1973 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 1973.

Plants[edit]

Conifers[edit]

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Pinus arnoldii^[2]	Sp nov	valid	Miller	Eocene Ypresian	Okanogan Highlands Allenby Formation Princeton Chert	Canada British Columbia	A 5-needle pine cone species
Pinus similkameenensis^[2]	Sp nov	valid	Miller	Ypresian	Okanogan Highlands Allenby Formation Princeton Chert	Canada British Columbia	A 5-needle pine needle species

Angiosperms[edit]

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Location	Notes	Images
Eorhiza^[3]^[4]	Gen et sp nov	valid	Robison & Person	Eocene Ypresian	Okanogan Highlands Allenby Formation Princeton Chert	Canada British Columbia	A semi-aquatic flowering plant of uncertain affiliation The type species is E. arnoldii Possibly a monocot related to Acorus

Arthropods[edit]

Insects[edit]

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Epiborkhausenites^[5]	Gen et sp. nov	valid	Skalski	Bartonian	Baltic amber	Lithuania	An Oecophoridae moth, type species E. obscurotrimaculatus
Tortricidrosis^[6]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Skalski	Lutetian	Baltic amber	Europe	A Tortricidae moth. The type species is T. inclusa.	Tortricidrosis inclusa

Conodonts[edit]

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Protoprioniodus^[7]	Gen. nov	valid	McTavish	Lower Ordovician	Emanuel Formation	Australia

Archosauromorphs[edit]

Newly named crurotarsins[edit]

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Lisboasaurus^[8]	Gen. nov	valid	Seiffert	Middle Jurassic	Guimarota lignite	Portugal	Crocodylomorph

Newly named dinosaurs[edit]

Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.^[9]

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Efraasia^[10]	gen nov	Valid	Galton	Middle Norian	Löwenstein Formation	Germany	basal sauropodomorph
Kelmayisaurus^[11]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Zhiming	Early Cretaceous	Lianmugin Formation	China	carcharodontosaurid
Phaedrolosaurus^[11]	gen et sp nov	nomen dubium	Zhiming	Early Cretaceous	Lianmugin Formation	China	described from a single tooth
Phyllodon^[12]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Thulborn	Middle Jurassic	Guimarota lignite	Portugal	possible Hypsilophodontid
Shantungosaurus^[13]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Hu	Late Cretaceous		China	largest known ornithischian	Shantungosaurus
Trimucrodon^[12]	Gen et sp nov	nomen dubium	Thulborn	Middle Jurassic	Guimarota lignite	Portugal	Ornithischian of uncertain placement
Tugulusaurus^[11]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Zhiming	Early Cretaceous	Tugulu Group	China	coelurosaurian
Wuerhosaurus^[11]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Zhiming	Early Cretaceous	Tugulu Group	China Mongolia	one of the last stegosaurians	Wuerhosaurus

Newly named birds[edit]

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes
Atlantisia elpenor ^[14]	Sp. nov.	valid	Storrs L. Olson	Late Holocene-Subrecent		Ascension Island	A Rallidae, transferred to the new genus Mundia by Bourne, Ashmole et Simmons, 2003,^[15] it is the type species of the new genus.
Garganoaetus freudenthali ^[16]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	valid	Peter Ballmann	Early Pliocene	MN 14-15	Italy	An Accipitridae.
Garganoaetus murivorus ^[16]	Sp. nov.	valid	Peter Ballmann	Early Pliocene	MN 14-15	Italy	An Accipitridae.
Gypaetus osseticus ^[17]	Sp. Nov.	Nomen Nudum	Nikolay I. Burchak-Abramovich	Middle Pleistocene		Soviet Union (Now Georgia (country))	An Accipitridae.
Ichthyophaga australis ^[18]	Sp. nov.	valid	Collin J. O. Harrison Cyril A. Walker	Holocene	Chatham Island	New Zealand	An Accipitridae, transferred to the genus Haliaeetus.
Idiornis gaillardi ^[19]	Sp. nov.	valid	Joel Cracraft	Eocene or Oligocene	Phosphorites du Quercy	France	A Gruiformes, Idiornithidae Brodkorb, 1965, transferred to the genus Dynamopterus Milne-Edwards, 1892 by Cécile Mourer-Chauviré, 2013.^[20]
Lophopsittacus bensoni ^[21]	Sp. nov.	valid	David T. Holyoak	Subrecent	Mauritius	Mauritius	A Psittacidae, transferred to the genus Psittacula by Julian P. Hume, 2007.^[22]
Palaeoaramides minutus ^[19]	Sp. nov.	valid	Joel Cracraft	Middle Miocene	Grive-St.-Alban	France	A Rallidae.
Palaeorallus brodkorbi ^[19]	Sp. nov.	valid	Joel Cracraft	Early Eocene	Wasatch Formation	United States ( Wyoming)	A Rallidae.
?Palaeospheniscus huxleyorum ^[23]	Sp. nov.	valid	George G. Simpson	Miocene	Ysterplaats	South Africa	A Spheniscidae, not for sure a member of the genus Palaeospheniscus Moreno et Mercerat, 1891.
Porzana astrictocarpus ^[14]	Sp. nov.	valid	Storrs L. Olson	Late Holocene-Subrecent		Saint Helena	A Rallidae.
"Primobucco" kestneri ^[24]	Sp. nov.	valid	Alan Feduccia	Early Eocene	Wasatchian Green River Formatie	United States ( Wyoming)	A ?Galbulae the species does not belong in Prinobucco, nor in Neanis, it was transferred to by Feduaccia, 1976,^[25] it needs a new genus.
Quercyrallus quercy ^[19]	Sp. nov.	valid	Joel Cracraft	Eocene or Early Oligocene	Phosphorites du Quercy, MP 16-28	France	A Rallidae.
Tyto gigantea ^[26]	Sp. nov.	valid	Peter Ballmann	Early Pliocene	MN 14-15	Italy	A Tytonidae.
Tyto robusta ^[26]	Sp. nov.	valid	Peter Ballmann	Early Pliocene	MN 14-15	Italy	A Tytonidae.
Wyleyia valdensis ^[27]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	valid	Colin J. O. Harrison Cyril A. Walker	Early Cretaceous	Weald Clay	United Kingdom	An Enantiornithes Walker, 1981, Enantiornithidae Nessov & Borkin, 1983, known from a single humerus, this is the type species of the new genus.

Newly named pterosaurs[edit]

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Eudimorphodon	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Zambelli	Norian		Italy		Eudimorphodon ranzii
Noripterus^[28]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Yang (aka C.-C. Young)	early Cretaceous	Lianmuqin Formation	China		Noripterus complicidens

References[edit]

^ 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 Miller, C. N. Jr. (1973). "Silicified cones and vegetative remains of Pinus from the Eocene of British Columbia" (PDF). Contributions of the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology. 24: 101–118.
^ Robison, C.R.; Person, C.P. (1973). "A silicified semiaquatic dicotyledon from the Eocene Allenby Formation of British Columbia". Canadian Journal of Botany. 51 (7): 1373–1377. doi:10.1139/b73-172.
^ Stockey, R.A.; Pigg, K.B. (1994). "Vegetative growth of Eorhiza arnoldii Robison and Person from the Middle Eocene Princeton chert locality of British Columbia". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 155 (5): 606–616. doi:10.1086/297199.
^ Skalski, A.W. (1973). "Studies on the Lepidoptera from fossil resins. Part II. Epiborkhausenites obscurotrimaculatus gen. et sp. nov. (Oecophoridae) and a tineid-moth discovered in the Baltic amber" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 18 (1): 153–160. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
^ Maria Heikkilä; John W. Brown; Joaquin Baixeras; Wolfram Mey; Mikhail V. Kozlov (2018). "Re-examining the rare and the lost: a review of fossil Tortricidae (Lepidoptera)". Zootaxa. 4394 (1): 41–60. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4394.1.2. PMID 29690381.
^ Prioniodontacean conodonts from the Emanuel Formation (Lower Ordovician) of Western Australia. RA McTavish, Geologica et Palaeontologica, 1973
^ Seiffert, J. 1973. Upper Jurassic Lizards from Central Portugal. Contribuicao para o conhecimento da Fauna do Kimeridgiano da Mina de Lignito Guimarota (Leiria, Portugal). Servicox Geologicos de Portugal, Memoria 22 (new series): pp. 7-88.
^ Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
^ Galton, P.M. (1973). "On the anatomy and relationships of Efraasia diagnostica (V. Huene) n. gen., a prosauropod dinosaur (Reptilia: Saurischia) from the Upper Triassic of Germany". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 47 (3–4): 229–255. doi:10.1007/bf02985709. S2CID 84931897.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Dong, Z.M. 1973. Dinosaurs from Wuerho. Reports of Paleontological Expedition to Sinkiang (II), Pterosaurian Fauna from Wuerho, Sinkiang. Memories of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Academy of Science 11: pp. 45-52.
^ ^a ^b Thulborn, R.A. (1973). "Teeth of ornithischian dinosaurs from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal, with a description of a hypsilophodontid (Phyllodon henkeli gen. et sp. nov.) from the Guimarota Lignite". Memória Serivoços Geológicos de Portugal. Nova Série. 22: 89–134.
^ Hu, C. 1973. A new hadrosaur from the Cretaceous of Chucheng. Shantung. Acta Geol. Sinica 2: pp. 179-202.
^ ^a ^b Storrs L. Olson (1973). "Evolution of the Rails of the South Atlantic Islands (Aves: Rallidae)" (PDF). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. 152 (152): 1–53. doi:10.5479/si.00810282.152.
^ W. R. P. Bourne, N. P. Ashmole & K. E. L. Simmons (2003). "A New Subfossil Night Heron and a New Genus for the Extinct Rail for Ascension Island, Central Tropical Atlantic Ocean" (PDF). Ardea. 91 (1): 45–51.
^ ^a ^b Peter Ballmann (1973). "Fossile Vögel aus dem Neogen der Halbinsel Gargano (Italien)". Scripta Geologica. 17: 1–75.
^ Nikolay I. Burchak-Abramovich (1973). "?". Report Presented to the 5th Soviet Congress on the Quaternary Period.
^ Collin J. O. Harrison & Cyril A. Walker (1973). "An Undescribed Extinct Fish-Eagle from the Chatham Islands". Ibis. 115 (2): 274–277. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1973.tb02645.x.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Joel Cracraft (1973). "Systematics and Evolution of the Gruiformes (Class, Aves) 3. Phylogeny of the Suborder Grui" (PDF). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 151: 1–127.
^ Cécile Mourer-Chauviré (2013). "Idiornis Oberholser, 1899 (Aves, Gruiformes, Cariamae, Idiornithidae): a Junior Synonym of Dynamopterus Milne-Edwards, 1892 (Paleogene, Phosphorites du Quercy, France)". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. 270 (1): 13–22. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2013/0355.
^ David T. Holyoak (1973). "An Undescribed Parrot from Mauritius". Ibis. 115 (3): 417–419. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1973.tb01980.x.
^ Julian P. Hume (1973). "Reappraisal of the Parrots (Aves: Psittacidae) from the Mascarene Islands, with Comments on Their Ecology, Morphology, and Affineties" (PDF). Zootaxa. 1513: 1–76.
^ George G. Simpson (1973). "Tertiary Penguins (Spenisciformes: Spheniscidae) from Ysterplaats, Cape Town, South Africa". South African Journal of Science. 69: 342–344.
^ Alan Feduccia (1973). "A New Eocene Zygodactyl Bird". Journal of Paleontology. 47 (3): 501–503.
^ Alan Feduccia (1976). "Neanis schucherti Restudied: Another Eocene Piciform Bird" (PDF). In Collected Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring the 90th Birthday of Alexander Wetmore Ed.: Storrs. L. Olson; Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 27: 95–99.
^ ^a ^b Peter Ballmann (1973). "Fossile Vögel aus dem Neogen der Halbinsel Gargano (Italien)" (PDF). Scripta Geologica. 17: 1–75.
^ Colin J. O. Harrison & Cyril A. Walker (1973). "Wyleyia: a New Bird Humerus from the Lower Cretaceous of England" (PDF). Palaeontology. 16 (4): 721–728. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-06.
^ Young, Z. (1973). "[Pterosaurs from Wuerho]. Reports of Paleontological Expedition to Sinkiang (II): Pterosaurian Fauna from Wuerho, Sinkiang". Memoirs of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology Academia Sinica. 11: 18–35.

[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.

[Miller1973-2] Miller, C. N. Jr. (1973). "Silicified cones and vegetative remains of Pinus from the Eocene of British Columbia" (PDF). Contributions of the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology. 24: 101–118.

[Eorhiza1973-3] Robison, C.R.; Person, C.P. (1973). "A silicified semiaquatic dicotyledon from the Eocene Allenby Formation of British Columbia". Canadian Journal of Botany. 51 (7): 1373–1377. doi:10.1139/b73-172.

[Eorhiza1994-4] Stockey, R.A.; Pigg, K.B. (1994). "Vegetative growth of Eorhiza arnoldii Robison and Person from the Middle Eocene Princeton chert locality of British Columbia". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 155 (5): 606–616. doi:10.1086/297199.

[Skalski1973-5] Skalski, A.W. (1973). "Studies on the Lepidoptera from fossil resins. Part II. Epiborkhausenites obscurotrimaculatus gen. et sp. nov. (Oecophoridae) and a tineid-moth discovered in the Baltic amber" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 18 (1): 153–160. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2011.

[ZT43941-6] Maria Heikkilä; John W. Brown; Joaquin Baixeras; Wolfram Mey; Mikhail V. Kozlov (2018). "Re-examining the rare and the lost: a review of fossil Tortricidae (Lepidoptera)". Zootaxa. 4394 (1): 41–60. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4394.1.2. PMID 29690381.

[7] Prioniodontacean conodonts from the Emanuel Formation (Lower Ordovician) of Western Australia. RA McTavish, Geologica et Palaeontologica, 1973

[8] Seiffert, J. 1973. Upper Jurassic Lizards from Central Portugal. Contribuicao para o conhecimento da Fauna do Kimeridgiano da Mina de Lignito Guimarota (Leiria, Portugal). Servicox Geologicos de Portugal, Memoria 22 (new series): pp. 7-88.

[ddinogeorge-9] Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2008-08-07.

[Galton1973-10] Galton, P.M. (1973). "On the anatomy and relationships of Efraasia diagnostica (V. Huene) n. gen., a prosauropod dinosaur (Reptilia: Saurischia) from the Upper Triassic of Germany". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 47 (3–4): 229–255. doi:10.1007/bf02985709. S2CID 84931897.

[Dong1973-11] Dong, Z.M. 1973. Dinosaurs from Wuerho. Reports of Paleontological Expedition to Sinkiang (II), Pterosaurian Fauna from Wuerho, Sinkiang. Memories of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Academy of Science 11: pp. 45-52.

[Thulborn1973-12] Thulborn, R.A. (1973). "Teeth of ornithischian dinosaurs from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal, with a description of a hypsilophodontid (Phyllodon henkeli gen. et sp. nov.) from the Guimarota Lignite". Memória Serivoços Geológicos de Portugal. Nova Série. 22: 89–134.

[13] Hu, C. 1973. A new hadrosaur from the Cretaceous of Chucheng. Shantung. Acta Geol. Sinica 2: pp. 179-202.

[Porzana-14] Storrs L. Olson (1973). "Evolution of the Rails of the South Atlantic Islands (Aves: Rallidae)" (PDF). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. 152 (152): 1–53. doi:10.5479/si.00810282.152.

[Mundia-15] W. R. P. Bourne, N. P. Ashmole & K. E. L. Simmons (2003). "A New Subfossil Night Heron and a New Genus for the Extinct Rail for Ascension Island, Central Tropical Atlantic Ocean" (PDF). Ardea. 91 (1): 45–51.

[Garganoaetus-16] Peter Ballmann (1973). "Fossile Vögel aus dem Neogen der Halbinsel Gargano (Italien)". Scripta Geologica. 17: 1–75.

[Gypaetus-17] Nikolay I. Burchak-Abramovich (1973). "?". Report Presented to the 5th Soviet Congress on the Quaternary Period.

[Ichthyophaga-18] Collin J. O. Harrison & Cyril A. Walker (1973). "An Undescribed Extinct Fish-Eagle from the Chatham Islands". Ibis. 115 (2): 274–277. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1973.tb02645.x.

[Cracraft1973-19] Joel Cracraft (1973). "Systematics and Evolution of the Gruiformes (Class, Aves) 3. Phylogeny of the Suborder Grui" (PDF). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 151: 1–127.

[Dynamopterus-20] Cécile Mourer-Chauviré (2013). "Idiornis Oberholser, 1899 (Aves, Gruiformes, Cariamae, Idiornithidae): a Junior Synonym of Dynamopterus Milne-Edwards, 1892 (Paleogene, Phosphorites du Quercy, France)". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. 270 (1): 13–22. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2013/0355.

[Lophopsittacus-21] David T. Holyoak (1973). "An Undescribed Parrot from Mauritius". Ibis. 115 (3): 417–419. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1973.tb01980.x.

[Psittacula-22] Julian P. Hume (1973). "Reappraisal of the Parrots (Aves: Psittacidae) from the Mascarene Islands, with Comments on Their Ecology, Morphology, and Affineties" (PDF). Zootaxa. 1513: 1–76.

[Palaeospheniscus-23] George G. Simpson (1973). "Tertiary Penguins (Spenisciformes: Spheniscidae) from Ysterplaats, Cape Town, South Africa". South African Journal of Science. 69: 342–344.

[Primobucco-24] Alan Feduccia (1973). "A New Eocene Zygodactyl Bird". Journal of Paleontology. 47 (3): 501–503.

[Neanis-25] Alan Feduccia (1976). "Neanis schucherti Restudied: Another Eocene Piciform Bird" (PDF). In Collected Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring the 90th Birthday of Alexander Wetmore Ed.: Storrs. L. Olson; Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 27: 95–99.

[Ballmann1973-26] Peter Ballmann (1973). "Fossile Vögel aus dem Neogen der Halbinsel Gargano (Italien)" (PDF). Scripta Geologica. 17: 1–75.

[Wyleyia-27] Colin J. O. Harrison & Cyril A. Walker (1973). "Wyleyia: a New Bird Humerus from the Lower Cretaceous of England" (PDF). Palaeontology. 16 (4): 721–728. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-06.

[Yang1973-28] Young, Z. (1973). "[Pterosaurs from Wuerho]. Reports of Paleontological Expedition to Sinkiang (II): Pterosaurian Fauna from Wuerho, Sinkiang". Memoirs of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology Academia Sinica. 11: 18–35.

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