1960 in paleontology

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Last updated March 31, 2025

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 1960.

Angiosperms

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Eucommia brownii ^[2]	Species	jr synonym	Becker	Late Eocene	Passamari Formation	USA ( Montana)	Eucommia species, jr syn of Eucommia montana

Arthropods

Crustaceans

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Eocypridina ^[3]	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Kesling & Ploch	Upper Devonian	Blackiston Formation	US Indiana	An ostracod, type species is E. campbelli

Molluscs

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Ctenodonta spjeldnaesi .^[4]	Sp nov	synonym	Soot-Reyn & Soot-Reyn	Late Ordovician	Upper Chasmops Shale	Norway	transferred to Similodonta in 1964

Archosaurmopha

Dinosaurs

Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.^[5]

Name	Status	Authors	Location	Notes
Inosaurus ^[6]	Nomen dubium .	Albert-Félix de Lapparent	Egypt	A dubious Theropod.
Lophorhothon ^[7]	Valid taxon.	Langston	USA ( Alabama)
Silvisaurus ^[8]	Valid taxon.	Eaton	USA ( Kansas)	A Nodosaur.

Plesiosaurs

Name	Status	Authors		Notes
Woolungasaurus	Valid	Persson

Birds

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes
Anas pachyscelus ^[9]	Sp. nov.	valid	Wetmore	Pleistocene	H. Bernard Wilkinson Quarry	USA Bermuda	An Anatidae.
Baeopteryx latipes ^[9]	Sp. nov.	synonym	Wetmore	Pleistocene	H. Bernard Wilkinson Quarry	USA Bermuda	A Gruid, moved to Grus latipes .
Ergilornis rapidus ^[10]	Gen. et Sp. nov.	valid	Kozlova	Early Oligocene	Hoyer-Dzan	Inner Mongolia	An Eogruid, type species E. rapidus
Palaeospheniscus novaezealandiae ^[11]	Sp. nov.	synonym	Marples	Late Pliocene - Waitotaran		New Zealand	A Spheniscidae, moved to Marplesornis novaezealandiae .
Proergilornis minor ^[10]	Gen. et Sp. nov.	synonym	Kozlova	Early Oligocene	Hoyer-Dzan	Inner Mongolia	An Eogruid, moved to Ergilornis minor .

Popular culture

Literature

Pataud, le petit dinosaure was published. This was the first book about dinosaurs intended for an audience of children young enough to be new to reading. Paleontologist William A. S. Sarjeant has called it a "charmin[g]" book and "remarkable" that the earliest dinosaur book aimed at children was French since "French children do not share North American children's fascination" with dinosaurs.^[12]

References

↑ 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.
↑ Call, V.B.; Dilcher, D.L. (1997). "The fossil record of Eucommia (Eucommiaceae) in North America". American Journal of Botany. 84 (6): 798–814. doi:10.2307/2445816. JSTOR 2445816. PMID 21708632. S2CID 20464075.
↑ Kesling, Robert; Ploch, Richard (1960-09-02). "New Upper Devonian Cypridinacean ostracod from southern Indiana" (PDF). Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology University of Michigan. 15 (12): 281–292.
↑ Cope, J.C.W. (1999). "Middle Ordovician bivalves from Mid-Wales and the Welsh Borderland". Palaeontology. 42 (3): 467–499. doi: 10.1111/1475-4983.00081 .
↑ Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
↑ Lapparent. A.F. de. 1960. Les dinosauriens du "Continental intercalaire" du Sahara central. Mem. Soc. Geol. France 88A: pp. 1-57.
↑ Langston, W. Jr. 1960. The vertebrate fauna of the Selma Formation of Alabama. Part IV, the Dinosaurs. Fieldiana Geol. Mem. 3: pp. 313-360.
↑ Eaton, T.H. 1960. A new armored dinosaur from the Cretaceous of Kansas. University of Kansas Palaeontological Contributions, Vertebrata (Article 8): 24 pages.
1 2 Wetmore, Alexander (1960). "Pleistocene Birds in Bermuda". Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 140 (2): 1–11.
1 2 Kozlova, E. V. (1960). "[New Fossil Birds from Southeastern Gobi]". Tr. Probl. Temat. Soveshch. Akad. Nak. SSSR, Zool. Inst. 9: 323–329.
↑ Marples, Brian John (1960). "A Fossil Penguin from the Late Tertiary of North Canterbury". Records of the Canterbury Museum. 7: 185–195.
↑ Sarjeant, W. A. S., 2001, Dinosaurs in fiction: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 504-529.

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[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.

[Call1997-2] Call, V.B.; Dilcher, D.L. (1997). "The fossil record of Eucommia (Eucommiaceae) in North America". American Journal of Botany. 84 (6): 798–814. doi:10.2307/2445816. JSTOR 2445816. PMID 21708632. S2CID 20464075.

[3] Kesling, Robert; Ploch, Richard (1960-09-02). "New Upper Devonian Cypridinacean ostracod from southern Indiana" (PDF). Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology University of Michigan. 15 (12): 281–292.

[Cope1999-4] Cope, J.C.W. (1999). "Middle Ordovician bivalves from Mid-Wales and the Welsh Borderland". Palaeontology. 42 (3): 467–499. doi: 10.1111/1475-4983.00081 .

[ddinogeorge-5] Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2008-08-07.

[6] Lapparent. A.F. de. 1960. Les dinosauriens du "Continental intercalaire" du Sahara central. Mem. Soc. Geol. France 88A: pp. 1-57.

[7] Langston, W. Jr. 1960. The vertebrate fauna of the Selma Formation of Alabama. Part IV, the Dinosaurs. Fieldiana Geol. Mem. 3: pp. 313-360.

[8] Eaton, T.H. 1960. A new armored dinosaur from the Cretaceous of Kansas. University of Kansas Palaeontological Contributions, Vertebrata (Article 8): 24 pages.

[Wetmore1960-9] 1 2 Wetmore, Alexander (1960). "Pleistocene Birds in Bermuda". Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 140 (2): 1–11.

[Kozlova1960-10] 1 2 Kozlova, E. V. (1960). "[New Fossil Birds from Southeastern Gobi]". Tr. Probl. Temat. Soveshch. Akad. Nak. SSSR, Zool. Inst. 9: 323–329.

[Marples1960-11] Marples, Brian John (1960). "A Fossil Penguin from the Late Tertiary of North Canterbury". Records of the Canterbury Museum. 7: 185–195.

[sarjeant-fic-12] Sarjeant, W. A. S., 2001, Dinosaurs in fiction: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 504-529.

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