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            List of years in paleontology       (table)
 1987 .  1988 .  1989 .  1990  . 1991  . 1992  . 1993 
1994 1995 1996 -1997- 1998 1999 2000
 2001 .  2002 .  2003 .  2004  . 2005  . 2006  . 2007 

Paleontology, palaeontology or palæontology (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. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, coprolites, palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because mankind has 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 in the year 1997.

Birds[]

Newly named birds[]

Currently Valid Prehistoric Bird Genera Named in 1997
Name Status Authors Images
Pasquiaornis Valid taxon
  • Tokaryk
  • Cumbaa
  • Storer

Dinosaurs[]

  • Paleontologist Karen Chin receives a coprolite that was excavated during 1995 from strata dating back to the Maastrichtian in Saskatchewan, Canada. The specimen was about 17 inches (44 cm) long and contained fragments of bone. Due to its size, contents and age, the coprolite was believed to have been the remains of Tyrannosaurus rex feces. This discovery was announced in a 1998 paper published in the journal Nature.
  • A Saharan expedition under the leadership of Paul Sereno yields fruit when a team member stumbles on the bones and skull of Nigersaurus taqueti. During this and a subsequent 1999 expedition about 80% of the animal's skeleton were discovered. Later in the year of the second expedition, a formal description of the animal was published.
  • French paleontologist Philippe Taquet reports the finding of fossilized theropod embryos preserved in Portuguese dinosaur eggs. These eggs were from the Jurassic period dating to about 140 million years ago, nearly twice as old as any previously recovered dinosaurs embryos, which had only been known from about 70 million years ago in Late Cretaceous strata.

Newly named dinosaurs[]

Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list[1] and Dr. Jeremy Montague's dinosaur genus database.[2]

Name Status Authors Notes Images
"Araucanoraptor"[3] Nomen nudum later called Neuquenraptor
  • Novas
  • et al.
Allosaurus BW

The unpublished name "Wyomingraptor" was a junior synonym of Allosaurus.

Archaeoceratops[4] Valid taxon
  • Azuma
Beelemodon[5] Nomen nudum
"Chihuahuasaurus"[6] Nomen nudum later called Sonorasaurus

Ratkevich vide:

  • Anonymous
"Cinizasaurus" Nomen ex dissertatione

Heckert vide:

  • Sterling J. Nesbitt
  • Randall B. Irmis
  • William G. Parker
"Colossosaurus" Nomen nudum later called Pelorosaurus

Mantell vide:

  • Torrens
Eohadrosaurus Nomen nudum. Found to be synonymous with Eolambia before a formal description could be published.
Gojirasaurus[7] Valid taxon
Hudiesaurus[8] Valid taxon
"Microcephale"[9] Nomen nudum
"Orcomimus"[10] Nomen nudum
  • Triebold
Protarchaeopteryx[11] Valid taxon
  • Ji Q.
  • Ji S.
Rinchenia[12] Valid taxon
Siluosaurus[13] Nomen dubium.
Unenlagia[14] Valid taxon
  • Novas
  • Puerta
"Wyomingraptor" Nomen nudum; junior synonym of Allosaurus

Exopaleontology[]

  • Richard B. Hoover of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center photographs what he believes to be microfossils in the martian Murchison meteorite.[citation needed]

Plesiosaurs[]

Newly Named Plesiosaurs[]

Currently Valid Plesiosaur Genera Named in 1997
Name Status Authors Images
Libonectes Valid taxon
Maresaurus Valid taxon
  • Gasparini

Humans[]

  • Genetecist Michael Hammer reports findings that demonstrate that after the initial "out of Africa" radiation of modern humans at about 100,000 years ago, some humans eventually returned to Africa between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago.

Pterosaurs[]

Newly Named Pterosaurs[]

Currently Valid Pterosaur Genera Named in 1997
Name Status Authors Images
Eosipterus Valid taxon
  • Ji
  • Ji

References[]

  1. ^ Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". http://www.polychora.com/dinolist.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-07. 
  2. ^ Montague, Jeremy. "Dr. Montague's Database". http://www.barry.edu/bio300/pdf/montague%20dino%20web%20data%2012-3-2005.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-10-29. 
  3. ^ Novas, F.E. 1997. South American Dinosaurs. In: Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs (J. Currie and K. Padian, Eds.). Academic Press, San Diego, California/London, UK: pp. 678-689.
  4. ^ Dong, Z.M. and Y. Azuma. 1997. On a primitive neoceratopsian from the Early Cretaceous. In: Sino-Japanese Slik Road Dinosaur Expedition (Z.M. Dong, ed.). China Ocean Press, Beijing: pp. 68-89.
  5. ^ Bakker, R.T 1997. Raptor family values: Allosaur parents brought giant carcasses into their lair to feed their young. In: Dinofest International: Proceedings of a Symposium sponsored by Arizona State University (D.L. Wolberg, E. Stump, and G.D. Rosenberg, eds.). Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia: pp. 51-63.
  6. ^ Ratkevich, R.P. 1997. Sonorasaurus: Dinosaur of the dessert. Tucson, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Publication Series vide [Anonymous] 1997.
  7. ^ Carpenter, K. 1997. A giant coelophysoid (Ceratosauria) theropod from the Upper Triassic of New Mexico, USA. Neües Jahrbuch fur Geologie und Palaontologie, Abhandlungen, 205 (2): pp. 189-208.
  8. ^ Dong, Z.-M. 1997. A Gigantic Sauropod (Hudiesaurus sinojapanorum gen. et. sp. nov.) from the Turpan Basin, China. In: Sino-Japanese Silk Road Dinosaur Expedition (Z.-M. Dong, ed.). China Ocean Press: pp. 102-110.
  9. ^ Sereno, P.C. 1997. Systematics, evolution and polar wanderings of margin-headed dinosaurs (Ornithischia: Marginocephalia). In: The age of dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia (M.Benton, E. Kurochkin, M. Shishkin and D. Unwin, eds.). Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, UK.
  10. ^ Triebold, M. 1997. The Sandy Site: small dinosaurs from the Hell Creek Formation of South Dakota. Dinofest 1997: pp. 245-248.
  11. ^ Ji, Q. and S. Ji. 1997. A Chinese archaeopterygian, Protarchaeopteryx gen. nov. Geological Science and Technology (Di Zhi Ke Ji) 238 (1997): pp. 38-41.
  12. ^ Barsbold, 1997 vide Osmolska, H., P.J. Currie, and B. Barsbold. 2004. Oviraptorosauria, Chapter Eight: Holtz, T. R., Jr (2004) Tyrannosauroidea; Chapter Five. In: The Dinosauria (2nd edition, D.B. Weishampel, P. Dodson, and H. Osmolska, eds.). California University Press: pp. 165-183.
  13. ^ Dong, Z.-M. 1997. A small ornithopod from Mazongshan area, Gansu Province, China. In: Sino-Japanese Silk Road Dinosaur Expedition (Z.- M. Dong, ed.). China Ocean Press, Beijing: pp. 24–26.
  14. ^ Novas, F.E. and P.F. Puerta. 1997. New evidence concerning avian origins from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia. Nature 387: pp. 390- 392.
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