1981 in paleontology

List of years in paleontology
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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 or were published in the year 1981.

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	A Amblyoponin ant. jr synonym of Casaleia inversa

Archosauromorpha

Newly named dinosaurs

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

Name	Status	Authors		Notes	Images
Avimimus[5]	Valid taxon	Sergei Kurzanov			Avimimus Barsboldia "Ingenia" Muttaburrasaurus Scutellosaurus
Barsboldia[6]	Valid taxon	Teresa Maryańska	Halszka Osmólska
Elmisaurus[7]	Valid taxon	Halszka Osmólska
Garudimimus[8]	Valid taxon	Rinchen Barsbold
"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
Palaeopteryx[10]	Valid taxon	Jim Jenson
Scutellosaurus[11]	Valid taxon	Colbert

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	USSR:  Ukraine	A Falconidae.
Gavia paradoxa [15]	Valid	Sp. nov.	A. S. Umanskaya	Late Miocene	MN 11-13	USSR:  Ukraine	A Gaviidae.
Ioriotis gabunii [16]	Valid	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Nikolay I. Burchak-Abramovich Abesalom K. Vekua	Late Pliocene	Kvabebi	USSR:  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	USSR:  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		USSR:  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	USSR:  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
Kimmerosaurus	Valid	Brown		Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian	Kimmeridge Clay	UK	A cryptoclidid.

Pterosaurs

New taxa

Name	Status	Authors		Notes
Comodactylus	Valid	Galton
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. 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. 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: 785.
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. 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.
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’Academie des Sciences Paris series 2 293: 235–239.