1981 in paleontology

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 1981.

List of years in paleontology (table)
… 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 …
In science 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
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Arthropoda

newly named insects

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Polanskiella[2]	Gen et sp nov	jr synonym	Rossi de Garcia	Middle Eocene	Ventana Formation	Argentina	Extinct Myrmeciin ant genus, jr synonym of type species Archimyrmex, sole species A. smekali
Protamblyopone inversa[3]	Gen et sp. nov	jr synonym	Dlussky	Middle Miocene	Chon-Tyz mine	Kyrgyzstan	An Amblyoponin ant. jr synonym of Casaleia inversa

Archosauromorpha

Newly named dinosaurs

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

Name	Status	Authors		Location	Notes	Images
Avimimus[5]	Valid taxon	Sergei Kurzanov		Mongolia	A very Bird-like Oviraptorosaur.	Avimimus Barsboldia Elmisaurus Garudimimus "Ingenia" Muttaburrasaurus Scutellosaurus
Barsboldia[6]	Valid taxon	Teresa Maryańska	Halszka Osmólska	Mongolia	A Mongolian Lambeosaurine.
Elmisaurus[7]	Valid taxon	Halszka Osmólska		Mongolia
Garudimimus[8]	Valid taxon	Rinchen Barsbold		Mongolia
"Honghesaurus"	Nomen nudum	Anonymous			Later renamed Yandusaurus.
"Ingenia"[8]	Preoccupied.	Rinchen Barsbold			Name preoccupied by a nematode Gerlach 1957. Renamed Ajancingenia in 2013.
Muttaburrasaurus[9]	Valid taxon	Bartholomai	Ralph Molnar	Australia	An Iguanodont with a horn-like knob of its Snout.
Palaeopteryx[10]	Valid taxon	Jim Jenson		USA ( Colorado)
Scutellosaurus[11]	Valid taxon	Colbert		USA ( Arizona)	One of the Earliest known Tyreophoran.

Remarks on newly named birds

• Palaeopteryx thomsoni Jensen, 1981. is most probably not a bird but perhaps a small dinosaur, it is best treated as a taxon non avium.
• Plegadis pharangites Olson, 1981. is a new name for Plegadis gracilis Miller et Bowman, 1956, preoccupied by Plegadis gracilis (Lydekker, 1891), described as Milnea gracilis Lydekker, 1891 and transferred to the genus Plegadis Kaup, 1829 by Cheneval, 1984.

Newly named birds

Name	Status	Novelty	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Burhinus lucorum [12]	Valid	Sp. nov.	K. Jeffrey Bickart	Early Miocene	Middle Sheep Creek Formation	USA:  Nebraska	A Burhinidae.
Enantiornis leali [13]	Valid	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Cyril A. Walker	Late Cretaceous	Maastrichtian Lecho Formation	Argentina	An Enantiornithes Walker, 1981, Alexornithiformes Brodkorb, 1976, Enantiornithidae Nessov et Borkin, 1983, this is the type species of the new genus.
Eogrus crudus [14]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Evgeny N. Kurochkin	Middle-Late Eocene	Tsagan Kutel	Mongolia	A Gruiformes, Eogruidae Wetmore, 1934, this is the type species of the new genus.
Falco medius [15]	Valid	Sp. nov.	A. S. Umanskaya	Late Miocene	MN 11-13	Soviet Union:  Ukraine	A Falconidae.
Gavia paradoxa [15]	Valid	Sp. nov.	A. S. Umanskaya	Late Miocene	MN 11-13	Soviet Union:  Ukraine	A Gaviidae.
Ioriotis gabunii [16]	Valid	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Nikolay I. Burchak-Abramovich Abesalom K. Vekua	Late Pliocene	Kvabebi	Soviet Union:  Georgia	An Otididae, this is the type species of the new genus.
Mancalla emlongi [17]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Storrs L. Olson	Late Pliocene	Blancan, San Diego Formation	USA:  California	An Alcidae, Mancallinae L. H. Miller, 1946.
Microdytes tonnii [18]	Valid	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	George G. Simpson	Late Oligocene-Early Miocene	Patagonian	Argentina	A Sphniscidae, this is the type species of the new genus. Microdytes Simpson, 1981 is preoccupied by Microdytes Balfour-Browne, 1949 (Coleoptera), so Storrs L. Olson created the new genus Eretiscus Olson, 1986 to accommodate Microdytes tonnii Simpson, 1981.[19]
Pedinorhis stirpsarcana [20]	Valid	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Storrs L. Olson Mary C. McKitrick	Pleistocene	Cave deposits	Puerto Rico	A Fringillidae, Emberizinae, this is the type species of the new genus.
Pelecanus cadimurka [21]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Patricia Vickers Rich Gerard F. Van Tets	Pleistocene	Kuttipirra (Katipiri) Waterhole	Australia:  South Australia	A Pelecanidae.
Picus peregrinabundus [22]	Valid	Sp. nov.	A. S. Umanskaja	Late Miocene	MN 11-12	Soviet Union:  Ukraine	A Picidae.
Sonogrus gregalis [14]	Valid	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Evgeny N. Kurochkin	Late Eocene-Early Oligocene	Ergilin Dzo Formation	Mongolia	A Gruiformes, Eogruidae Wetmore, 1934, this is the type species of the new genus.
Uria brodkorbi [23]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Hildegarde Howard	Late Miocene	Sisquoc Formation, Clarendonian	USA:  California	An Alcidae.
Urmiornis orientalis [14]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Evgeny N. Kurochkin	Middle Pliocene		Soviet Union:  Kazakhstan	A Gruiformes, Eogruidae Wetmore, 1934, transferred to the genus Amphipelargus Lydekker, 1891 by both Kurochkin, 1985 and Olson, 1985.
Urmiornis ukrainus [14]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Evgeny N. Kurochkin	Late Miocene	Mn 9-10-11	Soviet Union:  Moldova;  Ukraine;  Russia	A Gruiformes, Eogruidae Wetmore, 1934, transferred to the genus Amphipelargus Lydekker, 1891 by both Kurochkin, 1985 and Olson, 1985.
Youngornis gracilis [24]	Valid	Gen. nov et Sp. nov.	Yeh Hsiangk’uei	Middle Miocene	Shanwang Formation	China	A Rallidae, this is the type species of the new genus.
Zeltornis ginsburgi [25]	Valid	Gen. nov et Sp. nov.	Jean Chr. Balouet	Early Miocene	Late Burdigalian, Djebel Zelten	Libya	An Ardeidae, this is the type species of the new genus.

Plesiosaurs

• Carroll, R. C., 1981, Plesiosaur ancestors from the Upper Permian of Madagascar: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London B, v. 293, p. 315- 383.

Name	Status	Authors		Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Kimmerosaurus	Valid	Brown		Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian	Kimmeridge Clay	UK	A cryptoclidid.

Pterosaurs

New taxa

Name	Status	Authors		Location	Images
Comodactylus	Valid	Galton		Germany
Sultanuvaisia	Valid	Nesov

Synapsids

Non-mammalian

Name	Status	Authors	Discovery year	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
	Valid
	Valid

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. Dlussky, G.M. (2012). "New Fossil Ants of the Subfamily Myrmeciinae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Germany". Paleontological Journal. 46 (3): 288–292. doi:10.1134/s0031030111050054.
3. Dlussky, G.M.; Putyatina, T.S. (2014). "Early Miocene ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Radoboj, Croatia". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen. 272 (3): 237–285. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.692.9292. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2014/0409.
4. Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Retrieved 2008-08-07.
5. Kurzanov, S.M. 1981. On the unusual theropods from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. Sovm. Sov.-Mong. Paleontol. Eksped. Trudy 15: pp. 39-50.
6. Maryanska, T. and H. Osmólska. 1981. First lambeosaurine dinosaur from the Nemegt Formation, Upper Cretaceous, Mongolia. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 26 (3-4): pp. 243-255.
7. Osmolska, H. 1981. Coosified tarsometatarsal in theropod dinosaurs and their bearing on the problem of bird origins. Paleontol. Polonica 42: pp. 79-95.
8. Barsbold, R. 1981. The toothless carnivorous dinosaurs of Mongolia. Sovm. Sov.-Mong. Paleontol. Eksped. Trudy 15: pp. 28-39.
9. Bartholomai, A., and R.E. Molnar. 1981. Muttaburrasaurus, a new iguanodontid (Ornithischia: Ornithopoda) dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Queensland. Mem. Queensland Museum 20: pp. 319-149.
10. Jensen, J.A. 1981. Another look at Archaeopteryx as the world's oldest bird. Encyclia 58: pp. 109-128.
11. Colbert, E.H. 1981. A primitive ornithischian dinosaur from the Kayenta Formation of Arizona. Museum Northern Arizona Bull. 53: pp. 1-61.
12. K. Jeffrey Bickart (1981). "A New Thick-knee, Burhinus, from the Miocene of Nebraska, with Comments on the Habitat Requirements of the Burhinidae (Aves: Charadriiformes)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 1 (3–4): 273–277. doi:10.1080/02724634.1981.10011902.
13. Cyril A. Walker (1981). "New Subclass of Birds from the Cretaceous of South America". Nature. 292 (5818): 51–53. doi:10.1038/292051a0.
14. Evgeny N. Kurochkin (1981). "[New Representatives and Evolution of Two Archaic Gruiform Families in Eurasia]". Sovmestnaja Sovetsko-Mongol'skaja Paleontol. Ekspedit. 15: 59–85.
15. A. S. Umanskaya (1981). "[Miocene Birds of the Black Sea Coastal Region]". Vestnik Zoologii Nauchnyy Zhurnal Instituta Zoologii Imeni I. I. Shmal'gauzena Akademii Nauk Ukrainskoy SSR II 3. 15: 17–21.
16. Nikolay I. Burchak-Abramovich & Abesalom K. Vekua (1981). "Fossil Bustard Runner Ioriotis gabunii New Genus New Species of East Georgian SSR USSR Akchagylian". Izvestiya Akademii Nauk Gruzinskoi SSR Seriya Biologicheskaya. 7: 53–60.
17. Storrs L. Olson (1981). "A Third Species of Mancalla from the Late Pliocene San Diego Formation of California (Aves: Alcidae)" (PDF). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 1 (1): 97–99. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.614.8039. doi:10.1080/02724634.1981.10011882.
18. George G. Simpson (1981). "Notes on Some Fossil Penguins, including a New Genus from Patagonia". Ameghiniana. 18 (3–4): 266–272.
19. Storrs L. Olson (1986). "A Replacement Name for the Fossil Penguin Microdytes Simpson (Aves: Spheniscidae)". Journal of Paleontology. 60 (3): 785. doi:10.1017/S0022336000022332.
20. Storrs L. Olson & Mary C. McKitrick (1981). "A New Genus and Species of Emberizine Finch from the Pleistocene Cave Deposits in Puerto Rico (Aves: Passeriformes)" (PDF). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 1 (3–4): 279–283. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.501.5247. doi:10.1080/02724634.1981.10011903.
21. Patricia Vickers Rich & Gerard F. Van Tets (1981). "The Fossil Pelecans of Australasia" (PDF). Records of the South Australian Museum. 18: 235–264.
22. A. S. Umanskaja (1981). "[Miocene Birds of the Black Sea Coastal Region]". Vestnik Zoologii Nauchnyy Zhurnal Instituta Zoologii Imeni I. I. Shmal'gauzena Akademii Nauk Ukrainskoy SSR II. 3: 17–21.
23. Hildegarde Howard (1981). "A New Species of Murre, Genus Uria, from the Late Miocene of California" (PDF). Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences. 80: 1–12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-09-05.
24. Yeh Hsiangk’uei (1981). "[Third Note on Fossil Birds from Linqu, Shandong]" (PDF). Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 19 (2): 149–155.
25. Jean Chr. Balouet (1981). "Zeltornis ginsburgi n.g. n.sp. (Ardeidae: Aves), Héron Géant du Miocène Inférieur du Djebel Zelten (Libye)". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris. Série II. 293: 235–239.