1999 in paleontology

List of years in paleontology
... 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 ... 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 ... 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 ...
In science 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
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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, fossilised feces (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 or were published in the year 1999.

Arthropods

Insects

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Electrostephanus neovenatus	Sp nov	valid	Aguiar & Janzen	Lutetian	Baltic Amber	Europe	A stephanid wasp
Electrostephanus sulcatus	Sp nov	jr synonym	Aguiar & Janzen	Lutetian	Baltic Amber	Europe	A stephanid wasp, now Denaeostephanus sulcatus
Neoephemera antiqua	sp. nov	valid	Sinitchenkova	Ypresian	Klondike Mountain Formation	USA	Oldest neoephemerid mayfly species described
Pachycondyla rebekkae	sp. nov	valid	Rust & Andersen	Ypresian	Fur Formation	Denmark	moved by Archibald, Cover, & Moreau to Ypresiomyrma

Mollusca

Newly named bivalves

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Concavodonta ovalis	sp nov	Valid	Sánchez	Caradoc	Don Braulio Formation	Argentina	third species in the genus
Concavodontinae	subfam nov	Valid	Sánchez	Ordovician			one of two Subfamilies in Praenuculidae
Cuyopsis	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Sánchez	Caradoc	Don Braulio Formation	Argentina	Monotypic with the species C. symmetricus
Emiliania	Gen et sp nov	homonym	Sánchez	Caradoc	Don Braulio Formation	Argentina	genus name preoccupied by Emiliania Hay & Mohler, 1967, renamed to Emiliodonta
Hemiconcavodonta	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Sánchez	Caradoc	Don Braulio Formation	Argentina	third genus in the subfamily Concavodontinae
Praenuculinae	subfam nov	Valid	Sánchez	Ordovician			one of two Subfamilies in Praenuculidae
Similodonta ceryx	Sp nov	Valid	Cope	Middle Ordovician	Gilfach Farm No. 1 Borehole	Wales	oldest species in the genus Similodonta
Trigonoconcha	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Sánchez	Caradoc	Don Braulio Formation	Argentina	Monotypic with the species T. acuta
Villicumia	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Sánchez	Caradoc	Don Braulio Formation	Argentina	Monotypic with the species V. canteraensis

Fish

Newly named actinopterygii ("ray-finned fish")

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Nardovelifer	gen et sp nov	Valid	C. Sorbini & L. Sorbini	Campanian	Nardo	Italy		Nardovelifer altipinnis

Archosauromorphs

• Ornithomimid gastroliths documented.

Newly named dinosauriforms

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Eucoelophysis	gen et sp nov	Valid	Sullivan & Lucas	Norian	Chinle Formation, New Mexico	USA	Sister genus to the Dinosaurs; first identified as a relative of coelophysid.

Newly named dinosaurs

Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Achillobator	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Perle, Norell, & Clark	Late Cretaceous	Bayan Shireh Formation	Mongolia	A large dromaeosaurid.	File:Achillobator small.jpg Achillobator
Agustinia	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Bonaparte	Albian	Lohan Cura Formation	Argentina	An armored sauropod	File:Agustinia BW.jpg Agustinia
"Airakoraptor"	gen nov	Nomen nudum	Perle, Norell, & Clark			Mongolia	A possible dromaeosaurid that has yet to be fully described.
Animantarx	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Carpenter, Kirkland, Burge, & Bird	Late Cretaceous	Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah	USA	Nodosaur whose name means "living citadel."	Animantarx ramaljonesi
"Archaeoraptor"		Hoax	Stephen Czerkas vide:C. P. Sloan vide:Olson				Chimera of Yanornis and Microraptor.
Atlasaurus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Monbaron, Russell, & Taquet	Middle Jurassic	Tiougguit Formation	Morocco	A primitive sauropod
Beipiaosaurus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Xu, Tang, & Wang	Early Cretaceous	Yixian Formation	China	A therizinosaur	Beipiaosaurus
"Bilbeyhallorum"		Nomen nudum	Burge, Bird, McClelland, & Cicconetti	Aptian	Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah	USA	informal name for Cedarpelta.
Cedarosaurus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Tidwell, Carpenter, & Brooks	Barremian	Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah	USA	A sauropod.
Chaoyangsaurus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Zhao, Cheng, & Xu	Late Jurassic	Tuchengzi Formation	China	An extremely primitive ceratopsian	Chaoyangsaurus
Dinheirosaurus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Bonaparte & Mateus	Kimmeridgian	Alcobaça Formation	Portugal	A diplodocid.
"Eugongbusaurus"	gen nov	Nomen nudum	Knoll	Late Jurassic	Shishugou Formation	China	A ?hypsilophodont that hasn't yet been formally named.
Gondwanatitan	gen et sp nov	Valid	Kellner & Azevedo	Late Cretaceous	Adamantina Formation	Brazil	A titanosaur
Guaibasaurus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Bonaparte, Ferigolo, & Ribeiro	Late Triassic	Caturrita Formation	Brazil	A sauropodomorph.	Guaibasaurus
Jobaria	gen et sp nov	Valid	Sereno, et al	Middle Jurassic	Tiourarén Formation	Niger	A eusauropod	File:Jobaria tiguidensis steveoc.jpg Jobaria
Lessemsaurus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Bonaparte	Late Triassic	Los Colorados Formation	Argentina	A primitive sauropodomorph	Lessemsaurus sauropoides
Lirainosaurus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Sanz et al	Late Cretaceous	Vitoria Formation	Spain	A titanosaur.
Lurdusaurus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Taquet & Russell	Aptian	Elrhaz Formation	Niger\	A hadrosaur	Lurdusaurus
"Newtonsaurus"	gen et sp nov	Nomen nudum	Welles vide: Welles & Pickering	Late Triassic	Rhaetic beds	Wales	Informal name	"Newtonsaurus"
Nigersaurus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Sereno et al	Early Cretaceous	Elrhaz Formation	Niger	A rebbachisaurid	File:Nigersaurus taqueti skeletal.png Nigersaurus
Nodocephalosaurus	gen et sp nov	Valid taxon	Sullivan	Campanian	Kirtland Formation	USA	An ankylosaurid
Proyandusaurus	gen nov	synonym	Knoll	Bajocian	Shaximiao Formation	China	informal name for Hexinlusaurus
Qantassaurus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Rich & Vickers-Rich	Early Cretaceous	Wonthaggi Formation	Australia	A possible hypsilophodontid	File:Quantassaurus skel aus.jpg Qantassaurus intrepidus
Santanaraptor	gen et sp nov	Valid	Kellner	Cenomanian	Santana Formation	Brazil	A theropod	File:Santanaraptor.jpg Santanaraptor placidus
Saturnalia	gen et sp nov	Valid	Langer, Abdala, Richter, & Benton	Carnian	Santa Maria Formation	Brazil	A basal sauropodomorph	Saturnalia
Sinornithosaurus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Xu, Wang, & Wu	Aptian	Yixian Formation	China	A Dromaeosaurid	Sinornithosaurus
Tangvayosaurus	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Allain et at	Early Cretaceous	Grès Supérior Formation	Laos	A titanosaur
Tehuelchesaurus	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Rich et al	Middle Jurassic	Cañadon Asfalto Formation	Argentina	A eusauropod

Newly named birds

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Amplibuteo concordatus	Sp. nov.	Valid	Steven D. Emslie Nicholas J. Czaplewski	Late Pliocene	Florida and Arizona	USA: Florida; Arizona	An Accipitridae.
Anatalavis oxfordi	Sp. nov.	Valid	Storrs L. Olson	Early Eocene	Ypresian, London Clay, MP 8	UK: England	An Anseranatidae, Anatalavinae Olson, 1999. In 2002 Jíří Mlíkovský made this species the type species of his not widely accepted new genus Nettapterornis.
Aquila bivia	Sp. nov.	Valid	Steven D. Emslie Nicholas J. Czaplewski	Late Pliocene	Florida	USA: Florida; Arizona	An Accipitridae.
Argornis caucasicus	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Aleksandr A. Karkhu	Late Eocene	Northern Caucasus	Russia	An Apodiformes, Jungornithidae Karkhu, 1988.
Canadaga arctica	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Hou Lianhai	Late Cretaceous	Middle Maastrichtian	Canada: Nunavut	A Hesperornithidae Marsh, 1872.
Changchengornis hengdaoziensis	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Ji Qiang Luis M. Chiappe Ji Shu’an	Early Cretaceous	Chaomidianzi Formation	China	A Confuciusornithidae Hou, Zhou, Gu et Zhang, 1995.
Chaunoides antiquus	Sp. nov.	Valid	Herculano M. F. de Alvarenga	Late Oligocene or Early Miocene	Tremembé Formation	Brazil	An Anhimidae.
Confuciusornis dui	Sp. nov.	Valid	Hou Lianhai Larry D. Martin Zhou Zhonghe Alan Feduccia Zhang Fucheng	Early Cretaceous	Yixian Formation	China	A Confuciusornithidae Hou, Zhou, Gu et Zhang, 1995.
Dryolimnas augusti	Sp. nov.	Valid	Cécile Mourer-Chauviré Roger Bour Sonia Ribes François Moutou	Holocene	Réunion	Réunion	A Rallidae.
Emberiza alcoveri	Sp. nov.	Valid	J. C. Rando M. Lopez B. Seguí	Late Pleistocene-Holocene	Canary Islands, Tenerife	Spain: Canary Islands	An Emberizidae.
Eocuculus cherpinae	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Robert M. Chandler	Late Eocene	Early Chadronian	USA: Colorado	A ?Cuculidae.
Eoenantiornis buhleri	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Hou Lianhai Larry D. Martin Zhou Zongzhe Alan Feduccia	Early Cretaceous	Yixian Formation	China	An Enantiornithes Walker, 1981, Eoenantiornithiformes Hou, Martin, Zhou et Feduccia, 1999, Eoenantiornithidae Hou, Martin, Zhou et Feduccia, 1999, this is the type species of the new genus.
Falco bakalovi	Sp. nov.	Valid	Zlatozar N. Boev	Late Pliocene	Villafranchian, MN 17	Bulgaria	A Falconidae.
Gallinula balcanica	Sp. nov.	Valid	Zlatozar N. Boev	Late Pliocene	Villafranchian, MN 17	Bulgaria	A Rallidae.
Graculavus augustus	Sp. nov.	Valid	Sylvia Hope	Late Cretaceous	Late Maastrichtian, Lance Formation	USA: Wyoming	A Graculavidae Fürbringer, 1888.
Gurilynia nessovi	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Evgeny N. Kurochkin	Late Cretaceous	Gurilyn Tsav	Mongolia	An Enantiornithes Walker, 1981, Alexornithiformes Brodkorb, 1976, Enantiornithidae Nessov & Borkin, 1983.
Hebeiornis fengningensis	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Yan	Early Cretaceous	Yixian Formation	China	Ornithothoraces Chiappe et Calvo, 1994, this is the type species of the new genus. Vescornis hebeiensis Zhang, Ericson et Zhou, 2004. is a junior synonym.
Liaoxiornis delicatus	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Hou Lianhai Chen Peiji	Early Cretacous	Yixian Formation	China	A Liaoxiornithidae L. H. Hou et Chen, 1999, this is the type species of the new genus. Lingyuanornis parvus Ji & Ji, 1999. is a junior synonym.
Longmornis robustirostrata	Gen, nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Walter E. Boles	?Early Miocene	Riversleigh	Australia: Queensland	An Oriolidae, this is the type species of the new genus.
Loxia patevi	Sp. nov.	Valid	Zlatozar N. Boev	Late Pliocene	MN 17	Bulgaria	A Fringillidae.
Masillapodargus longipes	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Gerald Mayr	Middle Eocene	Messel pit, MP 11	Germany: Hessen	A stem Podargidae, this is the type species of the new genus.
Ngawupodius minya	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Walter E. Boles Tessa J. Ivison	Late Oligocene	Namba Formation	Australia: South Australia	A stem Megapodiidae, this is the type species of the new genus.
Nupharanassa bohemica	Sp. nov.	Valid ?	Jirí Mlíkovský	Early Miocene	MN 4b	Czech Republic	A Jacanidae. Mourer-Chauviré, 1999 transferred this species to the genus Geranopterus Milne-Edwards, 1892 and later it was placed in the Geranopteridae Mayr & Mourer-Chauviré, 2000.
Paraprefica kelleri	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Gerald Mayr	Middle Eocene	Messel pit, MP 11	Germany: Hessen	A stem Nyctibiidae, this is the type species of the new genus.
Paraprefica major	Sp. nov.	Valid	Gerald Mayr	Middle Eocene	Messel pit, MP 11	Germany: Hessen	A stem Nyctibiidae.
Pelecanus schreiberi	Sp. nov.	Valid	Strorrs L. Olson	Early Pliocene	Yorktown Formation	USA: North Carolina	A Pelecanidae.
Primotrogon wintersteini	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Gerald Mayr	Middle Oligocene	MP 23	France	A stem Trogonidae, the type species of the new genus.
Pumiliornis tessellatus	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Gerald Mayr	Middle Eocene	Messel pit, MP 11	Germany: Hessen	Order and family Incerta Sedis, the type species of the new genus.
Regulus bulgaricus	Sp. nov.	Valid	Zlatozar N. Boev	Late Pliocene	MN 17	Bulgaria	A Regulidae.
Scolopax carmesinae	Sp. nov.	Valid	Bartomeu Seguí	Late Pliocene	Minorca, MN 17-18	Spain: Minorca	A Scolopacidae.
Selmes absurdipes	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Dieter S. Peters	Middle Eocene	Messel pit, MP 11; MP 13	Germany: Hessen; Saxony-Anhalt	A Coliiformes, Selmeidae Zelenkov et Dyke, 2008, the type species of the new genus.
Tyto neddi	Sp. nov.	Valid	David W. Steadman William B. Hilgartner	Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene	Barbuda	Antigua and Barbuda	A Tytonidae.
Yandangornis longicaudus	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Cai Zhengquan Zhao Lijun	Early Late Cretaceous	Santonian	China	An Enentiornithes, this is the type species of the new genus.

Newly named pterosaurs

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Dendrorhynchoides	gen nov	Valid	Ji S.-A., Ji Q., & Padian	Aptian	Yixian Formation	China	A new genus for "Dendrorhynchus" curvidentatus (Ji & Ji, 1998)
Siroccopteryx	gen et sp nov	junior synonym?	Mader & Kellner	Cenomanian	Kem Kem Formation	Morocco	possibly a jr synonym of Coloborhynchus?
Tendaguripterus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Unwin & Heinrich	Kimmeridgian	Tendaguru Formation	Tanzania	Monotypic with the species T. recki

Lepidosauromorphs

Newly named plesiosaurs

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Callawayasaurus	gen nov	Valid	Carpenter	Aptian	Paja Formation	Colombia	New genus for the species "Alzadasaurus" colombiensis Wells, 1962

Newly named scincomorphans

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Pachygenys	gen nov	Valid	Gao and Cheng	Early Cretaceous	Eastern China	China	Has a distinctly small amount of dentary teeth.