1980 in paleontology

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Paleontology or palaeontology (from Greek: paleo, "ancient"; ontos, "being"; and logos, "knowledge") 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.

Arthropods

Newly named insects

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Anochetus corayi[2]	Sp nov	Valid	Baroni Urbani	Burdigalian?	Dominican amber	Dominican Republic	A ponerin ant	Anochetus corayi

Molluscs

Newly named bivalves

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Pojetaia[3]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Jell	Early Cambrian	Parara Limestone	Australia	early Cambrian bivalve, type species P. runnegari

Archosauromorphs

Newly named dinosaurs

Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.^[4]

Note: the name Lancangosaurus^[5] 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[6]	Gen et sp nov	valid	Galton	Callovian	Oxford Clay Formation	England	A dryosaurid
Dracopelta[7]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Galton	Kimmeridgian		Portugal	An ankylosaurian
Erlikosaurus[8]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Perle	Cenomanian-Santonian	Bayan Shireh Formation	Mongolia	A therizinosaurid	Erlikosaurus
Kakuru[9]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Molnar & Pledge	Aptian	Marree Formation	Australia	A Theropoda
Minmi[10]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Molnar	Aptian	Bungil Formation	Australia	An ankylosaurid	Minmi
Noasaurus[11]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Bonaparte & Powell	Campanian-Maastrichtian	Lecho Formation	Argentina	A Noasaurid	Noasaurus
Saltasaurus[11]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Bonaparte & Powell	Campanian-Maastrichtian	Lecho Formation	Argentina	A Saltasaurid	Saltasaurus
Zephyrosaurus[12]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Sues	Aptian-Albian	Cloverly Formation	USA	A thescelosaurid

Newly named birds

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Alectoris baryosefi [13]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Eitan Tchernov	Pleistocene	MQ 1b	Israel	A Phasianidae.
Anser thompsoni [14]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Larry D. Martin Robert M. Mengel	Late Pliocene	Blancan Broadwater Formation	USA:  Nebraska	An Anatidae.
Apopempsis africanus [15]	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 [16]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Cécile Mourer-Chauviré	Eocene or Oligocene	Phosphorites du Quercy MP 16-28	France	An Apodiformes, Archaeotrogonidae Mourer-Chauviré, 1980.
Ardea howardae [17]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Pierce Brodkorb	Late Pliocene	Shungura Formation, 1.94 My BP	Ethiopia	An Ardeidae.
Argentavis magnificens [18]	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.
Burhinus aquilonaris [19]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Alan Feduccia	Pleistocene	Sanborn Formation	USA:  Kansas	A Burhinidae.
Ciconia minor [15]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Colin J. O. Harrison	Early Miocene	Rusinga Island	Kenya	A Ciconiidae.
Crex zazhigini [20]	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.[21]
Eostrix vincenti [22]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Colin J. O. Harrison	Early Eocene	Ypresian, MP 7-10	UK:  England	A Strigiformes, Strigida, Protostrigidae Wetmore, 1933.
Gallinula gigantea [13]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Eitan Tchernov	Pleistocene		Israel	A Rallidae.
Juncitarsus gracillimus [23]	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 [24]	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.[25]
Linquornis gigantis [26]	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 [13]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Eitan Tchernov	Pleistocene		Israel	An Accipitridae.
Neophrontops ricardoensis [27]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Patricia Vickers Rich	Middle Miocene	Late Claredonian	USA;  California	An Accipitridae.
Palaeoaramides tugarinovi [20]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Evgeny N. Kurochkin	Miocene-Middle Pliocene	Chirgis Nuur series	Mongolia	A Rallidae.
Rallus risillus [20]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Evgeny N. Kurochkin	Miocene-Middle Pliocene	Chirgis Nuur series	Mongolia	A Rallidae, transferred to the genus Porzana by Kurochkin, 1985.[28]
Sinanas diatomas [26]	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 [29]	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 [30] by Mourer-Chauviré & Balouet, 2005, this is the type species of the new genus.
Tonsala hildegardae [31]	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 [32]	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 [33]	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.,[34] this is the type species of the new genus.

Pterosauria

Newly named pterosaurs

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Santanadactylus[35]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	de Buisonjé	Aptian	Santana Formation	Brazil	A Pterodactyloid

Lepidosauromorphs

Plesiosaurs

• Plesiosaur gastroliths documented.^[36]

Name	Status	Authors		Notes
Bishanopliosaurus	Valid	Dong

References

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. 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.
3. 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.
4. Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Retrieved 2008-08-07.
5. 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.
6. Galton, P.M. (1980). "European Jurassic ornithopod dinosaurs of the families Hypsilophodontidae and Camptosauridae". N. Jb. Geol. Paläont. Abh. 160 (1): 73–95.
7. 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: 451–457. doi:10.1016/s0016-6995(80)80081-7.
8. Perle, A. (1980). "Segnosauria, a new infraorder of carnivorous dinosaurs". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 25: 185–195.
9. Molnar, R.E.; Pledge, N.S. (1980). "A new theropod dinosaur from South Australia". Alcheringa. 4: 281–287. doi:10.1080/03115518008558972.
10. Molnar, R.E. (1980). "An ankylosaur (Ornithischia: Reptilia) from the Lower Cretaceous of southern Queensland". Mem. Queensland Mus. 20: 77–87.
11. 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. N.S. 139: 19–28.
12. 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.
13. Eitan Tchernov (1980). "The Pleistocene Birds of 'Ubeidiya, Jordan Valley". Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities: 1–83.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. Kenneth E. Campbell, jr; Eduado P. Tonni (1980). "A New Genus of Teratorn from the Huayquerian of Argentinia (Aves: Teratornithidae)" (PDF). Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring Hildegarde Howard, Museum of Natural History of Los Angeles County, Contributions in Science. 330: 59–68.
19. 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.
20. 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.
21. 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.
22. Colin J. O. Harrison (1980). "A Small Owl from the Lower Eocene of Britain". Tertiary Research. 3 (2): 83–87.
23. Storrs L. Olson; Alan Feduccia (1980). "Relationships and Evolution of Flamingos (Aves: Phoenicopteridae)" (PDF). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. 316: 1–84. doi:10.5479/si.00810282.316.
24. Petr Švec (1980). "Lower Miocene Birds from Dolnice (Cheb Basin), Western Bohemia". Casopis pro Mineralogii a Geologii. 25: 377–387.
25. 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.
26. Yeh Hsiang-k'uei (1980). "[Fossil Birds from Linqu, Shandong]" (PDF). Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 18 (2): 116–125.
27. 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.
28. Evgeny N. Kurochkin (1985). "[Birds of Central Asia in the Pliocene]". Transactions of the Joint Soviet-Mongolian Expedition. 26: 1–120.
29. François Poplin (1980). "Sylviornis neocaledoniae n. g., n. sp. (Aves), Ratite Éteint de la Nouvelle-Calédonie". Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences, Paris série D. 290: 691–694.
30. 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.
31. 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.
32. 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.
33. Hou Lainhai (1980). "[New Form of Gastornithidae from the Lower Eocene of the Xichuan, Honan]" (PDF). Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 18 (2): 111–115.
34. 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.
35. 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.
36. 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.