2002 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 2002.

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Plants

Gymnosperms

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Ginkgo dissecta[2]	Sp nov	Valid	Mustoe	Early Eocene	McAbee site, Kamloops Group	Canada
Pinus matthewsii[3]	Sp nov	Valid	McKown, Stockey, & Schweger	Pliocene	Ch'ijee's Bluff, Bluefish Basin	Canada

Angiosperms

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Hymenaea mexicana[4]	sp nov	Valid	Poinar & Brown	Late Oligocene - early Miocene	Mexican amber	Mexico	A species of Hymenaea, producer of Mexican amber
Trifurcatua flabellata[5]	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Mohr & Rydin	Lower Cretaceous	Crato Formation	Brazil	putative monocot

Arthropods

Insects

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Cretomerobius wehri[6]	Sp nov.	Jr synonym	Makarkin, Archibald, Oswald	Ypresian	Klondike Mountain Formation	USA	A drepanepterygine brown lacewing. Moved to Proneuronema wehri in 2016[7]
Dolichoderus kohlsi[8]	Sp nov	Valid	Dlussky & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Green River Formation	United States Colorado	A dolichoderine ant.
Dolichoderus longipilosus[9]	Sp nov	valid	Dlussky	Middle Eocene	Baltic amber	Europe	A Dolichoderine ant	Dolichoderus longipilosus
Dolichoderus nanus[9]	Sp nov	valid	Dlussky	Middle Eocene	Baltic amber	Europe	A Dolichoderine ant	Dolichoderus nanus
Eoformica globularis[8]	Sp nov	Valid	Dlussky & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Green River Formation	United States Wyoming	A ant of uncertain placement.
Eoformica magna[8]	Sp nov	Valid	Dlussky & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Green River Formation	United States Wyoming	A ant of uncertain placement.
Fibla (Reisserella) cerdanica[10]	Comb nov	Valid	(Nel)	Late Miocene		Spain	An inocellid snakefly, moved from Miofibla Nel, 1994	Fibla cerdanica
Formica gustawi[11]	Sp nov	valid	Dlussky	Middle Eocene	Baltic amber	Europe	A formicine ant	Formica gustawi
Klondikia[8]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Dlussky & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Klondike Mountain Formation	United States Washington	An ant form genus of uncertain placement. Type species K. whiteae
Kohlsimyrma[8]	Gen et 2 sp nov	Valid	Dlussky & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Green River Formation	United States Colorado	An ant form genus of uncertain placement. Type species K. laticeps also includes K. gracilis and K. longiceps
Mianeuretus eocenicus[8]	Sp nov	Valid	Dlussky & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Green River Formation	United States Colorado	An aneuretine ant
Myrmecites[8]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Dlussky & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Green River Formation	United States Colorado	A myrmicine ant form genus. Type species M. rotundiceps
Pachycondyla labandeirai[8]	Sp nov	Valid	Dlussky & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Green River Formation	United States Wyoming	A ponerine ant.
Ponerites[8]	Gen, 3 sp et 1 comb nov	Valid	Dlussky & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Green River Formation	United States Colorado	A ponerine ant form genus. Type species P. eocenicus Also includes P. coloradensis, P. hypoponeroides, & P. umbrus (moved from Ponera umbrus 1932)
Proiridomyrmex[8]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Dlusskys & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Green River Formation	United States Colorado	A dolichoderine ant form genus Type species P. vetulus
Solenopsites[8]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Dlussky & Rasnitsyn	Ypresian	Green River Formation	United States Colorado	A myrmicine ant form genus. Type species S. minutus
Wesmaelius mathewesi[6]	sp. nov	valid	Makarkin, Archibald, Oswald	Ypresian	Coldwater Formation	Canada	first description of fossil Wesmaelius

Conodonts

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Eolinguipolygnathus[12]	Gen et comb nov	valid	Bardashev, Weddige, & Ziegler	early Devonian			An eopolygnathid conodont, type species E. dehiscens moved from Polygnathus dehiscens (1967)

Archosauromorphs

Dinosaurs

New taxa

Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.^[13]

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Agnosphitys[14]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Fraser, Padian, Walkden, & Davis	late Triassic		England	A possible chimera	Agnosphitys cromhallensis
Anabisetia[15]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Coria & Calvo	Late Cretaceous	Cerro Lisandro Formation	Argentina	An Iguanodont	Anabisetia saldiviai
Aucasaurus[16]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Coria, Chiappe, & Dingus	Santonian	Anacleto Formation	Argentina	An Abelisaurid	Aucasaurus garridoi
"Byranjaffia"[17]	gen nov	Nomen nudum	Novacek	Late Cretaceous		Mongolia	Officially named Byronosaurus
Crichtonsaurus[18]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Dong	Late Cretaceous	Sunjiawan Formation	China	An ankylosaurid
"Cryptovolans"[19]	gen et sp nov	Junior synonym	Czerkas, Zhang, Li, & Li	Aptian	Jiufotang Formation	China	Jr synonym of Microraptor
"Epidendrosaurus"[20]	gen et sp nov	junior synonym	Zhang, Zhou, Xu, & Wang	Late Jurassic	Yixian Formation	China	jr synonym of Scansoriopteryx
Erliansaurus[21]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Xu et al.	Late Cretaceous	Iren Dabasu Formation	Mongolia	A Therizinosauroid	Erliansaurus bellamanus
"Fusinasus"[22]	gen et sp nov	Junior synonym of Eotyrannus	Hutt	Early Cretaceous	Wessex Formation	England	Jr synonym of Eotyrannus
"Huaxiasaurus"		Nomen nudum	Rey				Officially named Huaxiagnathus in 2004
Incisivosaurus[23]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Xu, Wang, & Chang	Barremian	Yixian Formation	China	An Oviraptorosaurid
Liaoceratops[24]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Xu et al.	Berremian	Yixian Formation	China	A Ceratopsian	Liaoceratops yanzigouensis
Pycnonemosaurus[25]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Kellner & Campos	Bauru-type red conglomerate sandstone	Maastrichtian	Brazil	An Abelisaurid
Scansoriopteryx[26]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Czerkas & Yuan	Late Jurassic	Yixian Formation	China	Possible junior synonym of Epidendrosaurus
Sinovenator[27]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Xu et al.	Early Cretaceous	Yixian Formation	China	A Troodontid
Sphaerotholus[28]	Gen. 2 sp. nov	Valid	Williamson & Carr	Late Cretaceous	Kirtland Formation, Hell Creek Formation	United States ( Montana, New Mexico)	A pachycephalosaurine; originally described with two species, S. goodwini and S. buchholtzae.	Sphaerotholus

Birds

New taxa

Name	Status	Novelty	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Adelalopus [29]	Valid	Gen. et Sp. nov.	Mayr & Smith	Early Oligocene	Borgloon Formation	Belgium Flemish Brabant	A palaelodid Type species A. hoogbutseliensis
Aegialornis germanicus [30]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Mlíkovský	Middle Eocene		Germany Saxony-Anhalt	An Aegialornithid
Archaeotrogon nocturnus [30]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Mlíkovský	Eocene or Early Oligocene	Phosphorites du Quercy	France	An archaeotrogonid
Athene trinacriae [31]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Pavia & Mourer-Chauviré	Pleistocene		Italia Sicily	A strigid owl.
Belonopterus downsi [32]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Campbell, Jr.	Late Pleistocene	La Brea Tar Pits	USA California	A charadriid lapwing.
Camusia quintanai [33]	Valid	Gen. et Sp. nov.	Seguí	Pliocene	Vroeg-Midden	Spain Menorca	A gruid crane.
Cathayornis aberransis [34]	?Valid	Sp. nov.	Hou, Zhou, Zhang, & Gu	Valanginian	Jiufotang Formation	China	A cathayornithid	Cathayornis
Cimolopteryx petra [35]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Hope	Maastrichtian	Lance Formation	USA Wyoming	A cimolopterygid moved to Lamarqueavis petra in 2010[36]
Collocalia manuoi [37]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Steadman	Quaternary		Cook Islands	An apodid swiftlet.
Colymboides belgicus [29]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Mayr & Smith	Early Oligocene	Borgloon Formation	Belgium Flemish Brabant	A gaviid.
Delphinornis arctowskii [38]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Myrcha et al.	Eocene	La Meseta Formation	Antarctica	A spheniscid penguin.
Delphinornis gracilis [38]	Valid	Comb. nov.	(Wiman)	Eocene	La Meseta Formation	Antarctica	A spheniscid penguin Moved from Ichtyopteryx gracilis (1905)
Enaliornis seeleyi [39]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Galton & Martin	Early Cretaceous		UK England	An enaliornithid
Eocathayornis [40]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Zhou	Valanginian	Jiufotang Formation	China	An enantiornithelian, Type species E. walkeri
Giganhinga [41]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Rinderknecht & Noriega	Pliocene-Pleistocene	San José Formation	Uruguay	An anhingid Type species G. kiyuensis
Gigantohierax [42]	Valid	Gen et Sp. nov.	Arredondo & Arredondo	Quaternary	Cave deposits	Cuba	An Accipitridae Type species G. suarezi
Halimornis [43]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Chiappe, Lamb Jr., & Ericson	Early-Middle Campanian	Mooreville Chalk Formation	USA Alabama	An Euenantiornithalean Type species H. thompsoni
Hesperornis bairdi [44]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Martin & Lim	Campanian	Pierre Shale Formation	USA South Dakota	A hesperornithid
Hesperornis chowi [44]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Martin & Lim	Campanian	Pierre Shale Formation	USA South Dakota	A hesperornithid
Hesperornis macdonaldi [44]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Martin & Lim	Campanian	Pierre Shale Formation	USA South Dakota	A hesperornithid
Hesperornis mengeli [44]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Martin & Lim	Campanian	Pierre Shale Formation	Canada Manitoba	A hesperornithid
?Idiornis anthracinus [45]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Mayr	Middle Eocene		Germany Saxony-Anhalt	A cuculid cuckoo Moved to Dynamopterus anthracinus (2013)[46]
Jeholornis [47]	Valid	Gen et Sp. nov.	Zhou & Zhang	Early Cretaceous	Jiufotang Formation	China	A jeholornithid Type species J. prima	Jeholornis prima
Jiliniornis [48]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Hou & Ericson	Middle Eocene	Huadian Formation	China	A charadriid Type species J. huadianensis
Jinzhouornis [34]	jr synonym	Gen et 2 Sp. nov.	Hou, Zhou, Zhang, & Gu	Early Cretaceous	Yixian Formation	China	A confuciusornithid Type species J. yixianensis, also included J. zhangjiyingia Genus and species synonymized with Confuciusornis sanctus 2018[49]	Confuciusornis sanctus
Jixiangornis [50]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Ji et al.	Early Cretaceous	Jiufotang Formation	China	An avialaen Type species J. orientalis	Jixiangornis orientalis
Larus utunui [51]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Steadman	Subrecent		French Polynesia	A larid gull.
Marambiornis [38]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Myrcha et al.	Eocene	La Meseta Formation	Antarctica	A penguin Type species M. exilis
Masillastega [52]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Mayr	Early Middle Eocene	Messel Formation	Germany Hessen	A sulid Type species M. rectirostris	Masillastega rectirostris
Mesetaornis [38]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Myrcha et al.	Eocene	La Meseta Formation	Antarctica	A penguin. Type species M. polaris
Miodytes serbicus [53]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Dimitreijevich, Gál, & Kessler	Early Miocene	Valjevo Basin	Serbia	A podicipedid grebe.
Novacaesareala [54]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Parris & Hope	Early Danian	Hornerstown Formation	USA New Jersey	A possible torotigid Type species N. hungerfordi
Oligosylphe [29]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Mayr & Smith	Early Oligocene	Borgloon Formation	Belgium Flemish Brabant	A sylphornithid Type species O. mourerchauvireae
Omnivoropteryx[55]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Czerkas & Ji	Early Cretaceous	Jiufutang Formation	China	An Omvivoropterygidae Type species O. sinousaorum
Oxyura doksana [30]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Mlíkovský	Early Miocene		Czech Republic	A possible sea duck.
Paraortygoides radagasti [56]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Dyke * Gulas	Early Eocene	London Clay	UK England	A gallinuloidid
Parasarcoramphus [57]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Mourer-Chauviré	Bartonian-Late Oligocene	Phosphorites du Quercy	France Occitanie	A cathartid. Type species P. milneedwardsi
Plesiocathartes geiselensis [58]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Mayr	Middle Eocene		Germany Saxony-Anhalt	A leptosomiformean.
Plesiocathartes kelleri[59]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Mayr	Middle Eocene	Messel Formation	Germany Hessen	A Leptosomiformean.
Polarornis [60]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Chatterjee	Late Cretaceous	López de Bertodano Formation Seymour Island	Antarctica	A vegaviid[61] Type species P. gregorii
Sapeornis[62]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Zhou & Zhang	Early Cretaceous	Jiufotang Formation	China	A omnivoropterygid Type species S. chaoyangensis	Sapeornis chaoyangensis
Septentrogon [63]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Kristoffersen	Ypresian	Fur Formation	Denmark	A trogonid Type species S. madseni
Shenzhouraptor [64]	valid	Gen et sp nov.	Ji et al.	Early Cretaceous	Jiufotang Formation	China	An Avialae. Type species S. sinensis	Shenzhouraptor sinensis
Spheniscus urbinai [65]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Stucchi	Late Miocene-Early Pliocene	Pisco Formation	Peru	A spheniscid penguin.
Taubatornis [66]	Valid	Gen et sp nov.	Olson & de Alvarenga	Late Oligocene or Early Miocene	Tremembé Formation	Brazil	A teratorn Type species T. campbelli
Teratornis olsoni [67]	jr synonym	Sp. nov.	Arredondo & Arredondo	Pleistocene	Cave deposits	Cuba	A teratorn Moved to Oscaravis olsoni in 2009[68]
Teratornis woodburnensis [69]	Valid	Sp. nov.	Campbell & Stenger	Late Pleistocene		USA Oregon	A teratorn
Teviornis [70]	Valid	Gen et Sp nov.	Kurochkin, Dyke, & Karhu	Maastrichtian	Nemegt Formation	Mongolia	A presbyornithid Type species T. gobiensis
Tyto balearica cyrneichnusae [71]	Valid	Subsp. nov.	Louchart	Late Pleistocene		France Corsica	A tytonid owl subspecies.

Plesiosaurs

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Edgarosaurus	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Druckenmiller	Albian	Thermopolis Shale	United States Montana	A polycotylid Type species E. muddi	Edgarosaurus muddi
Kaiwhekea	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Cruickshank & Fordyce	Maastrichtian	Katiki Formation	New Zealand Otago	An aristonectine elasmosaurid Type species K. katiki	Kaiwhekea katiki
Vinialesaurus	Gen et comb nov	Valid	Gasparini et al.	Oxfordian	Jagua Formation	Cuba	A cryptoclidid Type species V. caroli Moved from Cryptocleidus caroli (1949)

Pterosaurs

In October, a partial Mesadacylus wing was discovered in the Kingsview Quarry of Colorado.^[72] This find marks the first time that a Morrison pterosaur has been found at more than one site in the formation.^[72]

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Austriadactylus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Dalla Vecchia, Wild, & Reitner	Late Triassic	Seefelder Beds	Austria
Hatzegopteryx[73]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Buffetaut, Grigorescu, & Csiki	Late Cretaceous	Densuș-Ciula Formation	Romania	possibly a jr synonym of Quetzalcoatlus	Hatzegopteryx
Jeholopterus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Wang & Zhou	Late Jurassic	Daohugou Beds	China		Jeholopterus ningchengensis
Piksi	gen et sp nov	Valid	Varricchio	Late Cretaceous	Two Medicine Formation	United States	At first thought to be a bird, but subsequently reinterpreted as a pterosaur, likely a member of Ornithocheiroidea.[74]
Pterorhynchus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Czerkas & Ji	Late Jurassic	Daohugou Beds	China
Thalassodromeus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Kellner & Campos	early Cretaceous	Santana Formation	Brazil		Thalassodromeus sethi
Utahdactylus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Czerkas & Mickelson	Late Jurassic	Morrison Formation, Utah	USA

Lepidosauromorphs

Squamates

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
"Lakumasaurus"[75]	Gen et sp nov	Jr synonym	Novas et al.	Late Campanian	Santa Marta Formation	Antarctica	Genus synonymized with Taniwhasaurus in 2007	Taniwhasaurus antarcticus
Prognathodon currii[76]	Sp nov	Valid	Christiansen & Bonde	Late Campanian	Mishash Formation	Israel	A large mosasaur	Prognathodon currii

Synapsids

Non-mammalian

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Criocephalosaurus[77]	gen nov	Valid	Kammerer & Sidor	Upper Permian		South Africa	A dinocephalian. Replacement name for Criocephalus Broom, 1928, preoccupied by Criocephalus Mulsant 1839.
Kitchinganomodon[78]	Gen nov	Valid	Maisch	Upper Permian		South Africa	A dicynodont. New genus for "Platycyclops" crassus Broom, 1948.
Kwazulusaurus[79]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Maisch	Upper Permian	Beaufort Group	South Africa	A dicynodont. The type species is Kwazulusaurus shakai.
Lanthanocephalus[80]	gen et sp nov	Preoccupied	Modesto, Rubidge, & Welman	Upper Permian	Koonap Formation	South Africa	Genus preoccupied by Lanthanocephalus Williams & Starmer, 2000, moved to the replacement Lanthanostegus in 2003
Neotrirachodon[81]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Tatarinov	Middle Triassic	Donguz Formation	Russia	A cynodont. The type species is Neotrirachodon expectatus.
Ruhuhucerberus[82]	gen et sp nov	Valid	Maisch	Upper Permian	Kawinga Formation	Tanzania	A gorgonopsian. The type species is Ruhuhucerberus terror.
Titanogorgon[82]	gen nov	Valid	Maisch	Upper Permian	Kawinga Formation	Tanzania	A gorgonopsian. New genus for "Gorgonognathus" maximus von Huene, 1950.