1985 in paleontology
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 1985.
Molluscs
Bivalves
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
gen et sp nov |
He & Pei |
Henan province |
synonym of Pojetaia runnegari |
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|
Ord, Supfam, fam, gen et sp nov |
valid |
MacKinnon |
Tasman Formation |
one of four accepted Cambrian bivalves |
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Arthropods
Insects
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Sp nov |
valid |
A dolichoderine ant |
 | |||||
|
Sp nov |
valid |
A dolichoderine ant |
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|
gen et sp. nov |
valid |
A castniid butterfly-moth, monotypic |
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Echinoderms
Fish
Newly named Cartilaginous fish
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Type locality | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Sp nov |
jr synonym |
Duffin |
A hybodont, moved to Reesodus wirksworthensis in 2013[8] |
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Archosauromorphs
- Psittacosaurus gastroliths documented.[9]
Newly named pseudosuchians
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
A rauisuchid. |
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Newly named pterosaurs
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Gen et sp |
Valid |
Campos & Kellner |
A pterodactyloid belonging to Anhangueridae. |
 | ||||
|
Gen et sp nov |
Jurcsák & Kessler |
Early Cretaceous |
Bauxite mine |
An informal name applied to Palaeocursornis. An azhdarchoid pterosaur.[12] |
||||
Newly named non-avian dinosaurs
Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.[13]
| Name | Status | Authors | Location | Notes | Images | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abelisaurus[14] | Valid taxon |
|
A short-handed Flesh-eating Dinosaur. |  | ||
| "Aliwalia"[15] |
Junior subjective synonym of Eucnemosaurus. |
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| Blikanasaurus[16] | Valid taxon |
|
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| Camelotia[17] | Valid taxon | A British Melanorosaur. |  | |||
| Carnotaurus[18] | Valid taxon | An Abelisaurid. The Horned Cheetah of the Cretaceous. |  | |||
| "Dachungosaurus"[19] |
|
|||||
| "Dystylosaurus"[20] |
Junior synonym of Supersaurus. |
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| Gasosaurus[21] | Valid taxon |  | ||||
| "Mifunesaurus" |
|
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| "Moshisaurus" |
|
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| "Oshanosaurus"[19] |
|
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| "Sanchusaurus" |
|
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| Supersaurus[20] | Valid taxon |  | ||||
| "Ultrasaurus"[20] |
Preoccupied by Kim H. M., 1983 and renamed Ultrasauros. |
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| "Xuanhuasaurus"[19] |
|
Later renamed Xuanhuaceratops in 2006 |
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Literature on fossil birds
- Storrs Olson: the fossil record of birds [22]
Newly named birds
| Name | Status | Novelty | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Aegialornis szarskii [23] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Dieter S. Peters |
|||||
|
Amphipelargus dzabghanensis [24] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Chono-Harayah |
|||||
|
Anas molesta [24] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Hyargas Nuur 2 |
An Anatidae, transferred to the genus Aythya by Nikita V. Zelenkov [25] |
||||
|
Anas schneideri [26] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Steven D. Emslie |
An Anatidae. |
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|
Anser tchikoicus [24] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
An Anatidae. |
|||||
|
Anthus seductus [24] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
A Motacillidae. |
|||||
|
Valid |
Gen et Sp. nov. |
|
An Enantiornithes, Avisauridae Brett-Surman & Paul, 1985 this is the type species of the new genus. |
|||||
|
Aythya magna [24] |
Valid |
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Hyargas Nuur Formation |
An Anatidae. |
||||
|
Aythya shihuibas [28] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Hou Lianhai |
An Anatidae, Nikita V. Zelenkov, 2012 transferred the species to his genus Protomelanitta Zelenkov, 2011.[29] |
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|
Bonibernicla ponderosa [24] |
Valid |
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Hyargas Nuur Formation |
An Anatidae, this is the type species of the new genus. |
||||
|
Valid |
Gen et Sp nov. |
A Cathartidae, this is the type species of the new genus. |
||||||
|
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Robert F. Baird |
||||||
|
Colius hendeyi [32] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Patricia Vickers Rich Philippa J. Haarhoff |
Varswater Formation |
A Coliidae. |
|||
|
Corvus solitus [24] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
A Corvidae. |
|||||
|
Diangallus mious [28] |
Valid |
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Hou Lianhai |
A Phasianidae, this is the type species of the new genus. |
||||
|
Egretta subfluvia [33] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Jonathan J. Becker |
Early Hemphillian |
|
An Ardeidae. |
||
|
Eudromia olsoni [34] |
Valid |
Nom. nov. |
Claudia P. Tambussi Eduardo P. Tonni |
Monte Hermoso Formation |
A Tinamidae, new name for the preoccupied Tinamisornis intermedius Dabbene et Lillo, 1913 = Eudromia elegans intermedia (Dabbene et Lillo, 1913). |
|||
|
Geronticus apelex [35] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Varswater Formation |
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|
Grus afghana [36] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Yves Jehenne Émile Heintz |
MN 12 |
A Gruidae. |
|||
|
Haliaeetus fortis [24] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Hyargas-Nuur 2 |
An Accipitridae. |
||||
|
Valid |
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
A Phaethontidae, this is the type species of the new genus. |
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|
Limosa lacrimosa [24] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
A Scolopacidae. |
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|
“Lophura” inferna [24] |
Not Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Shaamar |
A Phasianidae, not a Lophura, the holotype is not diagnostic to genus.[citation needed] |
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|
Melopyrrha latirostris [38] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Gary S. Morgan |
Cayman Brac cave deposits |
A Thraupidae. |
|||
|
Oceanites zaloscarthmus [39] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Varswater Formation |
An Oceanitidae. |
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|
Oenanthe infima [24] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Sharga |
A Muscicapidae. |
||||
|
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Robert F. Baird |
An Orthonychidae. |
|||||
|
Pachyptila salax [39] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Storrs L. Olson |
Varswater Formation |
||||
|
Paleopsilopterus itaboraiensis [40] |
Valid |
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Herculano M. F. de Alvarenga |
A Gruiformes, Phorusrhacidae Ameghino, 1889, Psilopterinae Mathilde Dolgopol de Sáez, 1927, this is the type species of the new genus. |
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|
Palaeotodus escampsiensis [41] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
A Todidae. |
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|
Palaeotodus itardiensis [41] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
A Todidae. |
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|
Pandion lovensis [42] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Jonathan J. Becker |
Latest Clarendonian |
A Pandionidae. |
|||
|
Pelecanoides cymatotrypetes [39] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Varswater Formation |
|||||
|
Perdix margaritae [24] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Chikoi River |
A Phasianidae. |
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|
Phalaropus eleonorae [24] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
A Phalaropidae. |
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|
Phasianus lufengia [28] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Hou Lianhai |
Shihuiba |
A Phasianidae. |
|||
|
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Hyargas-Nuur 2: MN 13; |
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|
Valid ? |
Sp. nov. |
Colin J. O. Harrison |
|
A Pseudontornithidae, possibly a synonymym of Pseudodontornis longidentata[citation needed] |
||||
|
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Storrs L. Olson |
Quaternary, probably Holocene |
Cave deposits |
A Caprimulgidae, may still be living. |
|||
|
Syrmaticus kozlovae [24] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Khirgis Nur Formation |
A Phasianidae. |
||||
|
Syrrhaptes kashini [24] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
A Pteroclidae. |
|||||
|
Tadorna petrina [24] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
An Anatidae. |
|||||
|
Yunnanus gaoyuansis [28] |
Valid |
Gen et Sp nov. |
Hou Lianhai |
Shihuiba |
A Passeriformes, family Incertae Sedis, this is the type species of the new genus. |
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Lepidosauromorphs
Newly named pleosiosaurs
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Zhang |
||||||
Synapsids
Mammals
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Sp. nov |
Jr. synonym |
Cooke |
A mustelid, reassigned to the genus Propoecilogale in 1987.[46] |
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