1986 in paleontology

List of years in paleontology
... 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 ... 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 ... 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 ...
In science 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
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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 1986.

Molluscs

Bivalves

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Buluniella[2]	gen et sp nov	nomen dubium	Jermak	Early Cambrian	"northern Siberia"	Russia	possible jr synonym of Pojetaia
Jellia[2]	gen et sp nov	not valid	Li & Zhou	Early Cambrian	Henan province	China	jr synonym of Pojetaia runnegari

Dinosaurs

Newly named dinosaurs

Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.^[3]

Name	Status	Authors		Notes	Images
Avaceratops[4]	Valid taxon	Dodson			Avaceratops Baryonyx Conchoraptor
Baryonyx[5]	Valid taxon	Alan J. Charig	Angela C. Milner
Conchoraptor[6]	Valid taxon	Rinchen Barsbold
Frenguellisaurus	Jr. synonym of Herrerasaurus	Fernando Novas
Lapparentosaurus[7]	Valid taxon	Jose Bonaparte
Siamosaurus[8]	Valid taxon	Eric Buffetaut	Ingavat
Xenotarsosaurus[9]	Valid taxon	Martinez Gimenez	Rodriguez Bochatey

Newly named birds

Name	Status	Novelty	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Asiavis phosphatica [10]	Valid	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Lev A. Nessov	Middle Eocene		USSR:  Uzbekistan	Described as Gruiformes, family Incertae Sedis, transferred by Panteleyev, 2000 to the Anatidae, Cygninae [11]
Bubo insularis [12]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Cécile Mourer-Chauviré Peter D. M. Weesie	Late Pleistocene	MQ 1a	France:  Corsica;  Italy:  Sardinia	A Strigidae.
Eopuffinus kazachstanensis [10]	Valid	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Lev A. Nessov	Late Paleocene		USSR:  Kazakhstan	A Procellariidae, this is the type species of the new genus.
Eurolimnornis corneti [13]	Valid	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Jenö Kessler Tibor Jurcsák	Early Cretaceous	Wealden Stage	Romania	A Eurolimnornithiformes Bock et Bühler, 1996, Eurolimnornithidae Kessler et Jurcsák, 1986, the 1984 names are Nomina Nuda, Bock et Bühler, 1996 [14] solved the taxonomy of these birds, this is the type species of the new genus.
Gallirallus ripleyi [15]	Valid	Sp. nov.	David W. Steadman	Holocene	Cook Islands, Mangaia	Cook Islands	A Rallidae.
Ichthyornis maltshevskyi [10]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Lev A. Nessov	Late Cretaceous	Coniacian, Bissekty Formation	USSR:  Uzbekistan	Described as an Ichthyornithidae, transferred to the Enantiornithes Walker, 1981, Alexornithidae Brodkorb, 1976, Gobipteryginae Elzanowski, 1974 by Kurochkin, 1996, this is the type species of the new genus Lenesornis Kurochkin, 1996. [16]
Nanantius eos [17]	Valid	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Ralphe E. Molnar	Early Cretaceous	Albian, Toolebuc Formation	Australia:  Queensland	An Enantiornithes Walker, 1981, Alexornithidae Brodkorb, 1976, Gobipteryginae Elzanowski, 1974.
Palaeocursornis biharicus [13]	Valid	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Jenö Kessler Tibor Jurcsák	Early Cretaceous	Wealden Stage	Romania	A Eurolimnornithiformes Bock et Bühler, 1996, Eurolimnornithidae Kessler et Jurcsák, 1986, the 1984 names are Nomina Nuda, Bock et Bühler, 1996 [14] solved the taxonomy of these birds, this is the type species of the new genus.
Pliogyps charon [18]	Valid	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Jonathan J. Becker	Late Miocene	Alachua Formation	USA:  Florida	A Cathartidae, this is the type species of the new genus.
Porzana rua [15]	Valid	Sp. nov.	David W. Steadman	Holocene	Cook Islands, Mangaia	Cook Islands	A Rallidae.

Plesiosaurs

New taxa

Name Status Authors Notes Tuarangisaurus Valid Wiffen Moisley Valid

Pterosaurs

• Fossil jaw fragments containing multicusped teeth were found in Dockum Group rocks in western Texas.^[19] One fragment, apparently from a lower jaw, contained two teeth, each with five cusps.^[19] Another fragment, from an upper jaw, also contained several multi-cusped teeth.^[19] These finds are very similar to the pterosaur genus Eudimorphodon and may be attributable to this genus, although without better fossil remains it is impossible to be sure.^[19]

New taxa

Name Status Authors Notes Phobetor Valid Bakhurina Pricesaurus Valid Bonaparte Sanchez, T.M

Synapsids

Mammals

Name	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Hulitherium tomasetti	Valid taxon	Bernard Tomasetti & Plane	Pleistocene		New Guinea

Plants

Pinophyta

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Abies milleri[20]	sp nov	Valid	Schorn & Wehr	Ypresian	Tom Thumb Tuff, Klondike Mountain Formation	USA	One of the oldest fir species	Abies milleri

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. 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.
3. Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Retrieved 2008-08-07.
4. Dodson, P. 1986. Avaceratops lammersi: a new ceratopsid from the Judith River Formation of Montana. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 138: pp. 305-317.
5. Charig, A.J. and A.C. Milner. 1986. Baryonyx, a remarkable new theropod dinosaur. Nature 324 (6095): pp. 359-361.
6. Barsbold, R. 1986. [Raubdinosaurier Oviraptoren]. In: Vorobyeva, E. I. (ed.). Herpetologische Untersuchungen in der Mongolischen Volksrepublik. Akad. Nauk S.S.S.R. Inst. Evolyucionnoy Morfologii i Ekologil Zhivotnykh im. A. M. Severtsova, Moskva: pp.210-223.
7. Bonaparte, J.F. 1986. The early radiation and phylogenetic relationships of the Jurassic sauropod dinosaurs, based on vertebral anatomy. In: The beginnings of the age of dinosaurs (K. Padian, ed.). Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, UK: pp. 247-258.
8. Buffetaut, E. and R. Ingevat. 1986. Unusual theropod dinosaur teeth from the Upper Jurassic of Phu Wiang northeastern Thailand. Rev. Paleobiol. 5: pp. 217-220.
9. Martinez, R, O. Gimenez, J. Rodriguez, and G. Bochatey. 1985. Xenotarsosaurus bonapartei nov. gen. et sp. (Carnosauria, Abelisauridae) un nuevo Theropoda de la Formacion Bajo Barrel Chubut, Argentina. Actas IV Congreso Argentino de Paleontoloiga y Bioestratigraffa 2: pp. 23-31.
10. Lev A. Nessov (1986). "Pervaya nakhodka pozdnemelovoy ptitsy-ikhtiornisa v starom svete i nekotoryye drugiye kosti ptits iz mela i paleogena Sredney Azii. [The first Find of the Late Cretaceous Bird, Ichthyornis, in the Old World, and Some Other Bird Bones from the Cretaceous and Paleogene of Middle Asia.] [in Russian, with English summ.]". Trudy Zoologicheskogo Instituta Akademii Nauk SSSR. 147: 31–38.
11. Andrey V. Panteleyev (2000). "The Systematic Position of the Eocene Bird Asiavis phosphatica". Zoosystematica Rossica. 8 (2): 351–352.
12. Cécile Mourer-Chauviré & Peter D. M. Weesie (1986). "Bubo insularis n. sp., Forme Endemique Inlaire de Grande-Duc (Aves, Strigiformes) du Pleistocene de Sardaigne et de Corse" (PDF). Revue de Paléobiologie. 5: 197–205.
13. Jenö Kessler & Tibor Jurcsák (1986). "New Contributions to the Knowledge of the Lower Cretaceous Bird Remains from Cornet (Romania)" (PDF). Travaux du Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle “Grigore Antipa”. 28: 289–295.
14. Walter J. Bock & Paul Bühler (1996). "Nomenclature of Cretaceous Birds from Romania" (PDF). Cretaceous Research. 17: 509–514. doi:10.1006/cres.1996.0031.
15. David W. Steadman (1986). "Two New Species of Rails (Aves: Rallidae) from Mangaia, Southern Cook Islands" (PDF). Pacific Science. 40 (1-4): 38–54.
16. Evgeny N. Kurochkin (1996). "A New Enantiornithid of the Mongolian Late Cretaceous, and a General Appraisal of the Infraclass Enantiornithes". Palaeontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moskou, Special Issue. 1996: 1–50.
17. Ralphe E. Molnar (1986). "An Enantiornithine Bird from the Lower Cretaceous of Queensland, Australia". Nature. 322: 736–738. doi:10.1038/322736a0.
18. Jonathan J. Becker (1986). "A New Vulture (Vulturidae: Pliogyps) from the Late Miocene of Florida" (PDF). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 99 (3): 502–508.
19. Wellnhofer, Peter (1991). "Summary of Triassic Pterosaurs." The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs. London, UK: Salamander Books Limited. p. 67. ISBN 0-86101-566-5.
20. Schorn, H.E.; Wehr, W.C. (1986). "Abies milleri, sp. nov., from the middle Eocene Klondike Mountain Formation, Republic, Ferry County, Washington.". Burke Museum Contributions in Anthropology and Natural History. 1: 1–7.