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2015 in paleontology

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2015 in paleontology

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. 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 2015.

Contents

Research

  • A study of the anatomy of the skull of Acanthostega gunnari is published by Porro, Rayfield & Clack (2015).
  • A study of the skeletal morphogenesis of the lepospondyls Microbrachis pelikani and Hyloplesion longicostatum is published by Olori (2015).
  • A study of the anatomy of the skull of the lepospondyl Quasicaecilia texana is published by Pardo, Szostakiwskyj & Anderson (2015).

    • Research

  • A study of phylogenetic relationships of ichthyopterygians is published by Ji et al. (2015); the authors introduced a new name, Grippioidea, for the clade containing the last common ancestor of Utatsusaurus hataii and Grippia longirostris, and all its descendants.
  • An exceptionally large ichthyosaur radius, possibly belonging to a member of Shastasauridae (which, if confirmed, would indicate that members of the family survived until Early Jurassic) is described from the Hettangian Blue Lias Formation (south Wales, United Kingdom) by Martin et al. (2015).

    • Research

  • A phylogenetic analysis of living and fossil squamate relationships, based on morphological and molecular data, is published by Reeder et al. (2015).
  • Miocene anoles from the Dominican amber, showing the habitat specializations also present in the extant Caribbean anoles, are described by Sherratt et al. (2015).

    • Research

  • Revision of the type material of Rauisuchus tiradentes is published by Lautenschlager and Rauhut (2015).
  • A study of the evolutionary history of the clade Crocodyliformes is published by Bronzati, Montefeltro and Langer (2015).
  • A study of impact of the climate changes on the evolution and biodiversity of pseudosuchian archosaurs is published by Mannion et al. (2015).
  • A study on the phylogenetic position of thalattosuchians within Crocodylomorpha is published by Wilberg (2015).
  • An isolated metriorhynchid tooth is described from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian) Hybla Formation (Sicily, Italy) by Chiarenza et al. (2015), extending the known geological range of Metriorhynchidae and Thalattosuchia by approximately 7–8 million years.

    • Research

  • A study of phylogenetic relationships of sauropod dinosaurs belonging to the family Diplodocidae and the taxonomic revision of the family is published by Tschopp, Mateus and Benson (2015); the authors propose to reestablish Brontosaurus as a genus distinct from Apatosaurus and to transfer Dinheirosaurus lourinhanensis to the genus Supersaurus.
  • Additional information on the anatomy of the holotype specimen of the rebbachisaurid sauropod Tataouinea hannibalis, including description of newly discovered fossil material of this specimen, and study of its phylogenetic relationships is published by Fanti et al. (2015).
  • A study of phylogenetic relationships of ornithischian dinosaurs traditionally referred to as ‘basal ornithopods’ or ‘hypsilophodontids’ is published by Boyd (2015).
  • Carpenter & Lamanna (2015) reinterpret the ornithopod braincase from the Morrison Formation of the Carnegie Quarry at Dinosaur National Monument (Utah), formerly assigned to Uteodon aphanoecetes, as actually belonging to Dryosaurus cf. D. altus. The authors consider genera Uteodon and Cumnoria to be junior synonyms of Camptosaurus, and transfer the species Cumnoria prestwichii and Uteodon aphanoecetes to the genus Camptosaurus.

    • Research

  • Balaur bondoc, originally interpreted as a member of Dromaeosauridae, is argued to be a basal member of Avialae by Cau, Brougham and Naish (2015).
  • New cranial material of the Oligo-Miocene relative of flamingos, Harrisonavis croizeti, is described by Torres et al. (2015).
  • New specimens of the Eocene relative of swifts, Scaniacypselus szarskii, are described by Mayr (2015).
  • A specimen of a stem-coliiform Masillacolius brevidactylus with preserved skull is described by Mayr (2015).
  • A study of the phylogenetic relationships of Psittacopes, Pumiliornis and Morsoravis, indicating their close relationship to the passerines and extinct family Zygodactylidae, is published by Mayr (2015); the author also introduced a new name, Parapasseres, for the clade containg Passeriformes and Zygodactylidae but not Psittacopes.
  • A study of preserved specimens of the Puerto Rican conure (previously considered to be an extinct subspecies of the Hispaniolan parakeet) is published by Olson (2015), who raises it to the rank of a separate species Psittacara maugei.
  • A Dwarf Emu was found in the Miocene of Alcoota in Central Australia.
  • Jones et al. (2015) describe a distal end of the left tibiotarsus of a member of the genus Caracara of uncertain specific assignment from the late Pleistocene of Argentina, estimated to be the largest member of the family Falconidae described thus far.
  • A description of the skeletal anatomy of two well-preserved specimens of the dodo is published by Claessens, Meijer and Hume (2015).

    • Research

  • A study on the terrestrial locomotion of non-pterodactyloid pterosaurs is published by Witton (2015).
  • A specimen of Rhamphorhynchus muensteri with preserved soft tissues or impressions of soft tissues, stomach contents and possibly a coprolite is described by Hone et al. (2015).

    • Research

  • Description of exceptionally preserved specimens of the pantodont species Alcidedorbignya inopinata and a study of its phylogenetic relationships is published by De Muizon et al. (2015).
  • Studies of the phylogenetic relationships of litopterns and notoungulates within Placentalia, indicating that their closest living relatives are odd-toed ungulates, are published by Welker et al. (2015) and Buckley (2015).
  • A study of the phylogenetic relationships of the Pleistocene camelid genus Camelops, based on genomic data extracted from its bones, is published by Heintzman et al. (2015).
  • Cranial endocast of Victoriapithecus macinessi is reconstructed by Gonzales et al. (2016).

    • New taxa

    Newly named non-eutherian mammals
    Metatherians
    Others
    Eutherians
    Xenarthrans
    Afrotherians
    Bats
    Odd-toed ungulates
    Even-toed ungulates
    Cetaceans
    Carnivorans
    Rodents
    Primates
    Other eutherians

    Research

  • A study of phylogenetic relationships of the Ediacaran animal Namacalathus, interpreting it as a member of Lophotrochozoa related to bryozoans and brachiopods, is published by Zhuravlev, Wood & Penny (2015).

    • References

    2015 in paleontology Wikipedia
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