1998 in paleontology

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 1998.

Flora

Lycophytes

Lycophyte research

• Wehr (1998) reports, without description, Selaginella species spikemoss fossils occurring in the Eocene Okanagan Highlands Klondike Mountain Formation.^[2]

Angiosperms

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Location	Notes	Images
Palaeocarpinus pacifica[3]	Sp nov	Valid	Manchester & Chen	Paleocene Danian	Malo-Mikhailovka Formation	Russia	A betulaceous fruit

Fungi

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country	Notes	Images
Cryptodidymosphaerites[4]	Gen et sp nov	valid	Currah, Stockey, & LePage	Eocene Ypresian	Allenby Formation Princeton Chert	Canada British Columbia	A hyperparasitic pleosporalean fungus of uncertain family affinity. The type species is C. princetonensis Its hosted by the phyllachoralean fungus Palaeoserenomyces allenbyensis
Palaeoserenomyces[4]	Gen et sp nov	valid	Currah, Stockey, & LePage	Eocene Ypresian	Allenby Formation Princeton Chert	Canada British Columbia	A parasitic phyllachoralean fungus of uncertain family affinity. The type species is P. allenbyensis Its hosted by the fan palm Uhlia allenbyensis. Its hyperparasitized by Cryptodidymosphaerites princetonensis

Fungal research

• Currah, Stockey, & LePage (1998) describe the a phyllachoralean "tar spot" parasitizing Uhlia palm leaves, and host for a hyperparasitic pleosporalean fungus. They note them to be one of the first occurrences of hyperparasitic relationships in the fossil record.^[4]

Arthropods

Newly named crustaceans

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Ursquilla[5]	Gen nov	Valid	Hof	Late Cretaceous (Campanian)	Mishash Formation Amman Silicified Limestone Formation	Israel Jordan	A mantis shrimp, type species is U. yehoachi (originally named as Eryon yehoachi in 1955).
Tyrannophontes acanthocercus[6]	Sp nov	Jr synonym	Jenner, Hof & Schram	Serpukhovian	Bear Gulch Limestone	USA	A mantis shrimp, moved to the genus Daidal (2007)[7]

Newly named insects

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Acanthostichus hispaniolicus[8]	Sp. nov	Valid	De Andrade	Burdigalian	Dominican amber	Dominican Republic	A Dorylinae ant	Acanthostichus hispaniolicus
Aquarius lunpolaensis[9]	Comb nov.	valid	(Lin) Andersen	Miocene	Lunpola Basin	China	A water strider Moved from Gerris lunpolaensis
Carabus neli[10]	Sp nov.	valid	Deuve	Turolian	Montagne d'Andance	France	A ground beetle	Carabus neli
Cylindromyrmex antillanus[11]	Sp. nov	Valid	De Andrade	Burdigalian	Dominican amber	Dominican Republic	A Dorylinae ant	Cylindromyrmex antillanus
Daniavelia[9]	Gen et sp nov.	valid	Andersen	Eocene Ypresian	MØclay Fur Formation	Denmark	A macroveliid water strider The type species is D. morsensis
Electrovelia[9]	Gen et sp nov.	valid	Andersen	Eocene Lutetian	Baltic Amber	Denmark	A riffle bug The type species is P. baltica
Eocenometra longicomis[9]	Sp nov.	valid	Andersen	Eocene Ypresian	MØclay 0lst/Fur Formations	Denmark	A marsh treader
Ledouxnebria[10]	Gen et sp nov.	valid	Deuve	Turolian	Montagne d'Andance	France	A ground beetle	Ledouxnebria brisaci
Limnoporus wilsoni[9]	Sp nov.	valid	Andersen	Eocene Ypresian	Okanagan Highlands Driftwood shales	Canada British Columbia	A water strider
Palaeogerris[9]	Gen et 3 sp nov.	valid	Andersen	Eocene Ypresian	MØ clay 0lst/Fur Formations	Denmark	A water strider The type species is P. furensis Also includes P. grandis & P. mikkelseni
Palaeometra[9]	Gen et sp nov.	valid	Andersen	Eocene Ypresian	Fur Formation	Denmark	A limnobatodine water strider The type species is P. madseni
Telmatrechus defunctus[9]	Comb nov.	valid	(Handlirsch) Andersen	Eocene Ypresian	Okanagan Highlands Quilchena site	Canada British Columbia	A water strider Moved from Gerris defuncta (1910)

Brachiopods

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country	Notes	Images
Iridistrophia aliciae[12]	Sp nov	valid	Herrera, Salas & Giolitti	Early Devonian	Talacasto Formation	Argentina	A species of Iridistrophia
Iridistrophia dominans[12]	Sp nov	valid	Herrera, Salas & Giolitti	Early Devonian	Talacasto Formation	Argentina	A species of Iridistrophia
Iridistrophia magna[12]	Sp nov	valid	Herrera, Salas & Giolitti	Early Devonian	Talacasto Formation	Argentina	A species of Iridistrophia
Iridistrophia prima[12]	Sp nov	valid	Herrera, Salas & Giolitti	Early Devonian	Talacasto Formation	Argentina	A species of Iridistrophia
Eoschuchertella delicata[12]	Sp nov	valid	Herrera, Salas & Giolitti	Early Devonian	Talacasto Formation	Argentina	A species of Eoschuchertella

Molluscs

Bivalves

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Pojetaia sarhroensis[13]	sp nov	Valid	Geyer & Streng	Early Cambrian	Anti-Atlas mountains	Morocco	Early Cambrian Fordillidae bivalve

Echinoderms

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Alkaidia[14]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Blake & Reid	Early Cretaceous (Albian)	Del Rio Formation Paw Paw Formation Main Street Formation Grayson Formation	USA ( Texas)	A starfish, type species is A. sumralli.
Altairia[14]	Gen et comb nov	Valid	Blake & Reid	Early Cretaceous (Albian)	Paw Paw Formation	USA ( Texas)	A starfish, type species is A. wintoni, originally named as Comptonia wintoni in 1920.
Betelgeusia[14]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Blake & Reid	Early Cretaceous (Albian)	Del Rio Formation Paw Paw Formation Grayson Formation	USA ( Texas)	A starfish, type species is B. reidi.
Capellia[14]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Blake & Reid	Early Cretaceous (Albian)	Paw Paw Formation	USA ( Texas)	A starfish, type species is C. mauricei.
Crateraster texensis[14]	Comb nov	Valid	Blake & Reid	Early Cretaceous (Albian)	Paw Paw Formation Weno Formation	USA ( Texas)	A starfish, originally named as Pentagonaster texensis in 1920.
Denebia[14]	Gen et comb nov	Valid	Blake & Reid	Early Cretaceous (Albian)	Paw Paw Formation Weno Formation	USA ( Texas)	A starfish, type species is D. americana, originally named as Pentaceros americanus in 1920.
Fomalhautia[14]	Gen et comb nov	Valid	Blake & Reid	Early Cretaceous (Albian)	Paw Paw Formation	USA ( Texas)	A starfish, type species is F. hortensae, originally named as Metopaster hortensae in 1920.

Amphibians

newly named anurans

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Rhadinosteus[15]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Henrici	Kimmeridgian	Morrison Formation	USA	A possible Rhinophrynidae frog

Archosauromorpha

Dinosaurs

• A paper in the journal Nature is published by Karen Chin and others announcing the earlier discovery of a "king-sized coprolite" attributed to Tyrannosaurus rex.
• Lourinhasaurus gastroliths documented.^[16]
• Cedarosaurus gastroliths documented.^[17]
• Caudipteryx gastroliths documented.^[18]
• Volunteers from the Denver Museum of Natural History discovered Tony's Bone Bed in the Cedar Mountain Formation's Poison Strip Member.^[19]

Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.^[20]

Name	Status	Authors		Location	Notes	Images
Altirhinus[21]	Valid taxon	David Norman		Mongolia		Caudipteryx Cristatusaurus Gargoyleosaurus Gastonia Lourinhanosaurus Megaraptor Rahonavis Scipionyx Shuvuuia Suchomimus Tianzhenosaurus Variraptor Zuniceratops
''Augustia''	Preoccupied	Bonaparte Zariquiey
Camposaurus[22]	Valid taxon	Hunt, Lucas, Heckert,	Sullivan, and Lockley
Caseosaurus[22]	Valid taxon	Hunt, Lucas, Heckert,	Sullivan, and Lockley	USA ( New Mexico and Texas)
Caudipteryx[23]	Valid taxon	Ji Q., Phillip Currie,	Mark Norell and Ji S.	China
Cristatusaurus[24]	Valid taxon	Philippe Taquet	Dale A. Russell
Eobrontosaurus[25]	Valid taxon. Now Synonym of Brontosaurus	Robert Bakker
Eolambia[26]	Valid taxon	James Kirkland		USA ( Utah)
Gargoyleosaurus[27]	Valid taxon	Kenneth Carpenter Miles	Cloward	USA ( Wyoming)
Gastonia[28]	Valid taxon	James Kirkland		USA ( Utah)
Gongxianosaurus[29]	Valid taxon	He, Wang C., Liu S., Zhou F.,	Liu T., Cai and Dai	China
Histriasaurus[30]	Valid taxon	Dalla Vecchia		Croatia
Lourinhanosaurus[31]	Valid taxon	Mateus		Portugal
Lourinhasaurus[32]	Valid taxon	Dantas, Sanz, Da Silva,	Ortega, Dos Santos and Cachao	Portugal
Megaraptor[33]	Valid taxon	Novas		Argentina
Nedcolbertia[34]	Valid taxon	James Kirkland, Britt, Whittle,	S. K. Madsen and Burge	USA ( Utah)
Notohypsilophodon[35]	Valid taxon	Martínez		Argentina
Ozraptor[36]	Valid taxon	J. A. Long and	Ralph Molnar	Australia
Protohadros[37]	Valid taxon	Head		USA ( Texas)
''Rahona''[38]	Preoccupied	Forster Sampson	Luis M. Chiappe and Krause
Rahonavis[39]	Valid taxon	Forster, Sampson,	Luis M. Chiappe and Krause	Madagascar
Scipionyx[40]	Valid taxon	Dal Sasso and	Signore	Italy
Shanxia[41]	Valid taxon	Barrett, You,	Upchurch and Burton	China
Shuvuuia[42]	Valid taxon	Luis M. Chiappe, Mark Norell and	Clark	Mongolia
Sonorasaurus[43]	Valid taxon	Ratkevich, Sidor, Varricchio,	G. P. Wilson and Jeffrey A. Wilson.	USA ( Arizona)
Suchomimus	Valid taxon	An African spinosaurs	Sereno et al. 1998	Niger
Tianzhenosaurus[44]	Valid taxon	Pang and	Cheng Z.	China
Variraptor[45]	Valid taxon	Le Loeuff and	Buffetaut	France
Zuniceratops[46]	Valid taxon	Wolfe and	James Kirkland	USA ( New Mexico)

Newly named birds

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Abavornis bonapartei [47]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Andrei V. Panteleyev	Late Cretaceous	Coniacian, Bissekty Formation	Uzbekistan	An Alexornithidae Brodkorb, 1976, this is the type species of the new genus.
Actitis balcanica [48]	Sp. nov.	Valid ?	Zlatozar N. Boev	Late Pliocene	MN 17	Bulgaria	A Scolopacidae?, the holotypical tarsometatarsus looks more like a Charadriidae.
Aizenogyps toomeyae [49]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Steven D. Emslie	Late Pliocene	Late Blancan	USA: Florida	A Cathartidae, this is the type species of the new genus.
Anhinga beckeri [49]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Steven D. Emslie	Early Pliocene	Late-Early Irvingtonian	USA: Florida	An Anhingidae.
Basityto rummeli [50]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Jiří Mlíkovský	Early Miocene	MN 2-3	Germany: Bavaria	A Gruidae, transferred to the genus Balearica by Mourer-Chauviré in 2001,[51] this is the type species of the new genus.
Buteo sanya [52]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Hou Lianhai	Late Pleistocene	Cave Deposits	China	An Accipitridae.
Buteo spassovi [53]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Zlatozar N. Boev	Late Miocene	MN 11-12	Bulgaria	An Accipitridae.
Catenoleimus anachoretus [47]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Andrei V. Panteleyev	Late Cretaceous	Coniacian	Uzbekistan	An Enantiornithes Walker, 1981, Euenantiornithes Incertae Sedis, this is the type species of the new genus.
Chloephaga robusta [54]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Claudia P. Tambussi	Middle-Late Pliocene	Irene Formation	Argentina	An Anatidae.
Coccothraustes balcanicus [55]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Zlatozar N. Boev	Late Pliocene	MN 18	Bulgaria	A Fringillidae.
Coccothraustes simeonovi [55]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Zlatozar N. Boev	Late Pliocene	MN 17	Bulgaria	A Fringillidae.
Diamantornis spaggiarii [56]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Brigitte Senut Yannicke Dauphin Martin Pickford	Early Middle Miocene	Karingarab	Namibia	A Struthionidae, eggshells.
Explorornis nessovi [47]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Andrei V. Panteleyev	Late Cretaceous	Coniacian, Bissekty Formation	Uzbekistan	An Alexornithidae Brodkorb, 1976, this is the type species of the new genus.
Gargantuavis philoinos [57]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Eric Buffetaut Jean Le Loeuff	Late Cretaceous	Late Campanian-Early Maastrichtian, Marnes de la Maurine Formation	France	An Ornithothoraces, this is the type species of the new genus.
Gavia schultzi [58]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Jiří Mlíkovský	Middle Miocene	MN 7	Austria: Burgenland	A Gaviidae.
Geronticus balcanicus [59]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Zlatozar N. Boev	Late Pliocene, MN 18	Slivnica	Bulgaria	A Threskiornithidae.
Glaucidium explorator [49]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Steven D. Emslie	Late Pliocene	Florida	USA: Florida	A Strigidae.
Gracilitarsus mirabilis [60]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Gerald Mayr	Middle Eocene	Messel pit, MP 11	Germany: Hessen	A Piciformes, Gracilitarsidae G. Mayr, 2001, this is the type species of the new genus.
Hassiavis laticauda [61]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Gerald Mayr	Middle Eocene	Messel pit, MP 11	Germany: Hessen	An Apodiformes, ?Archaeotrogonidae Mourer-Chauviré, 1980, this is the type species of the new genus.
Incolornis silvae [47]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Andrei V. Panteleyev	Late Cretaceous	Coniacian, Bissekty Formation	Uzbekistan	An Alexornithidae Brodkorb, 1976, this is the type species of the new genus.
Intulula tinnipara [62]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Jirí Mlíkovský	Early Miocene	MN 2a	Czech Republic; Germany: Bavaria	A Strigidae, this is the type species of the new genus.
Masillacolius brevidactylus [63]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Gerald Mayr Dieter S. Peters	Middle Eocene	Messel pit, MP 11	Germany: Hessen	A Coliidae, this is the type species of the new genus.
Messelirrisor halcyrostris [60]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Gerald Mayr	Middle Eocene	Messel pit, MP 11	Germany: Hessen	An Upupiformes, Laurillardiidae Harrison, 1979.
Messelirrisor parvus [60]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Gerald Mayr	Middle Eocene	Messel pit, MP 11	Germany: Hessen	An Upupiformes, Laurillardiidae Harrison, 1979, this is the type species of the new genus.
Mioglaux debellatrix [62]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Jirí Mlíkovský	Early Miocene	MN 3	Czech Republic	A Strigidae, this is the type species of the new genus.
Miopico benimellalensis [60]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Gerald Mayr	Middle Miocene	Beni Mellal	Morocco	A Miopiconidae G. Mayr, 1998, this is the type species of the new genus.
Palaelodus pledgei [64]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Robert F. Baird Patricia Vickers Rich	Late Oligocene - Middle Miocene	Etadunna Formation	Australia: South Australia	A Phoenicopteriformes, Palaelodidae Stejneger, 1885.
Palaelodus wilsoni [64]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Robert F. Baird Patricia Vickers Rich	Late Oligocene - Middle Miocene	Etadunna Formation	Australia: South Australia	A Phoenicopteriformes, Palaelodidae Stejneger, 1885.
?Primozygodactylus ballmanni [60]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Gerald Mayr	Middle Eocene	Messel pit, MP 11	Germany: Hessen	A Zygodactylidae Brodkorb, 1971, not surely a Primozygodactylus.
Primozygodactylus danielsi [60]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Gerald Mayr	Middle Eocene	Messel pit, MP 11	Germany: Hessen	A Zygodactylidae Brodkorb, 1971, this is the type species of the new genus.
Primozygodactylus major [60]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Gerald Mayr	Middle Eocene	Messel pit, MP 11	Germany: Hessen	A Zygodactylidae Brodkorb, 1971.
Pseudastur macrocephalus [65]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Gerald Mayr	Middle Eocene	Messel pit, MP 11	Germany: Hessen	A Halcyornithidae Harrison et Walker, 1972. The genus Pseudastur is preoccupied and replaced by Pseudasturides Mayr, 2004, this is the type species of both genera.[66]
Psittacopes lepidus [67]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Gerald Mayr ppMichael Daniels	Middle Eocene	Messel pit, MP 11	Germany: Hessen	A stem Psittaciformes, this is the type species of the new genus.
Quasisyndactylus longibrachis [68]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Gerald Mayr	Middle Eocene	Messel pit, MP 11	Germany: Hessen	An Alcediniformes Incertae Sedis, this is the type species of the new genus.
Rostratula pulia [69]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Jíří Mlíkovský	Early Miocene	MN 4b	Czech Republic	A Rostratulidae.
Scolopax hutchensi [49]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Steven D. Emslie	Late Pliocene	Florida	USA: Florida	A Scolopacidae.
Struthio karingarabensis [56]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Brigitte Senut Yannicke Dauphin Martin Pickford	Early Miocene	Karingarab	Namibia	A Struthionidae, eggshells.
Tetrao rhodopensis [70]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Zlatozar N. Boev	Early Pliocene	MN 14	Bulgaria	A Phasianidae.
Xenopsitta fejfari [71]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Jiří Mlíkovský	Early Miocene	MN 3	Czech Republic	A Psittacidae, this is the type species of the new genus.

Pterosaurs

New taxa

Name Status Authors Notes "Dendrorhynchus" Valid Ji S.-A. Ji Q. Normannognathus Valid Buffetaut Lepage, J.-J. Lepage, G.