1977 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 1977.

List of years in paleontology (table)
… 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 …
In science 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980
Art Archaeology Architecture Literature Music Philosophy Science +...

Expeditions, field work, and fossil discoveries

• Trexler found hadrosaur remains wecinst of Choteau, Montana in Two Medicine Formation strata.[2]

Plants

Angiosperms

Name	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Nelumbo aureavallis[3]	Valid	Hickey	Ypresian	Camels Butte Member, Golden Valley Formation	USA;  North Dakota
Peltandra primaeva[3]	Valid	Hickey	Ypresian	Camels Butte Member, Golden Valley Formation	USA;  North Dakota

Pinophytes

Name	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Pinus peregrinus[3]	Valid	Hickey	Clarkforkian	Bear Den Member, Golden Valley Formation	USA  North Dakota

Invertebrates

Mollusks

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Fordilla sibirica[4]	sp nov	Valid	Krasilova	Early Cambrian	Tyuser Formation		early Cambrian bivalve species. synonym of Fordilla troyensis.

Conodonts

German paleontologist and stratigrapher Heinz Walter Kozur (1942-2013) described the conodont genus Vjalovognathus[5]

Vertebrates

Non-avian dinosaurs

Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.[6]

Name	Status	Authors		Location	Notes	Images
Fulengia[7]	Nomen dubium. Possible synonym of Lufengosaurus.	Carroll	Peter Galton
Opisthocoelicaudia[8]	Valid taxon	Borsuk-Bialynicka		Mongolia	A Titanosaur from Mongolia.
Othnielia[9]	Valid taxon	Peter Galton		USA ( Colorado and  Wyoming)	Now called Othnielosaurus.
Piveteausaurus[10]	Valid taxon	Philippe Taquet	Welles	France	a French Megalosaur.	Piveteausaurus
Saichania[11]	Valid taxon	Teresa Maryańska		Mongolia	an ankylosaurid	Saichania
"Shanshanosaurus"[12]	Junior synonym of Tarbosaurus.	Dong Zhiming
Tarchia[11]	Valid taxon	Teresa Maryańska		Mongolia	An ankylosaurid.	Tarchia
Tuojiangosaurus[13]	Valid taxon	Dong Zhiming Li X. M.	Zhou S. Zhang Y. H.	China	A famous Chinese Stegosaur.	Tuojiangosaurus
Valdosaurus[14]	Valid taxon	Peter Galton		UK	a European Dryosaur.
Wannanosaurus[15]	Valid taxon	Hou		China	A Primitive Pachycephalosaur	Wannanosaurus
"Yezosaurus"	Nomen nudum. Non-dinosaurian marine reptile.	Obata	Muramoto

Birds

• Colin J. O Harrison and Cyril Walker described and named 16 fossils from the Early Eocene from very small fragments. It is not possible to describe taxa so old from those fragments, given the fact that in the Eocene many birds with a mix of characters existed (mosaics).

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Argillipes aurorum [16]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Colin J. O. Harrison Cyril A. Walker	Early Eocene	MP 8-9	UK	Described in the Phasianidae, placed in Aves Incertae Sedis by Mlíkovský 2002,[17] this is the type species of the new genus.
Argillipes paralectoris [16]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Colin J. O. Harrison Cyril A. Walker	Early Eocene	MP 8-9	UK:	Described in the Phasianidae, placed in Aves Incertae Sedis by Mlíkovský 2002.[17]
Buthierax pouliani [18]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Miklós Kretzoi	Middle Pleistocene	MQ 2a	Greece	An Accipitridae Incertae Sedis, this is the type species of the new genus.
Cepphus storeri [19]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Colin J. O. Harrison	Late Pliocene	MN 16-17	UK	An Alcidae.
Ciconia sarmatica [20]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Dan Grigorescu Jenö Kessler	Early Miocene	Sarmatian, MN 8	Romania	A Ciconiidae.
Cinclodes major [21]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Eduardo P. Tonni	Middle Pleistocene		Argentina	A Furnariidae.
Coturnipes cooperi [16]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Colin J. O. Harrison Cyril A. Walker	Early Eocene	MP 8-9	UK	Described in the Phasianidae, placed in Aves Incertae Sedis by Olson, 1999, this is the type species of the new genus.
Gallus beremendensis [22]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Dénes Jánossy	Late Pliocene	MN 16a	Hungary	A Phasianidae.
Limnofregata azygosternon [23]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Storrs L. Olson	Early Eocene	Green River Formatie, Fossil Bute Member	USA ( Wyoming)	A Fregatidae, Limnofregatinae Olson, 1977, this is the type species of the new genus.
Malacorhynchus scarletti [24]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Storrs L. Olson	Holocene	± 3500 YBP (Years Before Present)	New Zealand	An Anatidae.
Marinavis longirostris [16]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Colin J. O. Harrison Cyril A. Walker	Early Eocene	MP 8-9	UK	Described in the Procelariiformes, in its own family, Marinavidae Harrison et Walker, 1977, this is the type species of the new genus.
Microena goodwini [16]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Colin J. O. Harrison Cyril A. Walker	Early Eocene	MP 8-9	UK	Described in the Columbidae, placed in Aves Inceretae Sedis by Mlíkovský 2002,[17] according to Mayr, 2009 perhaps a "Coraciiformes" or a "Caprimulgiformes"/Apodiformes, this is the type species of the new genus.
Neptuniavis minor [16]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Colin J. O. Harrison Cyril A. Walker	Early Eocene	MP 8-9	UK	An ?Procellariidae, maybe a synonym of Dasornis toliapica (Owen, 1873).
Neptuniavis miranda [16]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Colin J. O. Harrison Cyril A. Walker	Early Eocene	MP 8-9	UK	An ?Procellariidae, this is the type species of the new genus, maybe a synonym of Dasornis emuinus (Bowerbank, 1854), this is the type species of the new genus.
Oxyura zapatanima [25]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Rafael Alvarez	Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene	Jocotopec Sand and Gravel Quarry	Mexico	An Anatidae.
Parvicuculus minor [16]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Colin J. O. Harrison Cyril A. Walker	Early Eocene	MP 8-9	UK	An Apodiformes, Hemiprocni Karkhu, 1992, Parvicuculidae Harrison, 1982, this is the type species of the new genus.
Parvigyps praecox [16]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Colin J. O. Harrison Cyril A. Walker	Early Eocene	MP 8-9	UK	Described in the Accipitridae, by Mlíkovský, 2002 placed in Aves Incertae Sedis,[17] this is the type species of the new genus.
Percolinus venablesi [16]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Colin J. O. Harrison Cyril A. Walker	Early Eocene	MP 8-9	UK	Described in the Phasianidae, transferred to the genus Gypsornis Milne-Edwards, 1871 in the Cariamidae by Mlíkovský, 2002,[17] this is the type species of the new genus.
Phalacrocorax chapalensis [25]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Rafael Alvarez	Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene	Jocotopec Sand and Gravel Quarry	Mexico	A Phalacrocoracidae.
Pinguinus alfrednewtoni [26]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Storrs L. Olson	Early Pliocene	Chesapeake Group	USA ( Maryland)	An Alcidae.
Precursor litorum [16]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Colin J. O. Harrison Cyril A. Walker	Early Eocene	MP 8-9	UK	Described in the Glareolidae, best treated as Aves Incertae Sedis.
Precursor magnus [16]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Colin J. O. Harrison Cyril A. Walker	Early Eocene	MP 8-9	UK	Described in the Glareolidae, best treated as Aves Incertae Sedis.
Precursor parvus [16]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Colin J. O. Harrison Cyril A. Walker	Early Eocene	MP 8-9	UK	Described in the Glareolidae, this is the type species of the new genus, best treated as Aves Incertae Sedis.
Primodroma bournei [16]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Colin J. O. Harrison Cyril A. Walker	Early Eocene	MP 8-9	UK	A Hydrobatidae, this is the type species of the new genus.
Primoscens minutus [16]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Colin J. O. Harrison Cyril A. Walker	Early Eocene	MP 8-9	UK	Described in a new family Primoscenidae Harrison et Walker, 1977, Passeriformes, placed in synonymy with the family Zygodactylidae Brodkorb, 1971, ?Piciformes by Mayr, 2008,[27] this is the type species of the new genus.
Procuculus minutus [16]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Colin J. O. Harrison Cyril A. Walker	Early Eocene	MP 8-9	UK	Described as a Cuculidae, Harrison, 1982 placed it in his new family Parvicuculidae,[28] Olson, 1985 and Mayr, 2009 think it might be a synonym of Primapus lacki Harrison et Walker, 1975. Best treated as Aves Incertae Sedis, this is the type species of the new genus.
Quipollornis koniberi [29]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Patricia Vickers Rich Allan R. McEvey	Early to Middle Miocene	Diatomite deposits on Chalk Mountain	Australia	An Aegothelidae, this is the type species of the new genus.
Rallus richmondi [30]	Nom. nov.	Valid	Storrs L. Olson	Late Miocene	MN 13	Italy	A Rallidae, a new name for Rallus dubius Portis, 1887, a junior primary homonym of Rallus dubius Piller et Mitterpacher, 1783, so its objective junior synonym.
Sarmatosula dobrogensis [20]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Dan Grigorescu Jenö Kessler	Middle Miocene	Sarmatian, MN 8	Romania	A Sulidae, this is the type species of the new genus.
Shandongornis shanwanensis [31]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Yeh Xiangkui	Middle Miocene	Shanwang Series	China	A Phasianidae, this is the type species of the new genus.
Xenicibis xympithecus [32]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Storrs L. Olson David W. Steadman	Quaternary	Cave deposits	Jamaica	A Threskiornithidae, this is the type species of the new genus.

Pterodactyls

Name	Status	Authors		Age	Unit	Location	Notes
Araripedactylus	Valid	Wellnhofer		late Aptian/early Albian			A pterodactyloid of uncertain affinities.

Popular culture

Literature

• The Year of the Dinosaur Edwin H. Colbert and illustrated by his wife, Margaret was published. This story describes a year in the life of a "brontosaur" and was an attempt to educate the reader about prehistory through a fictional portrayal of it.[33]

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. Trexler, D. (2001). "Two Medicine Formation, Montana: geology and fauna". In Tanke, D. H.; Carpenter, K. (eds.). Mesozoic Vertebrate Life. Indiana University Press. pp. 298–309.
3. Hickey, Leo (1977). Stratigraphy and Paleobotany of the Golden Valley Formation (Early Tertiary) of Western North Dakota. Boulder, Colorado: Geological Society of America. pp. 110 & Plate 5. ISBN 0-8137-1150-9.
4. 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.
5. Kozur, Heinz (July 1977). "Vjalovognathus nom. nov. replaces Vjalovites Kozur, 1976". Journal of Paleontology. 51 (4): 870. ISSN 0022-3360. JSTOR 1303751.
6. Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Retrieved 2008-08-07.
7. Carroll, Robert L.; Galton, Peter M. (March 1977). "'Modern' lizard from the Upper Triassic of China". Nature. 266 (5599): 252–255. doi:10.1038/266252a0.
8. Borsuk-Bialynicka, Magdalena (1977). "A new camarasaurid sauropod Opisthocoelicaudia skarzynskii, gen. n. sp. n. from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia" (PDF). Palaeontol. Polonica. 37: 5–64.
9. Galton, Peter M. (July 1977). "The ornithopod dinosaur Dryosaurus and a Laurasia–Gondwanaland connection in the Upper Jurassic". Nature. 268 (5617): 230–232. doi:10.1038/268230a0.
10. Taquet, P.; Welles, S. (1977). "Redescription du crane de Dinosaure theropode de Dives (Normandie)". Annales de Paléontologie (in French). 63 (2): 191–206.
11. Maryańska, Teresa (1977). "Ankylosauridae (Dinosauria) from Mongolia" (PDF). Paleontol. Polinica. 37: 85–151.
12. Dong, Z (1977). "On the dinosaurian remains from Turpan, Xinjiang". Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 15: 59–66.
13. Dong, Z.; Li, X.; Zhou, S.; Chang, Y. (1977). "On the stegosaurian remain from Zigong (Tzekung), Szechuan Province". Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 15: 307–312.
14. Olshevsky, G. (1991). "A Revision of the Parainfraclass Archosauria Cope, 1869, Excluding the Advanced Crocodylia". Mesozoic Meanderings 2 (1st ed.)..
15. Hou, L. (1977). "A new primitive pachycephalosauria from Anhui, China". Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 15: 198–202.
16. Harrison, Colin J. O.; Walker, Cyril A. (1977). "Birds of the British Lower Eocene". Tertiary Research Special Papers. 3: 1–52.
17. Mlíkovský, Jíří (2002). "Cenozoic Birds of the World Part 1: Europe" (PDF). Praha Ninox Press: 1–407. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-03-07. Retrieved 2014-09-13.
18. Miklós Kretzoi (1977). "The Fauna of Small Vertebrates of the Middle Pleistocene at Petralona" (PDF). Anthropos (Athina). 4 (1–2): 131–143. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-09-13.
19. Harrison, Colin J. O. (1977). "A New Guillemot, Cepphus Species, from the Lower Pleistocene". Suffolk Natural History. 17: 238–239.
20. Grigorescu, Dan; Kessler, Jenö (1977). "The Middle Sarmatian Avian Fauna of South Dobrogea". Revue Roumaine de Géologie, Géophysique et Géographie, Série Géologie. 21: 93–108.
21. Tonni, Eduardo P. (1977). "Un Furnárido (Aves: Passeriformes) del Pleistoceno Medio de la Provincia de Buenos Aires". Publicaciones del Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturales de Mar del Plata Lorenzo Scaglia. 2 (6): 141–147.
22. Jánossy, Dénes (1977). "Plio-Pleistocene Bird Remains from the Carpathian Basin. II. Galliformes. 2. Phasianidae" (PDF). Aquila. 83: 29–42.
23. Olson, Storrs L. (1977). "A Lower Eocene Frigatebird from the Green River Formation of Wyoming" (PDF). Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 35: 1–33. doi:10.5479/si.00810266.35.1.
24. Olson, Storrs L. (1977). "Notes on Subfossil Anatidae from New Zealand, Including A New Species of Pink-Eared Duck Malacorhynchus". Emu. 77 (3): 132–135. doi:10.1071/mu9770132.
25. Alvarez, Rafael (1977). "A Pleistocene Avifauna from Jalisco, Mexico" (PDF). Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology University of Michigan. 24 (19): 205–220.
26. Olson, Storrs L. (1977). "A Great Auk, Pinguinis [sic], from the Pliocene of Nebraska (Aves: Alcidae)" (PDF). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 90 (3): 690–697.
27. Mayr, Gerald (2008). "Phylogenetic Affinities of the Enigmatic Avian Taxon Zygodactylus Based on New Material from the Early Oligocene of France". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 6: 333–344. doi:10.1017/s1477201907002398.
28. Harrison, Colin J. O. (1982). "Cuculiform, Piciform, and Passeriform Birds in the Lower Eocene of England". Tertiary Research. 4: 71–81.
29. Vickers Rich, Patricia; McEvey, Allan R. (1977). "A New Owlet-Nightjar from the Early to Mid-Miocene of Eastern New South Wales" (PDF). Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria. 38: 247–253. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-09-12. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
30. Olson, Storrs L. (1977). "A Synopsis of the Fossil Rallidae" (PDF). In “Rails of the World: A Monograph of the Family Rallidae“ by S.D. Ripley, Codline, Boston: 509–525.
31. Xiangkui, Yeh (1977). "First Discovery of Miocene Birds in China" (PDF). Vertebrata PalAsiatica (in Chinese). 15 (4): 244–248.
32. Olson, Storrs L.; Steadman, David W. (1977). "A New Genus of Flightless Ibis (Threskiornithidae) and Other fossil Birds from Cave Deposits in Jamaica" (PDF). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 90 (2): 447–457.
33. Sarjeant, W. A. S. (2001). "Dinosaurs in fiction". In Tanke, D. H.; Carpenter, K. (eds.). Mesozoic Vertebrate Life. Indiana University Press. pp. 504–529.