# 1996 in paleontology

Paleontology or palaeontology 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 1996.

## Plants
### Angiosperms

| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Type locality | Location | Notes | Images |
| Palaeocarpinus aspinosa | Sp nov | Valid | Manchester & Chen | Paleocene Middle Paleocene | Fort Union Formation | USA Wyoming | A betulaceous fruit | |
| Palaeocarpinus orientalis | Sp nov | Valid | Manchester & Guo | Paleocene | Wulungu Depression | China | A betulaceous fruit | |

## Arthropods
### Newly named crustaceans

| Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
| Cancer (Metacarcinus) starri | Valid | Berglund & Goedert | Early Miocene | Clallam & Pysht Formations | USA ( Washington) | A crab | |

### Newly named insects

| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
| Allopetalia europaea | Sp nov | Jr synonym | Nel, Arillo, & Martínez-Delclòs | Messinian | | France | An Aeshnid dragonfly. Moved to Boyeria europaea in 1997 | Boyeria europaea |
| Burmomyrma rossi | Gen et sp. nov | Valid | Dlussky | Late Aptian to Early Cenomanian | Burmese amber | Myanmar | A possible Aneuretin ant | Burmomyrma rossi |
| Cerdanyagrion | Gen et sp nov | valid | Nel, Arillo, & Martínez-Delclòs | Vallesian/Turolian | | Spain | A Megapodagrionid damselfly | Cerdanyagrion miocenicus |
| Haidomyrmex cerberus | Gen et sp. nov | Valid | Dlussky | Late Aptian to Early Cenomanian | Burmese amber | Myanmar | A Sphecomyrmin ant | Haidomyrmex cerberus |
| Somatochlora brisaci | Sp nov | Valid | Nel, Arillo, & Martínez-Delclòs | Turolian | Montagne d'Andance | France | A Corduliid dragonfly | Somatochlora brisaci |
| Sympetrum cantalensis | Sp nov | Valid | Nel, Arillo, & Martínez-Delclòs | Messinian | | France | A Libellulid dragonfly | Sympetrum cantalensis |
| Vulcagrion | Gen et comb et 2 sp nov | valid | Nel, Arillo, & Martínez-Delclòs | Messinian | | France | A Megapodagrionid damselfly, three species | Vulcagrion andancensis |

## Fish
### Cartilaginous fish
#### Research

* Duffin et al (1996) describes chondrichthyan remains from the Itaituba Formation of the Amazon Basin of Brazil and deems Anachronistes to be a junior synonym of Cooleyella.

#### New taxa

| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
| Bransonella lingulata | Sp nov | Valid | Ivanov & Ginter | Early Carboniferous (Serpukhovian) | Kalinovskie Vyselki Quarry | Russia | A xenacanth | |
| Cooleyella amazonensis | Sp nov | Valid | Duffin et. al. | Late Carboniferous | Itaituba Formation | Brazil | A anachronistid | |

## Amphibians
### Temnospondyls

| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
| Tatrasuchus | Gen et sp nov | Valid | Maryańska & Shishkin | Middle Triassic | | Poland | A cyclotosaurid | |

## Plesiosaurs
### New taxa

| Name | Status | Authors | Location | Notes | Images |
| Pachycostasaurus | Valid | Cruickshank Martill | UK | | |
| Plesiopleurodon | Valid | Carpenter | USA ( Wyoming) | The Last of the Pliosaurs. | Plesiopleurodon |
| Thalassiodracon | Valid | Storrs Taylor | UK | | Thalassiodracon |

## Dinosaurs

* In the summer excavation resumed on the Talkeetna Mountains Hadrosaur, discovered in a quarry near the Glenn Highway, approximately 150 miles northeast of Anchorage.

### Newly named dinosaurs

Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.
| Name | Status | Authors | Authors | Location | Images |
| "Angaturama'" | Junior synonym of Irritator | Kellner | Campos | | |
| Bagaraatan | Valid taxon | Halszka Osmólska | | Mongolia | |
| Deltadromeus | Valid taxon | Paul Sereno Duthiel Iarochene Larsson | Lyon Magwene Sidor Varricchio Jeffrey A. Wilson. | Egypt  Morocco | Deltadromeus |
| Gasparinisaura | Valid taxon | Rodolfo Coria | Salgado | Argentina | Gasparinisaura |
| Irritator | Valid taxon | Martill Cruickshank Frey | Small M. Clarke | Brazil | Irritator |
| Ligabueino | Valid taxon | Jose Bonaparte | | Argentina | |
| "Jensenosaurus" | Junior synonym of Supersaurus | George Olshevsky vide: B. D. Curtice Stadtman | L. J. Curtice, | | Supersaurus |
| "Luanpingosaurus" | Junior synonym of Psittacosaurus | Cheng Zhengwu vide: Chen P. Cheng Zhengwu | et al. | | |
| "Magulodon" | Nomen nudum | Kranz Cheng Zhengwu | et al. | | |
| Neovenator | Valid taxon | Hutt Martill | Barker | UK | Neovenator |
| Parvicursor | Valid taxon | Karhu | Rautian | Mongolia | |
| Patagonykus | Valid taxon | Novas | | Argentina | Patagonykus |
| Pawpawsaurus | Valid taxon | Lee | | USA ( Texas) | |
| Pellegrinisaurus | Valid taxon | Salgado | | Argentina |
| Qinlingosaurus | Valid taxon | Xue Zhang Y. X. Bi | Yue Chen D. | China | |
| Rayososaurus | Valid taxon | Jose Bonaparte | | Argentina |
| Shanyangosaurus | Valid taxon | Xue Zhang Y. X. Bi | Yue Chen D. | China | |
| Siamotyrannus | Valid taxon | Buffetaut Suteethorn | Tong | Thailand | |
| Sigilmassasaurus | Valid taxon | Dale A. Russell | | Morocco | |
| Sinosauropteryx | Valid taxon | Ji Q. | Ji S. | China | Sinosauropteryx |

## Birds
### Newly named birds

| Name | Novelt | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes |
| Anas ganii | Sp. nov. | Valid | Nikolay I. Burchak-Abramovich K. L. Sushpanov A. L. David | Late Early Pleistocene | | Moldova | An Anatidae. |
| Anas marecula | Sp. nov. | Valid | Storrs L. Olson Pierre Jouventin | Holocene | Amsterdam Island | French Southern and Antarctic Lands | An Anatidae. |
| Anhinga fraileyi | Sp. nov. | Valid | Kenneth E. Campbell, jr. | Late Miocene | Huayquerian | Peru | An Anhingidae. |
| "Branta" minor | Valid | Eugen Kessler Erika Gal | Late Miocene | MN 9 | | Moldova | An Aves Incertae Sedis, it is not an Anatidae. |
| Copepteryx hexeris | Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. | Valid | Storrs L. Olson Yoshikazu Hasegawa | Late Oligocene | Ainoshima Formation | Japan | A Pelecaniformes, Plotopteridae Howard, 1969, this is the type species of the new genus. |
| Copepteryx titan | Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. | Valid | Storrs L. Olson Yoshikazu Hasegawa | Late Oligocene | Ainoshima Formation | Japan | A Pelecaniformes, Plotopteridae Howard, 1969. |
| Eoalulavis hoyasi | Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. | Valid | José L. Sanz Luis M. Chiappe Bernardo P. Pérez-Moreno Angela D. Buscaliono José J. Moratalla Francisco Ortega Francisco J. Poyato-Ariza | Early Cretaceous | Neocomian | Spain:  Castilla-La Mancha | An Ornithothoraces Chiappe & Calvo, 1994, Enantiornithes. Walker, 1981, this is the type species of the new genus. |
| Nanantius valifanovi | Sp. nov. | Valid | Evgeny N. Kurochkin | Late Cretaceous | Late Campanian | Mongolia | An Enantiornithes Walker, 1981, Alexornithidae Brodkorb, 1976, Gobipteryginae Elzanowski, 1974. |
| Nandayus vorohuensis | Sp. nov. | Valid | Eduardo P. Tonni Jorge Noriega | Late Pliocene | Orohué Formation | Argentina | A Psittacidae. |
| Otis bessarabicus | Sp. nov. | Valid | Eugen Kessler Erika Gal | Late Miocene | MN 9 | Moldova | An Otididae. |
| Struthio coppensi | Sp. nov. | Valid | Cécile Mourer-Chauviré Brigitte Senut Martin Pickford Pierre Mein | Early Miocene | Karingarab | Namibia | A Struthionidae. |
| ?Tringa grigorescui | Sp. nov. | Valid | Eugen Kessler Erika Gal | Middle Miocene | MN 8 | Romania | A Scolopacidae, not sure it is a Tringa. |
| Vorona berivotrensis | Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. | Valid | Catharine A. Forster Luis M. Chiappe David W. Krause Scott D. Sampson | Late Cretaceous | Campanian, Maevarano Formation | Madagascar | An Ornithothoraces Chiappe et Calvo, 1994 . |

## Pterosaurs
### New taxa

| Name | Status | Authors | Authors | Location | Notes |
| Kepodactylus | Valid | Harris, J.D. Carpenter | | USA ( Colorado) | |

## Fossil eggs
### New ootaxa

| Name | Status | Authors | Location | Notes |
| Dispersituberoolithus | Valid | Zelenitsky et al. | Canada ( Alberta) | Probably laid by a primitive neognath. |
| Gobioolithus | Valid | Mikhailov | | Formerly called "Gobipteryx eggs", though they are not presently considered to be eggs of Gobipteryx. |

## Synapsids
### Mammals
#### New taxa

| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Type locality | Country | Notes | Images |
| Stenoplesictis indigenus | Sp. nov | Jr synonym | Dashzeveg | Late Eocene | Ergilin Dzo Formation | Mongolia | Moved to the genus Alagtsavbaatar in 2016 | |
| Stenoplesictis simplex | Sp. nov | Jr synonym | Dashzeveg | Late Eocene | Ergilin Dzo Formation | Mongolia | Deemed a junior synonym of Asiavorator gracilis in 2016 | |

## Footnotes

* Paleontology portal
* ↑ 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.
* ↑ Sun, F.; Stockey, R.A. (1992). "A new species of Palaeocarpinus (Betulaceae) based on infructescences, fruits, and associated staminate inflorescences and leaves from the Paleocene of Alberta, Canada". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 153 (1): 136–146. doi:10.1086/297015.
* ↑ Manchester, S.R.; Guo, S.-X. (1996). "Palaeocarpinus (extinct Betulaceae) from northwestern China: new evidence for Paleocene floristic continuity between Asia, North America, and Europe". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 157 (2): 240–246. doi:10.1086/297343.
* ↑ Berglund, R.E.; Goedert J.L. (1996). "A new crab (Brachyura: Cancridae) from Lower Miocene rocks of the Northwestern Olympic Peninsula, Washington". Journal of Paleontology. 70 (5): 830–835. doi:10.1017/S0022336000023866. JSTOR 1306484. S2CID 132189245.
* 1 2 3 4 Nel, A.; Arillo, A.; Martínez-Delclòs, X. (1996). "New fossil Odonata (Insecta) from the upper Miocene of France and Spain (Anisoptera and Zygoptera)". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. 199 (2): 167–219. doi:10.1127/njgpa/199/1996/167.
* ↑ Dlussky, G. M. (1996). "Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Burmese amber" (PDF). Paleontological Journal. 30 (4): 449–454. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-04-23. Retrieved 2013-10-22.
* ↑ Barden, P.; Grimaldi, D. (2012). "Rediscovery of the bizarre Cretaceous ant Haidomyrmex Dlussky (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with two new species" (PDF). American Museum Novitates (3755): 1–16. doi:10.1206/3755.2. hdl:2246/6368. S2CID 83598305. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-04-23. Retrieved 2013-10-22.
* 1 2 Duffin, Christopher J.; Richter, Martha; Neis, Pedro Alfredo (1996). "Shark remains from the Late Carboniferous of the Amazon Basin, Brazil". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Monatshefte. 1996 (4): 232. doi:10.1127/njgpm/1996/1996/232. ISSN 0028-3630.
* ↑ Ivanov, Alexander; Ginter, Michal (January 1996). "Early carboniferous xenacanthids (chondrichthyes) from eastern Europe". Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France. 167 (5): 651–656.
* ↑ Teresa Maryańska; Mikhail A. Shishkin (1996). "New cyclotosaurid (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) from the Middle Triassic of Poland and some problems of interrelationships of capitosauroids". Prace Muzeum Ziemi. 43: 53–83.
* ↑ "Location and Geologic Setting," in Pasche and May (2001); page 220.
* ↑ Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Archived from the original on March 8, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2008.
* ↑ Kellner, A.W.A., D. de A. Campos. 1996. First Early Cretaceous theropod dinosaur from Brazil with comments on Spinosauridae. Neues Jahrbuch Geol. Palaontol. Abhandlungen Stuttgart 199 (2): pp. 151-166.
* ↑ Osmolska, H. 1996. An unusual theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 41 (1): pp. 1-38.
* ↑ Sereno, P.C.; Dutheil, D.B.; Iarochene, M.; Larsson, H.C.E.; Lyon, G.H.; Magwene, P.M.; Sidor, C.A.; Varricchio, D.J.; Wilson, J.A. (1996). "Predatory dinosaurs from the Sahara and Late Cretaceous faunal differentiation" (PDF). Science. 272 (5264): 986–991. Bibcode:1996Sci...272..986S. doi:10.1126/science.272.5264.986. PMID 8662584. S2CID 39658297.
* ↑ Coria, R.A. and L. Salgado. 1996. A Basal Iguanodontian (Ornithischia: Ornithopoda) from the Late Cretaceous of South America. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 16 (3): pp. 445-457.
* ↑ Martill, D.M.; Cruickshank, A.R.I.; Frey, E.; Small, P.G.; Clarke, M. (1996). "A new crested maniraptoran dinosaur from the Santana Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil" (PDF). Journal of the Geological Society. 153 (1): 5–8. Bibcode:1996JGSoc.153....5M. doi:10.1144/gsjgs.153.1.0005. S2CID 131339386.
* 1 2 Bonaparte, J.F. (1996). "Cretaceous tetrapods of Argentina". Münchner Geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen (A). 30: 73–130.
* ↑ Olshevsky vide Curtice, B.D., K.L. Stadtman, and L.J. Curtice. 1996. A reassessment of Ultrasauros Macintoshi (Jensen, 1985). The continental Jurassic (M. Morales, ed.). Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin 60: pp. 87-95.
* ↑ Kranz, P.M. (1996). "Notes on the Sedimentary Iron Ores of Maryland and their Dinosaurian Fauna". Maryland Geological Survey Special Publication. 3: 87–116.
* ↑ Hutt, S., D.M. Martill, and M.J. Barker. 1996. The first European allosaurid dinosaur (Lower Cretaceous, Wealden Group, England). N. Jb. Geol. Paläont. Mh. 10: pp. 635-644.
* ↑ Karhu, A.A.; Rautian, A.S. (1996). "A new family of Maniraptora (Dinosauria: Saurischia) from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia". Paleontological Journal. 30 (5): 583–592.
* ↑ Novas, F.E. (1996). "Alvarezsauridae, Cretaceous basal birds from Patagonia and Mongolia". Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. 39 (3): 675–702.
* ↑ Lee, Y.-N. (1996). "A new nodosaurid ankylosaur (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Paw Paw Formation (Late Albian) of Texas". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 16 (2): 232–245. doi:10.1080/02724634.1996.10011311.
* ↑ Salgado, L (1997). "Pellegrinisaurus powelli nov. gen. et. sp. (Sauropoda, Titanosauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Lago Pellegrini, Northwestern Patagonia, Argentina". Ameghiniana. 33 (4): 355–365.
* 1 2 Xue, X., Y. Zhang, Y. Bi, L. Yue, and D. Chen. 1996. The development and environmental changes of the Intermontane Basins in the eastern part of Qinling Mountains. Geological Publishing House, Beijing: pp. 1-181.
* ↑ Buffetaut, E.; Suteethorn, V.; Tong, H. (1996). "The earliest known tyrannosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Thailand". Nature. 381 (6584): 689–691. Bibcode:1996Natur.381..689B. doi:10.1038/381689a0. S2CID 7350556.
* ↑ Russell, D.A. 1996. Isolated dinosaur bones from the Middle Cretaceous of the Tafilalt, Morocco. Museum Natl. d'Histoire Nat. (Paris) Bull. (ser. 4) 18 (Section C, Nos. 2-3) : pp. 349-402.
* ↑ Ji, Q.; Ji, S.-A. (1996). "On the discovery of the earliest bird fossil in China and the origin of birds". Chinese Geology. 233: 30–33.
* ↑ Nikolay I. Burchak-Abramovich; K. L. Sushpanov; A. L. David (1996). "Новый вид утки рода Anas позднего плиоцена Молдовы [A new species of the genus Anas duck from the Late Pliocene Moldova]". Bul. Acad. Ştiinţe Repub. Moldova. Şt. Biol. Chim. 1996. 1. С.: 38–42.
* ↑ Storrs L. Olson; Pierre Jouventin (1996). "A New Species of Small Flightless Duck from Amsterdam Island, Southern Indian Ocean (Anatidae: Anas)" (PDF). The Condor. 98 (1): 1–9. doi:10.2307/1369501. JSTOR 1369501.
* ↑ Kenneth E. Campbell, jr. (1996). "A New Species of Giant Anhinga (Aves: Pelecaniformes: Anhingidae) from the Upper Miocene (Huyquerian) of Amazonian Peru" (PDF). Museum of Natural History of Los Angeles County, Contributions in Science. 460: 1–9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-20. Retrieved 2014-08-07.
* 1 2 3 Eugen Kessler; Erika Gal (1996). "New Taxa in the Neogene Bird Fauna from Eastern Paratethys". Studia Universitatis Babeş-Bolyai - Studia Biologica. 41: 73–79.
* 1 2 Storrs L. Olson; Yoshikazu Hasegawa (1996). "A New Genus and Two New Species of Gigantic Plotopteridae from Japan (Aves: Pelecaniformes)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 16 (4): 742–751. doi:10.1080/02724634.1996.10011362.
* ↑ José L. Sanz; Luis M. Chiappe; Bernardo P. Pérez-Moreno; Angela D. Buscaliono; José J. Moratalla; Francisco Ortega; Francisco J. Poyato-Ariza (1996). "An Early Cretaceous Bird from Spain and Its Implications for the Evolution of Avian Flight" (PDF). Nature. 382 (6590): 442–445. Bibcode:1996Natur.382..442S. doi:10.1038/382442a0. S2CID 4284528.
* ↑ Evgeny N. Kurochkin (1996). "A New Enantiornithid of the Mongolian Late Cretaceous, and a General Appraisal of the Infraclass Enantiornithes". Palaeontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moskou. 1996: 1–60.
* ↑ Eduardo P. Tonni; Jorge Noriega (1996). "Uno Nova Especie de Nandayus Bonaparte, 1854. (Aves: Psittaciformes) del Plioceno Tardio de Argentina". Revista Chilena de Historia Natural. 69: 97–104.
* ↑ Cécile Mourer-Chauviré; Brigitte Senut; Martin Pickford; Pierre Mein (1996). "Le Plus Ancien Représentant de Genre Struthio (Aves, Struthionidae), Struthio coppensi n. sp. du Miocène Inférieur de Namibie". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Série IIA. 322 (1): 325–332.
* ↑ Catharine A. Forster; Luis M. Chiappe; David W. Krause; Scott D. Sampson (1996). "The First Cretaceous Bird from Madagascar". Nature. 382 (6591): 532–534. Bibcode:1996Natur.382..532F. doi:10.1038/382532a0. S2CID 4364184.
* ↑ Zelenitsky, D. K.; Hills, L. V.; Currie, P. J. (1996). "Parataxonomic classification of ornithoid eggshell fragments from the Oldman Formation (Judith River Group; Upper Cretaceous), southern Alberta". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 33 (12): 1655–1667. Bibcode:1996CaJES..33.1655Z. doi:10.1139/e96-126.
* ↑ Mikhailov, Konstantin (1996). "Bird Eggs in the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia". Paleontological Journal. 30 (1): 114–116.
* 1 2 Dashzėvėg, Dėmbėrėliĭn (1996). Some carnivorous mammals from the Paleogene of the eastern Gobi Desert, Mongolia, and the application of Oligocene carnivores to stratigraphic correlation. American Museum of Natural History Library. New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History.
* 1 2 Egi, Naoko; Tsubamoto, Takehisa; Saneyoshi, Mototaka; Tsogtbaatar, Khishigjav; Watabe, Mahito; Mainbayar, Buuvei; Chinzorig, Tsogtbaatar; Khatanbaatar, Purevdorg (2016-02-17). "Taxonomic revisions on nimravids and small feliforms (Mammalia, Carnivora) from the Upper Eocene of Mongolia". Historical Biology. 28 (1–2): 105–119. doi:10.1080/08912963.2015.1012508. ISSN 0891-2963. S2CID 86239933.