2003 in paleontology

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.^[1] 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 in the year 2003.

Arthropoda

New taxa

Dinosaurs

Newly named dinosaurs

Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list^[3] and Dr. Jeremy Montague's dinosaur genus database.^[4]

Name	Status	Authors		Notes	Images
“Abdallahsaurus”[5]	Nomen nudum.	Gerhard Maier		Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Giraffatitan or Brachiosaurus	Heyuannia Hongshanosaurus Isisaurus Olorotitan Olorotitan Rajasaurus Rinconsaurus Zalmoxes Zalmoxes
“Blancocerosaurus”[6]	Nomen nudum.	Gerhard Maier		Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Giraffatitan or Brachiosaurus
Amazonsaurus[7]	Valid taxon	Carvalho Avilla	Salgado
Antetonitrus[8]	Valid taxon	Yates	Kitching
Aviatyrannis[9]	Valid taxon	Rauhut
Bainoceratops[10]	Valid taxon	Tereschenko	Alifanov
Brohisaurus	Valid taxon	Malkani
Colepiocephale[11]	Valid taxon	Sullivan
"Domeykosaurus"	Nomen nudum	Rubilar-Rogers and Vargas vide:	Anonymous in May 29, 2003 Reuters news reports.
Dromaeosauroides[12]	Valid taxon	Christiansen	Bonde
Equijubus[13]	Valid taxon	You Luo Shubin	Witmer Tang Z. Tang F.
Ferganasaurus[14]	Valid taxon	Alifanov	Averianov
Fukuisaurus[15]	Valid taxon	Kobayashi	Azuma
Gobititan[16]	Valid taxon	You Tang F.	Luo
"Godzillasaurus"	Misspelling of Gojirasaurus	Ikejiri
Hanssuesia[17]	Valid taxon	Sullivan
Heyuannia[18]	Valid taxon	Lü
Hongshanosaurus[19]	Valid taxon	You Xu X.	Wang X.
Isisaurus[20]	Valid taxon	Jeffrey A. Wilson.	Upchurch
“Issasaurus”[5]		Gerhard Maier		Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Dicraeosaurus
Lamaceratops[21]	Valid taxon	Alifanov
“Ligomasaurus”[5]		Gerhard Maier		Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Giraffatitan or Brachiosaurus
Lusotitan[22]	Valid taxon	Antunes	Mateus
Magnirostris[23]	Valid taxon	You	Dong Zhiming
"Medusaceratops"	Nomen ex dissertatione; later named Albertaceratops	Ryan
Mendozasaurus[24]	Valid taxon	González-Riga (as González Riga)
“Mohammadisaurus”[5]	Nomen nudum.	Gerhard Maier		Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Tornieria
“Mtapaiasaurus”[5]	Nomen nudum.	Gerhard Maier		Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Giraffatitan or Brachiosaurus
“Mtotosaurus”[5]	Nomen nudum.	Gerhard Maier		Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Dicraeosaurus
“Nteregosaurus”[5]	Nomen nudum.	Gerhard Maier		Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Janenschia
“Nyororosaurus”[5]		Gerhard Maier		Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Dicraeosaurus
Olorotitan[25]	Valid taxon	Godefroit Bolotsky	Alifanov
Platyceratops[21]	Valid taxon	Alifanov
Rajasaurus[26]	Valid taxon	Jeffrey A. Wilson. Sereno Srivastava Bhatt	Khosla Sahni
Rinconsaurus[27]	Valid taxon	Calvo	González-Riga (as González Riga)
“Salimosaurus”[5]	Nomen nudum.	Gerhard Maier		Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Giraffatitan or Brachiosaurus
“Selimanosaurus”[5]	Nomen nudum.	Gerhard Maier		Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Dicraeosaurus
Serendipaceratops[28]	Valid taxon	T. Rich	Vickers-Rich
Shenzhousaurus[29]	Valid taxon	Ji Q. Mark Norell Makovicky	Gao K. Ji S. Yuan
Shuangmiaosaurus[30]	Valid taxon	You Ji Q.	Li J. Li Y. X.
Silesaurus[31]	Valid taxon	Dzik
Sinornithomimus[32]	Valid taxon	Kobayashi	Lü
Sphaerotholus[33]	Possible junior synonym of Prenocephale	Williamson	Carr
“Wangonisaurus”[5]	Nomen nudum.	Gerhard Maier		Nomen nudum; possibly a junior synonym of Giraffatitan or Brachiosaurus
Yixianosaurus[34]	Valid taxon	Xu X.	Wang X.
Zalmoxes[35]	Valid taxon	Weishampel Jianu	Csiki Norman
Zupaysaurus[36]	Valid taxon	Arcucci	Coria

Plesiosaurs

New taxa

Pterosaurs

New taxa

Synapsids

Non-mammalian

Fungi

newly named

Plants

Conifers

Angiosperms

Name	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Corylus johnsonii[47]	Valid	Pigg Manchester Wehr	Ypresian	Tom Thumb Tuff, Klondike Mountain Formation	USA		Corylus johnsonii

References

Paleontology portal

1. ^ Newman, Garfield, et al (2001). Echoes from the past: world history to the 16th century. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. ISBN 0-07-088739-X. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Engel, Michael S.; Archibald, S. Bruce (2003). abstract "An Early Eocene bee (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) from Quilchena, British Columbia". The Canadian Entomologist 135: 63–69. doi:10.4039/n02-030. http://pubs.esc-sec.ca/doi/abs/10.4039/n02-030?journalCode=ent abstract. 
3. ^ Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". http://www.polychora.com/dinolist.html. Retrieved 2008-08-07. 
4. ^ Montague, Jeremy. "Dr. Montague's Database". http://www.barry.edu/bio300/pdf/montague%20dino%20web%20data%2012-3-2005.pdf. Retrieved 2008-10-29. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Maier, G. 2003. African dinosaurs unearthed: the Tendaguru expeditions. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IA (512 pages).
6. ^ Maier, G. 1997. Tendaguru. In: Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs (J.Currie and K.Padian, eds.). Academic Press, San Diego, California/London, UK: pp.725-726.
7. ^ de Souza Carvalho, I., L. dos Santos Avilla, and L. Salgado. 2003. Amazonsaurus maranhensis gen. et sp. nov. (Sauropoda, Diplodocoidea) from the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian–Albian) of Brazil. Cretaceous Research 24 (6): pp. 697-713.
8. ^ Yates, A.M. and J.W. Kitching. 2003. The earliest known sauropod dinosaur and the first steps towards sauropod locomotion. Proceedings: Biological Sciences DOI 10.1098/rspb. 2003: p. 2417 (Antetonitrus ingenipes).
9. ^ Rauhut, O.W.M. 2003. A tyrannosauroid dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal Palaeontology 46 (5): p. 903.
10. ^ Tereschenko, V.S. and V.R. Alifanov. 2003. Bainoceratops efremovi, a New Protoceratopid Dinosaur (Protoceratopidae, Neoceratopsia) from the Bain-Dzak Locality (South Mongolia). Abstract in: Paleontological Journal 37: p. 3.
11. ^ Sullivan, R.M. 2003. Revision of the dinosaur Stegoceras Lambe (Ornithischia, Pachycephalosauridae): Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23 (1): pp. 181-207.
12. ^ Christiansen, P. N. Bonde. 2003. The first dinosaur from Denmark. Neues Jahrbuch der Geologie und Paläontologie Abhandlungen 227 (2): pp. 287–299.
13. ^ You. H.L., Z.-X. Luo, N.H. Shubin, L.M. Witmer, Z.- L. Tang, and F. Tang. 2003. The earliest-known duck-billed dinosaur from deposits of late Early Cretaceous age in northwest China and hadrosaur evolution. Cretaceous Research 24 (2003): pp. 347–355.
14. ^ Alifanov, V.R. and A.O. Averianov. 2003. Ferganasaurus verzilini gen. et sp. nov., a new neosauropod (Dinosauria, Saurischia, Sauropoda) from the Middle Jurassic of Fergana Valley, Kirghizia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23 (2): pp. 358-372.
15. ^ Kobayashi, Y., and Y. Azuma. 2003. A new iguanodontian (Dinosauria: ornithopoda) from the Lower Cretaceous Kitadani Formation of Fukui Prefecture, Japan. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23 (1): pp. 166-175.
16. ^ You, H.-L., F. Tang, and Z.-X. Luo. 2003. A New Basal Titanosaur (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Early Cretaceous of China. Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition) 77 (4): pp. 424-429.
17. ^ Sullivan, R.M. 2003. Revision of the dinosaur Stegoceras Lambe (Ornithischia, Pachycephalosauridae). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23 (1): pp. 181-207.
18. ^ Lu, J. [2002 / 2003]. A new oviraptorosaurid (Theropoda: Oviraptorosauria) from the Late Cretaceous of southern China. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 22 (4): pp. 871-875.
19. ^ You, H.L., X. Xu, and X.-L. Wang. 2003. A new genus of Psittacosauridae (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) and the origin and early evolution of marginocephalian dinosaurs. Acta Geologica Sinica 77 (1):pp. 15-20.
20. ^ Wilson, J.A. and P. Upchurch. 2003. A revision of Titanosaurus Lydekker (Dinosauria- Sauropoda), the first dinosaur genus with a "Gondwanan" distribution. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 1 (3).
21. ^ ^{a b} Alifanov, V.R. 2003. Two new dinosaurs of the infraorder neoceratopsia (Ornithischia) from the Upper Cretaceous of the Nemegt Depression, Mongolian People's Republic. Paleontological Journal 37 (5): pp. 524-534.
22. ^ Telles Antunes, M. and O. Mateus. 2003. Dinosaurs of Portugal. Comptes Rendus Palevol. 2: pp. 77-95.
23. ^ You, H.-L. and Z. Dong. 2003. A new Protoceratopsid (Dinosauria: Neoceratopsia) from the Late Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia, China. Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition) 77 (3): pp. 299-303.
24. ^ González Riga, B.J. 2003. A new titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Mendoza Province, Argentina. Ameghiniana 40 (2): pp. 155-172.
25. ^ Godefroit, P., Y. Bolotsky, and V. Alifanov. 2003. A remarkable hollow-crested hadrosaur from Russia: an Asian origin for lambeosaurines. C. R. Palevol 2 (2): pp. 143–151.
26. ^ Wilson, J.A., P.C. Sereno, S. Srivastava, D.K. Bhatt, A. Khosla, and A. Sahni. 2003. A new abelisaurid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Lameta Formation (Cretaceous, Maastrichtian) of India. Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology [University of Michigan] 31 (1): pp. 1- 42.
27. ^ Calvo, J.O. and B.J.G. Gonzalez Riga. 2003. Rinconsaurus caudamirus gen. et sp nov., a new titanosaurid (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina. Revista Geologica de Chile 30 (2): pp. 333-353.
28. ^ Rich, T.H. and P. Vickers-Rich. 2003. Protoceratopsian? ulnae from the Early Cretaceous of Australia. Records of the Queen Victoria Museum no. 113.
29. ^ Ji Q., M.A. Norell, P.J. Makovicky, K.-Q Gao, S.-A. Ji, and C. Yuan. 2003. An early ostrich dinosaur and implications for ornithomimosaur phylogeny. Amer. Mus. Novitates 3420: pp. 1-19.
30. ^ You H.L., Q. Ji, J.L. Li J., and Y.X. Li. 2003. A new hadrosauroid dinosaur from the mid- Cretaceous of Liaoning, China. Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition) 77 (2): pp. 148-154.
31. ^ Dzik, J. 2003. A beaked herbivorous archosaur with dinosaur affinities from the early Late Triassic of Poland. J. Vert. Paleontol. 23 (3): pp. 556-574.
32. ^ Kobayashi, Y., and J.-C. Lu. 2003. A new ornithomimid dinosaur with gregarious habits from the Late Cretaceous of China. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 48 (2): pp. 235-259.
33. ^ Willamson, T.E., and T.D. Carr. 2003. A new genus of derived pachycephalosaurian from western North America. J. Vert. Paleontol. 22 (4): pp. 779-801.
34. ^ Xu, X. and X.-L. Wang. 2003. A new maniraptorian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Western Liaoning. Vertebrate Palasiatica Vol. 41 (3): pp. 195-202.
35. ^ Weishampel, D.B., C.-M. Jianu, Z. Csiki, and D.B. Norman. 2003. Osteology and phylogeny of Zalmoxes (n.g.), an unusual euornithopod dinosaur from the latest Cretaceous of Romania. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 1 (2): pp. 65- 123.
36. ^ Arucci, A. B., and Coria, R. A., 2003, A new Triassic carnivorous dinosaur from Argentina: Ameghiniana, v. 40, n. 2, p. 217-228.
37. ^ Reisz, R.R. & Dilkes, D.W. (2003). "Archaeovenator hamiltonensis, a new varanopid from the upper carboniferous of Kansas". Canadian Journal of Earth Science 40: 667–678. doi:10.1139/e02-063. 
38. ^ ^{a b} Bonaparte, J.F., Martinelli, A.G., Schultz, C.L. & Rubert, R. (2003). "The sister group of mammals: small cynodonts from the Late Triassic of southern Brazil". Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia 5: 5–27. 
39. ^ Rubidge, B.S. and Kitching, J.W. (2003). "A new burnetiamorph (Theraspida: Biarmosuchia) from the Lower Beaufort Group of South Africa". Palaeontology 46 (1): 199–210. 
40. ^ Modesto, S.P.; Rubidge, B.S.; Visser, I. & Welman, J. (2003). "A new basal dicynodont from the Upper Permian of South Africa". Palaeontology 46 (1): 211–223. 
41. ^ Modesto, S.P.; Rubidge, B.S. & Welman, J. (2003). "A new dicynodont therapsid from the lowermost Beaufort Group, Upper Permian of South Africa". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 39 (12): 1755–1765. 
42. ^ Modesto, S.P.; Rubidge, B.S. & Welman, J. (2003). "Erratum: A replacement name for Lanthanocephalus Modesto, Rubidge and Welman 2002, not Lanthanocephalus Williams and Starmer 2000". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 40 (3): 467. 
43. ^ Abdala, F. and Ribeiro, A.M. (2003). "A new traversodontid cynodont from the Santa Maria Formation (Ladinian-Carnian) of southern Brazil, with a phylogenetic analysis of Gondwanan traversodontids". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 139: 529–545. 
44. ^ Liu, J. & Li, J.-L. (2003). "A new material of kannemeyerid from Xinjiang and the restudy of Parakannemeyeria brevirostris". Vertebrata PalAsiatica 41 (2): 147–156. 
45. ^ hibbet, D.S.; et al (2003). "Another Fossil Agaric from Dominican Amber". Mycologia 95 (4): 685–687. doi:10.2307/3761943. JSTOR 3761943. PMID 21148976. 
46. ^ ^{a b} Kotyk, M.E.A.; Basinger, J.F. (2003). "Early Tertiary Chamaecyparis Spach from Axel Heiberg Island, Canadian High Arctic". Canadian Journal of Botany 81: 113–130. doi:10.1139/B03-007. 
47. ^ Pigg, K.B.; Manchester S.R. & Wehr W.C. (2003). "Corylus, Carpinus, and Palaeocarpinus (Betulaceae) from the Middle Eocene Klondike Mountain and Allenby Formations of Northwestern North America". International Journal of Plant Sciences 164 (5): 807–822.