2002 in paleontology

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 2002.

[1]

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Ginkgo dissecta^[2]	Sp nov	Valid	Mustoe	Early Eocene	McAbee site, Kamloops Group	Canada
Pinus matthewsii^[3]	Sp nov	Valid	McKown, Stockey, & Schweger	Pliocene	Ch'ijee's Bluff, Bluefish Basin	Canada

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Hymenaea mexicana^[4]	sp nov	Valid	Poinar & Brown	Late Oligocene - early Miocene	Mexican amber	Mexico	A species of Hymenaea, producer of Mexican amber
Trifurcatua flabellata^[5]	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Mohr & Rydin	Lower Cretaceous	Crato Formation	Brazil	putative monocot

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Cretomerobius wehri^[6]	Sp nov.	Jr synonym	Makarkin, Archibald, Oswald	Ypresian	Klondike Mountain Formation	USA	A drepanepterygine brown lacewing. Moved to Proneuronema wehri in 2016^[7]
Dolichoderus kohlsi^[8]	Sp nov	Valid	Dlussky & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Green River Formation	United States Colorado	A dolichoderine ant.
Dolichoderus longipilosus^[9]	Sp nov	valid	Dlussky	Middle Eocene	Baltic amber	Europe	A Dolichoderine ant	Dolichoderus longipilosus
Dolichoderus nanus^[9]	Sp nov	valid	Dlussky	Middle Eocene	Baltic amber	Europe	A Dolichoderine ant	Dolichoderus nanus
Eoformica globularis^[8]	Sp nov	Valid	Dlussky & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Green River Formation	United States Wyoming	A ant of uncertain placement.
Eoformica magna^[8]	Sp nov	Valid	Dlussky & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Green River Formation	United States Wyoming	A ant of uncertain placement.
Fibla (Reisserella) cerdanica^[10]	Comb nov	Valid	(Nel)	Late Miocene		Spain	An inocellid snakefly, moved from Miofibla Nel, 1994	Fibla cerdanica
Formica gustawi^[11]	Sp nov	valid	Dlussky	Middle Eocene	Baltic amber	Europe	A formicine ant	Formica gustawi
Klondikia^[8]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Dlussky & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Klondike Mountain Formation	United States Washington	An ant form genus of uncertain placement. Type species K. whiteae
Kohlsimyrma^[8]	Gen et 2 sp nov	Valid	Dlussky & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Green River Formation	United States Colorado	An ant form genus of uncertain placement. Type species K. laticeps also includes K. gracilis and K. longiceps
Mianeuretus eocenicus^[8]	Sp nov	Valid	Dlussky & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Green River Formation	United States Colorado	An aneuretine ant
Myrmecites^[8]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Dlussky & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Green River Formation	United States Colorado	A myrmicine ant form genus. Type species M. rotundiceps
Pachycondyla labandeirai^[8]	Sp nov	Valid	Dlussky & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Green River Formation	United States Wyoming	A ponerine ant.
Ponerites^[8]	Gen, 3 sp et 1 comb nov	Valid	Dlussky & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Green River Formation	United States Colorado	A ponerine ant form genus. Type species P. eocenicus Also includes P. coloradensis, P. hypoponeroides, & P. umbrus (moved from Ponera umbrus 1932)
Proiridomyrmex^[8]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Dlusskys & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Green River Formation	United States Colorado	A dolichoderine ant form genus Type species P. vetulus
Solenopsites^[8]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Dlussky & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Green River Formation	United States Colorado	A myrmicine ant form genus. Type species S. minutus
Wesmaelius mathewesi^[6]	sp. nov	valid	Makarkin, Archibald, Oswald	Ypresian	Coldwater Formation	Canada	first description of fossil Wesmaelius

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Agnosphitys^[14]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Fraser, Padian, Walkden, & Davis	late Triassic		England	A possible chimera	Agnosphitys cromhallensis
Anabisetia^[15]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Coria & Calvo	Late Cretaceous	Cerro Lisandro Formation	Argentina	An Iguanodont	Anabisetia saldiviai
Aucasaurus^[16]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Coria, Chiappe, & Dingus	Santonian	Anacleto Formation	Argentina	An Abelisaurid	Aucasaurus garridoi
"Byranjaffia"^[17]	gen nov	Nomen nudum	Novacek	Late Cretaceous		Mongolia	Officially named Byronosaurus
Crichtonsaurus^[18]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Dong	Late Cretaceous	Sunjiawan Formation	China	An ankylosaurid
"Cryptovolans"^[19]	gen et sp nov	Junior synonym	Czerkas, Zhang, Li, & Li	Aptian	Jiufotang Formation	China	Jr synonym of Microraptor
"Epidendrosaurus"^[20]	gen et sp nov	junior synonym	Zhang, Zhou, Xu, & Wang	Late Jurassic	Yixian Formation	China	jr synonym of Scansoriopteryx
Erliansaurus^[21]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Xu et al.	Late Cretaceous	Iren Dabasu Formation	Mongolia	A Therizinosauroid	Erliansaurus bellamanus
"Fusinasus"^[22]	gen et sp nov	Junior synonym of Eotyrannus	Hutt	Early Cretaceous	Wessex Formation	England	Jr synonym of Eotyrannus
"Huaxiasaurus"		Nomen nudum	Rey				Officially named Huaxiagnathus in 2004
Incisivosaurus^[23]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Xu, Wang, & Chang	Barremian	Yixian Formation	China	An Oviraptorosaurid
Liaoceratops^[24]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Xu et al.	Berremian	Yixian Formation	China	A Ceratopsian	Liaoceratops yanzigouensis
Pycnonemosaurus^[25]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Kellner & Campos	Bauru-type red conglomerate sandstone	Maastrichtian	Brazil	An Abelisaurid
Scansoriopteryx^[26]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Czerkas & Yuan	Late Jurassic	Yixian Formation	China	Possible junior synonym of Epidendrosaurus
Sinovenator^[27]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Xu et al.	Early Cretaceous	Yixian Formation	China	A Troodontid
Sphaerotholus^[28]	Gen. 2 sp. nov	Valid	Williamson & Carr	Late Cretaceous	Kirtland Formation, Hell Creek Formation	United States ( Montana, New Mexico)	A pachycephalosaurine; originally described with two species, S. goodwini and S. buchholtzae.	Sphaerotholus

Name	Status	Novelty	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Adelalopus ^[29]	Valid	Gen. et Sp. nov.	Mayr & Smith	Early Oligocene	Borgloon Formation	Belgium Flemish Brabant	A palaelodid Type species A. hoogbutseliensis
Aegialornis germanicus ^[30]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Mlíkovský	Middle Eocene		Germany Saxony-Anhalt	An Aegialornithid
Archaeotrogon nocturnus ^[30]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Mlíkovský	Eocene or Early Oligocene	Phosphorites du Quercy	France	An archaeotrogonid
Athene trinacriae ^[31]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Pavia & Mourer-Chauviré	Pleistocene		Italia Sicily	A strigid owl.
Belonopterus downsi ^[32]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Campbell, Jr.	Late Pleistocene	La Brea Tar Pits	USA California	A charadriid lapwing.
Camusia quintanai ^[33]	Valid	Gen. et Sp. nov.	Seguí	Pliocene	Vroeg-Midden	Spain Menorca	A gruid crane.
Cathayornis aberransis ^[34]	?Valid	Sp. nov.	Hou, Zhou, Zhang, & Gu	Valanginian	Jiufotang Formation	China	A cathayornithid	Cathayornis
Cimolopteryx petra ^[35]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Hope	Maastrichtian	Lance Formation	USA Wyoming	A cimolopterygid moved to Lamarqueavis petra in 2010^[36]
Collocalia manuoi ^[37]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Steadman	Quaternary		Cook Islands	An apodid swiftlet.
Colymboides belgicus ^[29]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Mayr & Smith	Early Oligocene	Borgloon Formation	Belgium Flemish Brabant	A gaviid.
Delphinornis arctowskii ^[38]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Myrcha et al.	Eocene	La Meseta Formation	Antarctica	A spheniscid penguin.
Delphinornis gracilis ^[38]	Valid	Comb. nov.	(Wiman)	Eocene	La Meseta Formation	Antarctica	A spheniscid penguin Moved from Ichtyopteryx gracilis (1905)
Enaliornis seeleyi ^[39]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Galton & Martin	Early Cretaceous		UK England	An enaliornithid
Eocathayornis ^[40]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Zhou	Valanginian	Jiufotang Formation	China	An enantiornithelian, Type species E. walkeri
Giganhinga ^[41]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Rinderknecht & Noriega	Pliocene-Pleistocene	San José Formation	Uruguay	An anhingid Type species G. kiyuensis
Gigantohierax ^[42]	Valid	Gen et Sp. nov.	Arredondo & Arredondo	Quaternary	Cave deposits	Cuba	An Accipitridae Type species G. suarezi
Halimornis ^[43]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Chiappe, Lamb Jr., & Ericson	Early-Middle Campanian	Mooreville Chalk Formation	USA Alabama	An Euenantiornithalean Type species H. thompsoni
Hesperornis bairdi ^[44]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Martin & Lim	Campanian	Pierre Shale Formation	USA South Dakota	A hesperornithid
Hesperornis chowi ^[44]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Martin & Lim	Campanian	Pierre Shale Formation	USA South Dakota	A hesperornithid
Hesperornis macdonaldi ^[44]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Martin & Lim	Campanian	Pierre Shale Formation	USA South Dakota	A hesperornithid
Hesperornis mengeli ^[44]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Martin & Lim	Campanian	Pierre Shale Formation	Canada Manitoba	A hesperornithid
?Idiornis anthracinus ^[45]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Mayr	Middle Eocene		Germany Saxony-Anhalt	A cuculid cuckoo Moved to Dynamopterus anthracinus (2013)^[46]
Jeholornis ^[47]	Valid	Gen et Sp. nov.	Zhou & Zhang	Early Cretaceous	Jiufotang Formation	China	A jeholornithid Type species J. prima	Jeholornis prima
Jiliniornis ^[48]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Hou & Ericson	Middle Eocene	Huadian Formation	China	A charadriid Type species J. huadianensis
Jinzhouornis ^[34]	jr synonym	Gen et 2 Sp. nov.	Hou, Zhou, Zhang, & Gu	Early Cretaceous	Yixian Formation	China	A confuciusornithid Type species J. yixianensis, also included J. zhangjiyingia Genus and species synonymized with Confuciusornis sanctus 2018^[49]	Confuciusornis sanctus
Jixiangornis ^[50]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Ji et al.	Early Cretaceous	Jiufotang Formation	China	An avialaen Type species J. orientalis	Jixiangornis orientalis
Larus utunui ^[51]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Steadman	Subrecent		French Polynesia	A larid gull.
Marambiornis ^[38]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Myrcha et al.	Eocene	La Meseta Formation	Antarctica	A penguin Type species M. exilis
Masillastega ^[52]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Mayr	Early Middle Eocene	Messel Formation	Germany Hessen	A sulid Type species M. rectirostris	Masillastega rectirostris
Mesetaornis ^[38]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Myrcha et al.	Eocene	La Meseta Formation	Antarctica	A penguin. Type species M. polaris
Miodytes serbicus ^[53]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Dimitreijevich, Gál, & Kessler	Early Miocene	Valjevo Basin	Serbia	A podicipedid grebe.
Novacaesareala ^[54]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Parris & Hope	Early Danian	Hornerstown Formation	USA New Jersey	A possible torotigid Type species N. hungerfordi
Oligosylphe ^[29]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Mayr & Smith	Early Oligocene	Borgloon Formation	Belgium Flemish Brabant	A sylphornithid Type species O. mourerchauvireae
Omnivoropteryx^[55]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Czerkas & Ji	Early Cretaceous	Jiufutang Formation	China	An Omvivoropterygidae Type species O. sinousaorum
Oxyura doksana ^[30]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Mlíkovský	Early Miocene		Czech Republic	A possible sea duck.
Paraortygoides radagasti ^[56]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Dyke * Gulas	Early Eocene	London Clay	UK England	A gallinuloidid
Parasarcoramphus ^[57]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Mourer-Chauviré	Bartonian-Late Oligocene	Phosphorites du Quercy	France Occitanie	A cathartid. Type species P. milneedwardsi
Plesiocathartes geiselensis ^[58]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Mayr	Middle Eocene		Germany Saxony-Anhalt	A leptosomiformean.
Plesiocathartes kelleri^[59]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Mayr	Middle Eocene	Messel Formation	Germany Hessen	A Leptosomiformean.
Polarornis ^[60]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Chatterjee	Late Cretaceous	López de Bertodano Formation Seymour Island	Antarctica	A vegaviid^[61] Type species P. gregorii
Sapeornis^[62]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Zhou & Zhang	Early Cretaceous	Jiufotang Formation	China	A omnivoropterygid Type species S. chaoyangensis	Sapeornis chaoyangensis
Septentrogon ^[63]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Kristoffersen	Ypresian	Fur Formation	Denmark	A trogonid Type species S. madseni
Shenzhouraptor ^[64]	valid	Gen et sp nov.	Ji et al.	Early Cretaceous	Jiufotang Formation	China	An Avialae. Type species S. sinensis	Shenzhouraptor sinensis
Spheniscus urbinai ^[65]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Stucchi	Late Miocene-Early Pliocene	Pisco Formation	Peru	A spheniscid penguin.
Taubatornis ^[66]	Valid	Gen et sp nov.	Olson & de Alvarenga	Late Oligocene or Early Miocene	Tremembé Formation	Brazil	A teratorn Type species T. campbelli
Teratornis olsoni ^[67]	jr synonym	Sp. nov.	Arredondo & Arredondo	Pleistocene	Cave deposits	Cuba	A teratorn Moved to Oscaravis olsoni in 2009^[68]
Teratornis woodburnensis ^[69]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Campbell & Stenger	Late Pleistocene		USA Oregon	A teratorn
Teviornis ^[70]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Kurochkin, Dyke, & Karhu	Maastrichtian	Nemegt Formation	Mongolia	A presbyornithid Type species T. gobiensis
Tyto balearica cyrneichnusae ^[71]	Valid	Subsp. nov.	Louchart	Late Pleistocene		France Corsica	A tytonid owl subspecies.

2002 in paleontology

Gymnosperms

Angiosperms

Arthropods

Insects

Conodonts

New taxa

Archosauromorphs

Dinosaurs

New taxa

Birds

New taxa

Plesiosaurs

New taxa

Pterosaurs

New taxa

Lepidosauromorphs

Squamates

New taxa

Synapsids

Non-mammalian

References

Related Articles

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Edgarosaurus	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Druckenmiller	Albian	Thermopolis Shale	United States Montana	A polycotylid Type species E. muddi	Edgarosaurus muddi
Kaiwhekea	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Cruickshank & Fordyce	Maastrichtian	Katiki Formation	New Zealand Otago	An aristonectine elasmosaurid Type species K. katiki	Kaiwhekea katiki
Vinialesaurus	Gen et comb nov	Valid	Gasparini et al.	Oxfordian	Jagua Formation	Cuba	A cryptoclidid Type species V. caroli Moved from Cryptocleidus caroli (1949)

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Austriadactylus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Dalla Vecchia, Wild, & Reitner	Late Triassic	Seefelder Beds	Austria
Hatzegopteryx^[73]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Buffetaut, Grigorescu, & Csiki	Late Cretaceous	Densuș-Ciula Formation	Romania	possibly a jr synonym of Quetzalcoatlus	Hatzegopteryx
Jeholopterus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Wang & Zhou	Late Jurassic	Daohugou Beds	China		Jeholopterus ningchengensis
Piksi	gen et sp nov	Valid	Varricchio	Late Cretaceous	Two Medicine Formation	United States	At first thought to be a bird, but subsequently reinterpreted as a pterosaur, likely a member of Ornithocheiroidea.^[74]
Pterorhynchus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Czerkas & Ji	Late Jurassic	Daohugou Beds	China
Thalassodromeus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Kellner & Campos	early Cretaceous	Santana Formation	Brazil		Thalassodromeus sethi
Utahdactylus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Czerkas & Mickelson	Late Jurassic	Morrison Formation, Utah	USA

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
"Lakumasaurus"^[75]	Gen et sp nov	Jr synonym	Novas et al.	Late Campanian	Santa Marta Formation	Antarctica	Genus synonymized with Taniwhasaurus in 2007	Taniwhasaurus antarcticus
Prognathodon currii^[76]	Sp nov	Valid	Christiansen & Bonde	Late Campanian	Mishash Formation	Israel	A large mosasaur	Prognathodon currii

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes
Criocephalosaurus^[77]	gen nov	Valid	Kammerer & Sidor	Upper Permian		South Africa	A dinocephalian. Replacement name for Criocephalus Broom, 1928, preoccupied by Criocephalus Mulsant 1839.
Kitchinganomodon^[78]	Gen nov	Valid	Maisch	Upper Permian		South Africa	A dicynodont. New genus for "Platycyclops" crassus Broom, 1948.
Kwazulusaurus^[79]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Maisch	Upper Permian	Beaufort Group	South Africa	A dicynodont. The type species is Kwazulusaurus shakai.
Lanthanocephalus^[80]	gen et sp nov	Preoccupied	Modesto, Rubidge, & Welman	Upper Permian	Koonap Formation	South Africa	Genus preoccupied by Lanthanocephalus Williams & Starmer, 2000, moved to the replacement Lanthanostegus in 2003
Neotrirachodon^[81]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Tatarinov	Middle Triassic	Donguz Formation	Russia	A cynodont. The type species is Neotrirachodon expectatus.
Ruhuhucerberus^[82]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Maisch	Upper Permian	Kawinga Formation	Tanzania	A gorgonopsian. The type species is Ruhuhucerberus terror.
Titanogorgon^[82]	gen nov	Valid	Maisch	Upper Permian	Kawinga Formation	Tanzania	A gorgonopsian. New genus for "Gorgonognathus" maximus von Huene, 1950.

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