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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 2003.
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sp nov |
Valid |
Kotyk, Basinger, & McIlver |
the oldest confirmed species of Chamaecyparis[2] |
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Tsuga swedaea[3] |
Sp nov |
Valid |
LePage |
A hemlock species |
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Araripia florifera[4] |
Gen et sp |
Valid |
Mohr & Eklund |
|||||
Sp nov |
Valid |
Pigg, Manchester, & Wehr |
A hornbeam |
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Sp nov |
Valid |
Pigg, Manchester, & Wehr |
A hazelnut |
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Palaeocarpinus barksdaleae[5] |
Sp nov |
Valid |
Pigg, Manchester, & Wehr |
A betulaceous fruit |
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Palaeocarpinus dentatus[5] |
Comb nov |
Valid |
"Stump lake", Coldwater Beds |
A betulaceous fruit; |
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Palaeocarpinus stonebergae[5] |
Sp nov |
Valid |
Pigg, Manchester, & Wehr |
A betulaceous fruit |
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Pseudosalix[6] |
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Boucher, Manchester, & Judd |
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cratonia cotyledon[7] |
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Rydin, Mohr, & Friis |
A relative to Welwetschia |
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Get et sp nov |
Valid |
Hibbett et al |
An agaricalean fungus |
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cornupalpatum[9] |
Gen et sp nov |
valid |
Poinar & Brown |
An Ixodid hard tick |
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Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Archimyrmex piatnitzkyi[10] |
Comb nov. |
vaild |
(Viana & Haedo Rossi) |
Ventana Formation |
A myrmeciine ant. |
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Comb nov. |
valid |
(Rossi de Garcia) |
Ventana Formation |
A myrmeciine ant. |
||||
Subfam. Gen. et Sp. nov |
Valid |
Bolton |
A stem group ant, type species B. clavata |
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Sp. nov |
valid |
Engel & Archibald |
first apoid bee fossil described from Canada |
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Lasioglossum celinae[13] |
Sp. nov |
Valid |
Nel & Petrulevicius |
Dauphin |
A sweat bee |
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Gen et sp nov |
Jr synonym |
Nel & Petrulevicius |
Aquitanian |
Bes-Konak |
An apine bee, |
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Sp nov |
valid |
Makarkin & Archibald |
An ithionid giant lacewing |
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Paraelectrobombus[13] |
Gen et sp nov |
Jr synonym |
Nel & Petrulevicius |
Aquitanian |
Bes-Konak |
Described as an Electrobombini bee |
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sp nov |
synonym |
A snakefly. |
||||||
Sp. nov |
valid |
Engel & Archibald |
Coldwater beds, Princeton Group |
A Hemerobiinae lacewing |
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Xylocopa celineae[13] |
Sp nov |
valid |
Nel & Petrulevicius |
Camoins-les-Bains |
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German paleontologist and stratigrapher Heinz Walter Kozur (1942-2013) described the conodont genus Carnepigondolella.
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid |
This was one of the largest herbivores of their time |
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Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.[18]
Name | Status | Novelty | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Amanuensis pickfordi [50] |
Gen. et sp. nov |
valid |
Middle Miocene |
A Sagittariidae, relative of the secretarybird. The type species of Amanuensis Mourer-Chauviré, 2003. |
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Valid |
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Bonnie E. Gulas-Wroblewski Anton F.-J. Wroblewski |
Middle Eocene |
|
The type species of Amitabha Gulas-Wroblewski & Wroblewski, 2003. Placed in crown Galliformes, but only compared with Phasianidae, not with other Eocene birds from North America. |
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Anhinga minuta [52] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Herculano M. F. de Alvarenga Edson Guilherme |
Huayquerian-Montehermosian, Solimõas Formation |
An Anhingidae. |
|||
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Vitilevu |
A Scolopacidae. |
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Diomedea tanakai [54] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Paul G. Davis |
Late Early Miocene |
A Diomedeidae. |
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Eoeurypyga olsoni [55] |
Nomen Nudum |
Thesis name. |
Ilka Weidig |
Early Eocene |
|
A Eurypygidae. |
||
Falco umanskajae [56] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Denis V. Sobolev |
A Falconidae. |
||||
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Graham M. Wragg |
Late Pleistocene-Holocene |
A Columbidae. |
||||
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Subresent |
|
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Macranhinga ranzii [52] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Herculano M. F. de Alvarenga Edson Guilherme |
Huayquerian-Montehermosian |
An Anhingidae. |
|||
Milvago carbo [59] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
William Suárez Duque |
Quaternary, possibly Late Pleistocene or Early Holocene |
Las Breas de San Felipe |
A Falconidae. |
||
Morus peruvianus [60] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Marcelo Stucchi |
A Sulidae. |
||||
Gen. et sp. nov |
valid |
Middle Miocene |
Initially thought to be an Idiornithidae, Cariamiformes but in 2011 reinterpreted as an Opisthocomidae, a relative of the hoatzin.[61] The type species of Namibiavis Mourer-Chauviré, 2003. |
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Valid |
Sp. nov. |
W. R. P. Bourne N. P. Ashmole K. E. L. Simmons |
Subrecent |
An Ardeidae. |
||||
Palaeogrus mainburgensis [63] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Ursula B. Göhlich |
Upper Freshwater Molasse |
A Gruidae. |
|||
Parargornis messelensis [64] |
Valid |
Gen. nov et Sp. nov. |
Early Middle Eocene |
An Apodiformes, Cypselavidae Mourer-Chauviré, 2006. |
||||
Shandongornis yinansis [65] |
Valid |
Gen. nov et Sp. nov. |
Hou Lianhai |
A Phasianidae. |
||||
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Steven D. Emslie Carlos Guerra Correa |
Mejillones Formation |
A Spheniscidae. |
||||
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Marcello Stucchi Mario Urbina Alfredo Giraldo |
Late Miocene |
A Spheniscidae. |
||||
Sula magna [60] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Marcello Stucchi |
A Sulidae. |
||||
Sula sulita [60] |
Valid |
Sp. nov. |
Marcello Stucchi |
A Sulidae. |
||||
Wyomingcypselus pohli [55] |
Nomen Nudum |
Thesis name. |
Ilka Weidig |
Early Eocene |
|
An Apodiformes. |
|
|
|
Name | Status | Authors | Discovery year | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid |
|
Upper Carboniferous |
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Valid |
|
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Valid |
|
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Valid |
|
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Valid |
|
Upper/Middle Permian |
an anomodont | |||||
Valid |
|
Middle/Upper Permian |
an anomodont; replacement name for Lanthanocephalus Modesto, Rubidge & Welman, 2002, preoccupied by the cnidarian genus Lanthanocephalus Williams & Starmer, 2000[73] | |||||
Valid |
|
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Valid |
|
Middle Triassic |
an anomodont; new genus for "Parakannemeyeria" brevirostris |
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Caracal depereti[76] |
Sp nov |
Disputed |
Morales et al. |
Pliocene |
A Caracal. Boscaini et al. (2016) considered this species to be a junior synonym of Lynx issiodorensis.[77] |
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Guangxicyon[78] | Gen. et sp. nov. | Valid | Zhai et al. | Eocene | Nadu Formation | ![]() |
An amphicyonid. | |
Iridodon[79] |
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Morlo & Gunnell |
A limnocyonid hyaenodont.The type species is I. datzae. |
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Kogolepithecus[80] |
Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Pickford et al. |
Miocene |
A catarrhine of uncertain affinity. The type species is K. morotoensis. |
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Yuesthonyx[81] | Gen. et sp. nov. | Valid | Tong, Wang & Fu | Paleocene | Dazhang Formation | ![]() |
A tillodont. The type species is Y. tingae. |