woodpeckers" (PDF). Quarterly Journal of the Florida Academy of Sciences. 33: 132–136. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-30. Retrieved 2014-10-29.
^ ^a ^b ^c Hildegarde Howard (1971). "Pliocene Avian Remains from Baja California" (PDF). Museum of Natural History of Los Angeles County, Contributions in Science. 217: 1–17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-28. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
^ ^a ^b Karlheinz Fischer; Burkhard Stephan (1971). "Weitere Vogelreste aus dem Pleistozän der Pio-Domingo-Höhle in Kuba". Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Reihe. 20: 593–607.
^ Karlheinz Fischer; Burkhard Stephan (1971). "Ein Flugunfahiger Kranich (Grus cubensis n.sp.) aus dem Pleitozän von Kuba - eine Osteologie der Familie der Kraniche (Gruidae)". Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Reihe. 20: 541–592.
^ William Suárez (2020). "The fossil avifauna of the tar seeps Las Breas de San Felipe, Matanzas, Cuba". Zootaxa. 4780 (1): zootaxa.4780.1.1. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4780.1.1. PMID 33055754. S2CID 219510089.
^ Joel Cracraft (1971). "A New Family of Hoatzin-like Birds (Order Opisthocomiformes) from the Eocene of South America" (PDF). Ibis. 113 (2): 229–233. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1971.tb05148.x.
^ George G. Simpson (1971). "A Review of the Pre-Pliocene Penguins of New Zealand" (PDF). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 144 (5): 319–378.
^ Oleg G. Bendukidze (1971). "Novyj prestavitel' semeistva Geranoididae (Aves, Gruiformes) iz eotsenovykh otlozhenij Zaisan". Soobtzhenija Akademii Nauk Gruzinskoj SSSR. 63: 749–751.
^ Colin J. O. Harrison & Cyril A. Walker (1971). "A New Ibis from the lower Eocene of Britain". Ibis. 113 (3): 367–368. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1971.tb05169.x.
^ George G. Simpson (1971). "Fossil Penguin from the Late Cenozoic of South Africa". Science. 171 (3976): 1144–1145. Bibcode:1971Sci...171.1144G. doi:10.1126/science.171.3976.1144. PMID 17777603. S2CID 35775139.
^ George G. Simpson (1975). "Notes on Variation in Penguins and on Fossil Penguins from the Pliocene of Langebaanweg, Cape Province, South Africa". Annals of the South African Museum. 69 (4): 59–72.
^ Larry D. Martin (1971). "An Early Pleistocene Eagle from Nebraska" (PDF). Condor. 73 (2): 248–250. doi:10.2307/1365848. JSTOR 1365848.
^ Nikolay I. Burchak-Abramovich & Abesalom K. Vekua (1971). "The Fossil Ostrich from the Akchagil Layers of Georgia". Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia. 16 (1): 1–28.
^ George G. Simpson (1971). "Review of the fossil penguins from Seymour Island". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. 178 (1053): 357–387. Bibcode:1971RSPSB.178..357S. doi:10.1098/rspb.1971.0070. S2CID 84900109.

[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.

[:0-2] Via, Luis (1971). "Crustáceos decápodos del Jurásico Superior de Montsech (Lérida)". Cuadernas de Geología Ibérica. 2: 607–612.

[3] Garassino, Alessandro (1997). "The macruran decapod crustaceans of the Lower Cretaceous (Lower Barremian) of Las Hoyas (Cuenca, Spain)". Atti della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale in Milano. 137 (1–2): 101–126.

[Manchester1992-4] Manchester, S.R. (1992). "Flowers, fruits and pollen of Florissantia, an extinct malvalean genus from the Eocene and Oligocene of western North America". American Journal of Botany. 79 (9): 996–1008. doi:10.2307/2444909. JSTOR 2444909.

[Lindstrom-5] Lindström Maurits (1971). "Vom Anfang, Hochstand und Ende eines Epikontinentalmeeres". Geologische Rundschau. 60 (2): 419–438. Bibcode:1971GeoRu..60..419L. doi:10.1007/BF02000464. S2CID 128476116.

[6] Bonaparte, J.F. 1970. Annotated list of the South American Triassic tetrapods. Second Gondwana Symposium South Africa, Proceedings and Papers: pp. 665-682.

[ddinogeorge-7] Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2008-08-07.

[8] Nowinski, A. 1971. Nemegtosaurus mongoliensis n. gen., n. sp (Sauropoda) from the uppermost Cretaceous of Mongolia. Palaeontol. Polonica 25: pp. 57-81.

[9] Galton, P.M. 1971. A primitive dome-headed dinosaur (Ornithischia: Pachycephalosauridae) from the Lower Cretaceous of England, and the function of the dome in pachycephalosaurids. J. Paleontol. 45: pp. 40-47.

[romer71chanares-10] Romer, A.S. 1971. The Chañares (Argentina) Triassic reptile fauna. X. Two new but incompletely known long-limbed pseudosuchians. Breviora 378: pp. 1-10.

[Kurochkin1971-11] Evgeny N. Kurochkin (1971). "[On the Pliocene Avifauna of Mongolia]". Transactions of the Joint Soviet-Mongolian Geological Expedition. 3 (5): 58–69.

[Antillovultur-12] Oscar Arredondo (1971). "Nuevo Género y Especie de Ave Fósil (Accipitriformes: Vulturidae) del Pleistoceno de Cuba". Memoria de la Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales la Salle. 31 (90): 309–323.

[Suárez2003-13] Suárez, W.; Emslie, S.D. (2003). "New fossil material with a redescription of the extinct condor Gymnogyps varonai (Arredondo, 1971) from the Quaternary of Cuba (Aves: Vulturidae)" (PDF). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 116 (1): 29–37.

[Eutreptornis-14] Joel Cracraft (1971). "Systematics and Evolution of the Gruiformes (Class, Aves) 2. Additional Comments on the Bathornithidae, with Descriptions of a New Species" (PDF). American Museum Novitates (2449): 1–14.

[Bucorvus-15] J. Brunet (1971). "Oiseaux Miocénes de Beni Mellal (Maroc), un Complément à Leur Étude". Notes et Mémoires, Service Géologique (Morocco). 31: 109–111.

[Campephilus-16] Pierce Brodkorb (1971). "The Paleospecies of Woodpeckers" (PDF). Quarterly Journal of the Florida Academy of Sciences. 33: 132–136. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-30. Retrieved 2014-10-29.

[Howard1971-17] Hildegarde Howard (1971). "Pliocene Avian Remains from Baja California" (PDF). Museum of Natural History of Los Angeles County, Contributions in Science. 217: 1–17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-28. Retrieved 2014-10-28.

[Fulica-18] Karlheinz Fischer; Burkhard Stephan (1971). "Weitere Vogelreste aus dem Pleistozän der Pio-Domingo-Höhle in Kuba". Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Reihe. 20: 593–607.

[Grus-19] Karlheinz Fischer; Burkhard Stephan (1971). "Ein Flugunfahiger Kranich (Grus cubensis n.sp.) aus dem Pleitozän von Kuba - eine Osteologie der Familie der Kraniche (Gruidae)". Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Reihe. 20: 541–592.

[20] William Suárez (2020). "The fossil avifauna of the tar seeps Las Breas de San Felipe, Matanzas, Cuba". Zootaxa. 4780 (1): zootaxa.4780.1.1. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4780.1.1. PMID 33055754. S2CID 219510089.

[Onychopteryx-21] Joel Cracraft (1971). "A New Family of Hoatzin-like Birds (Order Opisthocomiformes) from the Eocene of South America" (PDF). Ibis. 113 (2): 229–233. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1971.tb05148.x.

[Platydyptes-22] George G. Simpson (1971). "A Review of the Pre-Pliocene Penguins of New Zealand" (PDF). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 144 (5): 319–378.

[Progrus-23] Oleg G. Bendukidze (1971). "Novyj prestavitel' semeistva Geranoididae (Aves, Gruiformes) iz eotsenovykh otlozhenij Zaisan". Soobtzhenija Akademii Nauk Gruzinskoj SSSR. 63: 749–751.

[Proplegadis-24] Colin J. O. Harrison & Cyril A. Walker (1971). "A New Ibis from the lower Eocene of Britain". Ibis. 113 (3): 367–368. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1971.tb05169.x.

[Spheniscus-25] George G. Simpson (1971). "Fossil Penguin from the Late Cenozoic of South Africa". Science. 171 (3976): 1144–1145. Bibcode:1971Sci...171.1144G. doi:10.1126/science.171.3976.1144. PMID 17777603. S2CID 35775139.

[Iguza-26] George G. Simpson (1975). "Notes on Variation in Penguins and on Fossil Penguins from the Pliocene of Langebaanweg, Cape Province, South Africa". Annals of the South African Museum. 69 (4): 59–72.

[Spizaetus-27] Larry D. Martin (1971). "An Early Pleistocene Eagle from Nebraska" (PDF). Condor. 73 (2): 248–250. doi:10.2307/1365848. JSTOR 1365848.

[Struthio-28] Nikolay I. Burchak-Abramovich & Abesalom K. Vekua (1971). "The Fossil Ostrich from the Akchagil Layers of Georgia". Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia. 16 (1): 1–28.

[Wimanornis-29] George G. Simpson (1971). "Review of the fossil penguins from Seymour Island". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. 178 (1053): 357–387. Bibcode:1971RSPSB.178..357S. doi:10.1098/rspb.1971.0070. S2CID 84900109.

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