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 1980.

List of years in paleontology (table)
In science
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
+...

Bryophytes

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Name Novelty Status Authors Age Type locality Location Notes Images

Hypnites jovetasti[2]

Comb nov

Valid

(Kuc) Miller

Ypresian

Allenby Formation

  Canada
  British Columbia

An amblystegiaceous moss
moved from Palaeohypnum jovet-asti 1974[3]

Hypnites steerei[2]

Comb nov

Valid

(Kuc) Miller

Ypresian

Allenby Formation

  Canada
  British Columbia

An amblystegiaceous moss
moved from Palaeohypnum steerei 1974[3]

Plagiopodopsis eocenicus[2]

Comb nov

Valid

(Kuc) Miller

Ypresian

Allenby Formation

  Canada
  British Columbia

A bartramiaceous moss
moved from Muscites eocenicus 1972[4]

Arthropods

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Insects

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Name Novelty Status Authors Age Unit Location Notes Images

Anochetus corayi[5]

Sp nov

Valid

Baroni Urbani

Burdigalian

Dominican amber

  Dominican Republic

A ponerin ant

 
Anochetus corayi

Trachymyrmex primaevus[6]

Sp nov

Valid

Baroni Urbani

Burdigalian

Dominican amber

  Dominican Republic

A Myrmicin ant

 
Trachymyrmex primaevus

Molluscs

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Newly named bivalves

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Name Novelty Status Authors Age Unit Location Notes Images

Pojetaia[7]

Gen et sp nov

Valid

Jell

Early Cambrian

Parara Limestone

  Australia

early Cambrian bivalve, type species P. runnegari

Archosauromorphs

edit

Newly named dinosaurs

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Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.[8]

Note: the name Lancangosaurus[9] is mistakenly treated as a nomen nudum synonymous with Datousaurus (because Dong et al. 1983 believed it to be conspecific with Datousaurus). However, it is actually an early spelling variant of another nomen nudum, Lancangjiangosaurus.

Name Novelty Status Authors Age Unit Location Notes Images

Callovosaurus[10]

Gen et sp nov

valid

Galton

Callovian

Oxford Clay Formation

  England

A dryosaurid, That its name means Reptile of Callovian.

Dracopelta[11]

Gen et sp nov

Valid

Galton

Kimmeridgian

  Portugal

A Primitive ankylosaurian

Erlikosaurus[12]

Gen et sp nov

Valid

Perle

Cenomanian-Santonian

Bayan Shireh Formation

  Mongolia

A therizinosaurid

 
Erlikosaurus

Kakuru[13]

Gen et sp nov

Valid

Molnar & Pledge

Aptian

Marree Formation

  Australia

A Theropoda of uncertain phylogenetic classification.

Minmi[14]

Gen et sp nov

Valid

Molnar

Aptian

Bungil Formation

  Australia

An Australian ankylosaurid

 
Minmi

Noasaurus[15]

Gen et sp nov

Valid

Bonaparte & Powell

Campanian-Maastrichtian

Lecho Formation

  Argentina

A Noasaurid

 
Noasaurus

Saltasaurus[15]

Gen et sp nov

Valid

Bonaparte & Powell

Campanian-Maastrichtian

Lecho Formation

  Argentina

A Saltasaurid, a Sauropod with Ankylosaur-like armor

 
Saltasaurus

Zephyrosaurus[16]

Gen et sp nov

Valid

Sues

Aptian-Albian

Cloverly Formation

  USA (  Montana   Maryland   Virginia

A thescelosaurid

Newly named birds

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Name Novelty Status Authors Age Unit Location Notes Images

Alectoris baryosefi[17]

Sp. nov.

Valid

Eitan Tchernov

Pleistocene

MQ 1b

  Israel

A Phasianidae.

Anser thompsoni[18]

Sp. nov.

Valid

Larry D. Martin

Robert M. Mengel

Late Pliocene

Blancan

Broadwater Formation

  USA:

  Nebraska

An Anatidae.

Apopempsis africanus[19]

Sp. nov.

Valid

Colin J. O. Harrison

Early Miocene

Songhor

  Kenya

A Musophagidae, transferred to the genus Veflintornis Kashin, 1976, Apopempsis Brodkorb, 1971 preoccupied by Apopempsis Schenkling, 1903.

Archaeotrogon hoffstetteri[20]

Sp. nov.

Valid

Cécile Mourer-Chauviré

Eocene or Oligocene

Phosphorites du Quercy

MP 16-28

  France

An Apodiformes, Archaeotrogonidae Mourer-Chauviré, 1980.

Ardea howardae[21]

Sp. nov.

Valid

Pierce Brodkorb

Late Pliocene

Shungura Formation,

1.94 My BP

  Ethiopia

An Ardeidae.

Argentavis magnificens[22]

Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.

Valid

Kenneth E. Campbell, jr.

Eduado P. Tonni

Late Miocene

Salinas Grandes de Hidalgo

  Argentina

A Teratornithidae Miller, 1909, this is the type species of the new genus.

 
Argentavis

Burhinus aquilonaris[23]

Sp. nov.

Valid

Alan Feduccia

Pleistocene

Sanborn Formation

  USA:

  Kansas

A Burhinidae.

Ciconia minor[19]

Sp. nov.

Valid

Colin J. O. Harrison

Early Miocene

Rusinga Island

  Kenya

A Ciconiidae.

Crex zazhigini[24]

Sp. nov.

Valid

Evgeny N. Kurochkin

Early Pliocene

MN 14-15

  Mongolia

A Rallidae, transferred to the genus Pastushkinia Zelenkov, 2013 as its type species.[25]

Eostrix vincenti[26]

Sp. nov.

Valid

Colin J. O. Harrison

Early Eocene

Ypresian,

MP 7-10

  UK:

  England

A Strigiformes, Strigida, Protostrigidae Wetmore, 1933.

Gallinula gigantea[17]

Sp. nov.

Valid

Eitan Tchernov

Pleistocene

  Israel

A Rallidae.

Juncitarsus gracillimus[27]

Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.

Valid

Storrs L. Olson

Alan Feduccia

Early Middle Eocene

Bridger Formation

  USA:

  Wyoming

A Phoenicopteriformes Fürbringer, 1888, Juncitarsidae Peters, 1987, this is the type species of the new genus.

Larus dolnicensis[28]

Sp. nov.

Valid

Petr Švec

Early Miocene

MN 4b

  Czechoslovakia

Described as a Laridae, transferred to the Glareolidae, genus Mioglareola Ballmann, 1979 by Mlíkovský, 2000.[29]

Linquornis gigantis[30]

Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.

Valid

Yeh Hsiang-k'uei

Middle Miocene

Shanwang Series

  China

A Phasianidae, this is the type species of the new genus.

Milvus pygmeus[17]

Sp. nov.

Valid

Eitan Tchernov

Pleistocene

  Israel

An Accipitridae.

Neophrontops ricardoensis[31]

Sp. nov.

Valid

Patricia Vickers Rich

Middle Miocene

Late Claredonian

  USA;

  California

An Accipitridae.

Palaeoaramides tugarinovi[24]

Sp. nov.

Valid

Evgeny N. Kurochkin

Miocene-Middle Pliocene

Chirgis Nuur series

  Mongolia

A Rallidae.

Rallus risillus[24]

Sp. nov.

Valid

Evgeny N. Kurochkin

Miocene-Middle Pliocene

Chirgis Nuur series

  Mongolia

A Rallidae, transferred to the genus Porzana by Kurochkin, 1985.[32]

Sinanas diatomas[30]

Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.

Valid

Yeh Hsiang-k'uei

Middle Miocene

Shanwang bed sw2

  China

An Anatidae, this is the type species of the new genus.

Sylviornis neocaledoniae[33]

Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.

Valid

François Poplin

Holocene

Cave deposits

  New Caledonia

Described as a Ratitae, transferred to the Craciformes, Megapodiidae and placed in its own family Sylviornithidae[34] by Mourer-Chauviré & Balouet, 2005, this is the type species of the new genus.

Tonsala hildegardae[35]

Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.

Valid

Storrs L. Olson

Late Oligocene

Pysht Formation

  USA:

  Washington

A Pelecaniformes, Plotopteridae Howard, 1969, this is the type species of the new genus.

Tyto balearica[36]

Sp. nov.

Valid

Cécile Mourer-Chauviré

Josep A. Alcover

Salvador Moya

Juan Pons

Late Miocene-Pleistocene

MN 12-MN 18, MQ 2A-C

  Spain;

  Italy;

  France;

  Majorca;

  Sardinia

A Tytonidae.

Zhongyuanus xichuanensis[37]

Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.

Valid

Hou Lainhai

Early Eocene

Yuhuangding Group

  China

A Gastornithidae Fürbringer, 1888, transferred to the genus Gastornis Hébert, 1855 by Buffetaut, 2013.,[38] this is the type species of the new genus.

Pterosauria

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Newly named pterosaurs

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Name Novelty Status Authors Age Unit Location Notes Images

Santanadactylus[39]

Gen et sp nov

Valid

de Buisonjé

Aptian

Santana Formation

  Brazil

A Pterodactyloid

Lepidosauromorphs

edit

Plesiosaurs

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  • Plesiosaur gastroliths documented.[40]
Name Status Authors Age Location Notes

Bishanopliosaurus

Valid

Dong

172 million years   China

References

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  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 c Miller, N. G. (1980). "Fossil mosses of North America and their significance". The Mosses of North America. pp. 9–36.
  3. ^ a b Kuc, M. (1974). "Fossil mosses from the bisaccate zone of the mid-Eocene Allenby Formation, British Columbia". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 11 (3): 409–421. Bibcode:1974CaJES..11..409K. doi:10.1139/e74-037.
  4. ^ Kuc, M. (1972). "Muscites eocenicus sp. nov.—a fossil moss from the Allenby Formation (middle Eocene), British Columbia". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 9 (5): 600–602. Bibcode:1972CaJES...9..600K. doi:10.1139/e72-049.
  5. ^ Baroni Urbani, C. (1980). "Anochetus corayi n. sp., the first fossil Odontomachiti ant. (Amber Collection Stuttgart: Hymenoptera, Formicidae. II: Odontomachiti)". Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde. Serie B (Geologie und Paläontologie). 55: 1–6.
  6. ^ Baroni Urbani, C. (1980). "First description of fossil gardening ants (Amber collection Stuttgart and Natural History Museum Basel; Hymenoptera: Formicidae. I: Attini)". Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde, Serie B (Geologie und Paläontologie). 54: 1–13.
  7. ^ Elicki, O.; Gürsu, S. (2009). "First record of Pojetaia runnegari Jell, 1980 and Fordilla Barrande, 1881 from the Middle East (Taurus Mountains, Turkey) and critical review of Cambrian bivalves" (PDF). Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 83 (2): 267–291. doi:10.1007/s12542-009-0021-9. S2CID 49380913. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
  8. ^ Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
  9. ^ Zhao, 1980. [Mesozoic vertebrate-bearing beds and stratigraphy of northern Xinjinag: Report of Paleontological Expedition to Xinjiang IV.] Memoirs of the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology, Academia Sinica A. 15, 1-119.
  10. ^ Galton, P.M. (1980). "European Jurassic ornithopod dinosaurs of the families Hypsilophodontidae and Camptosauridae". N. Jb. Geol. Paläont. Abh. 160 (1): 73–95.
  11. ^ Galton, P.M. (1980). "Partial skeleton of Dracopelta zbyszewskii n.gen. and n.sp., an ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal". Géobios. 13 (3): 451–457. doi:10.1016/s0016-6995(80)80081-7.
  12. ^ Perle, A. (1980). "Segnosauria, a new infraorder of carnivorous dinosaurs". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 25: 185–195.
  13. ^ Molnar, R.E.; Pledge, N.S. (1980). "A new theropod dinosaur from South Australia". Alcheringa. 4 (4): 281–287. doi:10.1080/03115518008558972.
  14. ^ Molnar, R.E. (1980). "An ankylosaur (Ornithischia: Reptilia) from the Lower Cretaceous of southern Queensland". Mem. Queensland Mus. 20: 77–87.
  15. ^ a b Bonaparte, J.F.; Powell, J.E. (1980). "A continental assemblage of tetrapods from the Upper Cretaceous beds of El Brete, northwest Argentina (Sauropoda-Coelurosauria-Carnosauria-Aves)". Mém. Soc. Géol. Fr. Nouvelle Série. 139: 19–28.
  16. ^ Sues, H.-D. 1980. Anatomy and relationships of a new hypsilophodontid dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of North America. Palaeontographica. Abt. (A) 169: pp. 51-72.
  17. ^ a b c Eitan Tchernov (1980). "The Pleistocene Birds of 'Ubeidiya, Jordan Valley". Publications of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities: 1–83.
  18. ^ Larry D. Martin; Robert M. Mengel (1980). "A New Goose from the Late Pliocene of Nebraska with Notes on Variability and Proportions in Some Recent Geese" (PDF). Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring Hildegarde Howard, Museum of Natural History of Los Angeles County, Contributions in Science. 330: 75–85. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-09-06. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  19. ^ a b Colin J. O. Harrison (1980). "Fossil Birds from Afrotropical Africa in the Collection of the British Museum (Natural History)". Ostrich: Journal of African Ornithology. 51 (2): 92–98. doi:10.1080/00306525.1980.9633549.
  20. ^ Cécile Mourer-Chauviré (1980). "The Archaeotrogonidae of the Eocene and Oligocene Phosphorites du Quercy (France)" (PDF). Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring Hildegarde Howard, Museum of Natural History of Los Angeles County, Contributions in Science. 330: 17–31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-09-06. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  21. ^ Pierce Brodkorb (1980). "A New Fossil Heron (Aves: Ardeidae) from the Omo Basin of Ethiopia, with Remarks on the Position of Some Other Species Assigned to the Ardeidae" (PDF). Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring Hildegarde Howard, Museum of Natural History of Los Angeles County, Contributions in Science. 330: 87–92. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-09-06. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  22. ^ Kenneth E. Campbell, jr; Eduado P. Tonni (1980). "A New Genus of Teratorn from the Huayquerian of Argentina (Aves: Teratornithidae)" (PDF). Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring Hildegarde Howard, Museum of Natural History of Los Angeles County, Contributions in Science. 330: 59–68. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-09-06. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  23. ^ Alan Feduccia (1980). "A Thick-Knee (Aves: Burhinidae) from the Pleistocene of North America and Its Bearing on Ice Age climates" (PDF). Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring Hildegarde Howard, Museum of Natural History of Los Angeles County, Contributions in Science. 330: 115–118. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-09-06. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  24. ^ a b c Evgeny N. Kurochkin (1980). "Middle Pliocene Rails from Western Mongolia" (PDF). Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring Hildegarde Howard, Museum of Natural History of Los Angeles County, Contributions in Science. 330: 69–73. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-09-06. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  25. ^ Nikita V. Zelenkov (2013). "New Finds and Revised Taxa of Early Pliocene Birds from Western Mongolia" (PDF). Paleontological Research, Proceedings of the 8th International Meeting of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution: 153–170.
  26. ^ Colin J. O. Harrison (1980). "A Small Owl from the Lower Eocene of Britain". Tertiary Research. 3 (2): 83–87.
  27. ^ Storrs L. Olson; Alan Feduccia (1980). "Relationships and Evolution of Flamingos (Aves: Phoenicopteridae)" (PDF). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. 316 (316): 1–84. doi:10.5479/si.00810282.316.
  28. ^ Petr Švec (1980). "Lower Miocene Birds from Dolnice (Cheb Basin), Western Bohemia". Časopis pro mineralogii a geologii. 25: 377–387.
  29. ^ Jíří Mlikovský (2000). "Early Miocene Pratincoles (Aves: Glareolidae) from Dolnice, Czech Republic" (PDF). Acta Societatis Zoologicae Bohemicae, Casopis Narodniho Muzea, Rada Pritodovedna. 64: 93–96. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-09-06. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  30. ^ a b Yeh Hsiang-k'uei (1980). "[Fossil Birds from Linqu, Shandong]" (PDF). Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 18 (2): 116–125.
  31. ^ Patricia Vickers Rich (1980). ""New World Vultures" with Old World Affinities? A Review of Fossil and Recent Gypaetinae of Both the Old and the New World". Contributions to Vertebrate Evolution. 5: 1–115.
  32. ^ Evgeny N. Kurochkin (1985). "[Birds of Central Asia in the Pliocene]". Transactions of the Joint Soviet-Mongolian Expedition. 26: 1–120.
  33. ^ François Poplin (1980). "Sylviornis neocaledoniae n. g., n. sp. (Aves), Ratite Éteint de la Nouvelle-Calédonie". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Série D. 290: 691–694.
  34. ^ Cécile Mourer-Chauviré; Jean Chr. Balouet (2005). Joseph Antoni Alcover; Pere Bover (eds.). "Description of the Skull of the Genus Sylviornis Poplin, 1980 (Aves, Galliformes, Sylviornithidae New Family), a Giant Extinct Bird from the Holocene of New Caledonia". Proceedings of the International Symposium "Insularertebrate Evolution: The Palaeontological Approach" Monographies de la Societat d'Historia Natural de les Balears. 12: 205–218.
  35. ^ Storrs L. Olson (1980). "A New Genus of Penguin-like Pelecaniform Bird from the Oligocene of Washington (Pelecaniformes: Plotopteridae)" (PDF). Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring Hildegarde Howard, Museum of Natural History of Los Angeles County, Contributions in Science. 330: 51–57. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-09-06. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  36. ^ Cécile Mourer-Chauviré; Josep A. Alcover; Salvador Moya; Juan Pons (1980). "Une Nouvelle Forme Insulaire d'Efraie Geante, Tyto balearica N. Sp., (Aves, Strigiformes), du Plio-Pleistocene des Baleares" (PDF). Géobios. 13 (5): 803–811. doi:10.1016/s0016-6995(80)80060-x.
  37. ^ Hou Lainhai (1980). "[New Form of Gastornithidae from the Lower Eocene of the Xichuan, Honan]" (PDF). Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 18 (2): 111–115.
  38. ^ Eric Buffetaut (2013). "The Giant Bird Gastornis in Asia: A Revision of Zhongyuanus xichuanensis Hou, 1980, from the Early Eocene of China". Paleontological Journal. 47 (11): 1302–1307. doi:10.1134/s0031030113110051. S2CID 84611178.
  39. ^ De Buisonjé, P.H. (1980). "Santanadactylus brasilensis nov.gen. nov.sp. a longnecked, large pterosaur from the Aptian of Brazil". Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen B. 83 (2): 145–172.
  40. ^ Darby and Ojakangas (1980). Sanders, Manley, and Carpenter (2001), "Table 12.1" page 167.
  • Darby, D. G. and Ojakangas, R. W.; 1980; Gastroliths from a Late Cretaceous Plesiosaur; Journal of Paleontology; 54(3) pp. 548–556
  • 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.