| List of years in paleontology |
|---|
| (table) |
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 2004.
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gen et sp nov | Valid | Poinar & Poinar | Oldest record of the protozoan family Trypanosomatidae , | |||||
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gen et sp nov | Valid | Smith, Currah, & Stockey | Extinct bracket fungus | |||||
Gen et sp nov | Valid | Smith, Currah, & Stockey | Barremian (Cretaceous) | Extinct bracket fungus. | ||||
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sp nov | Valid | Manchester & Dillhoff | A beech tree species | |||||
Sp nov. | Valid | Pigg, Ickert-Bond, & Wen | Middle Miocene | "Yakima Canyon Flora" | A species of sweetgum | |||
Sp nov | Valid | DeVore, Moore, Pigg, & Wehr | oldest and only extinct species of Neviusia | |||||
Sp nov | Valid | Manchester & Chen | A betulaceous fruit | |||||
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sp nov | jr synonym [9] | Wunderlich | Unknown | jr Synonym of Garcorops jadis | ||||
sp nov | Valid | Bosselaers | Unknown | Possibly extant, but copal age is not determined | ||||
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gen et sp nov | valid | Dlussky, Brothers & Rasnitsyn | A Myrmicin ant, type species A. petrosa | |||||
Gen et sp nov | valid | Dlussky, Brothers & Rasnitsyn | A ponerin ant, two species | |||||
Fam, gen et sp nov | valid | Koteja | A scale insect, monotypic with Albicoccidae & A. dimai | |||||
Fam, gen et sp nov | valid | Koteja | A scale insect, monotypic with Burmacoccidae & B. danyi | |||||
Comb nov | valid | (Mayr, 1868) | Middle Eocene | Baltic amber | Fossil myrmicine ant | |||
Sp nov | jr synonym | A stephanid wasp | ||||||
Gen et sp nov | valid | Nel & Perrault | A stem group ant, | |||||
gen et sp nov | valid | Koteja | A scale insect, monotypic M. barbarae | |||||
Gen et sp nov | Valid | Archibald | A Berothid lacewing | |||||
Gen et sp nov | Valid | Poinar | A Phlebotomidae sand fly, type species P. burmitis | |||||
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conlinites [18] | Gen et sp nov | Valid | Kennedy | Early Cretaceous (Albian) | An ammonite, type species is C. wrighti. | |||
| Enigmaticeras [18] | Gen et sp nov | Valid | Kennedy | Early Cretaceous (Albian) | An ammonite, type species is E. riceae. | |||
| Ficheuria americana [18] | Sp nov | Valid | Kennedy | Early Cretaceous (Albian) | An ammonite. | |||
| Mariella (Mariella) asper [18] | Sp nov | Valid | Kennedy | Early Cretaceous (Albian) | An ammonite. | |||
| Neophlycticeras (Paradolphia) occidentalis [18] | Sp nov | Valid | Kennedy | Early Cretaceous (Albian) | An ammonite. | |||
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sp. nov | Valid | Valiukevičius | Late Silurian | An acanthodian belonging to the group Ischnacanthiformes and the family Ischnacanthidae. | ||||
Sp. nov | Valid | Schultze & Märss | Late Silurian | A bony fish belonging to the group Lophosteiformes. | ||||
Sp. nov | Valid | Schultze & Märss | Late Silurian | A bony fish belonging to the group Lophosteiformes. | ||||
Sp. nov | Valid | Schultze & Märss | Early Devonian | A bony fish belonging to the group Lophosteiformes. | ||||
Sp. nov | Valid | Valiukevičius | Late Silurian | An acanthodian belonging to the group Climatiiformes and the family Climatiidae. | ||||
Sp. nov | Valid | Valiukevičius | Late Silurian | An acanthodian belonging to the group Climatiiformes and the family Climatiidae. | ||||
Gen. et sp. nov | Valid | Elliott, Mark-Kurik & Daeschler | A member of Pteraspidiformes belonging to the group Psammosteida and the family Obrucheviidae. The type species is P. pulla | |||||
Sp. nov | Valid | Valiukevičius | Late Silurian | An acanthodian belonging to the group Ischnacanthiformes and the family Poracanthidae. | ||||
Sp. nov | Valid | Valiukevičius | Late Silurian | An acanthodian belonging to the group Ischnacanthiformes and the family Poracanthidae. | ||||
Gen. et sp. nov | Valid | Žigaitė | Dashtygoi Formation | A thelodont, possibly a member of the group Phlebolepidiformes. The type species is T. rimae | ||||
Gen. et 2 sp. nov | Valid | Miller, Märss & Blom | Late Silurian | A member of Anaspida belonging to the group Birkeniida, possibly a member of the family Septentrioniidae. The type species is T. juncta; genus also includes T. concatenata. | ||||
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gen. et sp. nov | Valid | Lebedev | A basal member of Tetrapoda. The type species is J. livnensis | |||||
Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list. [25]
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid | Currie & Varricchio | |||||||
Gen et sp nov | Valid | Kuang | Middle Jurassic | |||||
Gen et sp nov | Valid | Parish & Barrett | ||||||
Gen et sp nov | Valid | Martinelli & Forasiepi | Late Cretaceous | |||||
Gen et sp nov | Valid | Apesteguía | late Cretaceous | |||||
Gen et sp nov | Valid | You, Ji, Lamanna, | late Cretaceous | |||||
Gen et sp nov | Valid | Early Cretaceous | ||||||
Gen et sp nov | Valid | Calvo, Rubilar-Rogers, & Moreno | Late Cretaceous | |||||
Valid | Xing & Wang | |||||||
Valid | Hwang, Norell, Ji, & Gao | |||||||
Valid | Bolotsky & Godefroit | Late Cretaceous | ||||||
Valid | Salgado, Garrido, Cocca, & Cocca | |||||||
Valid | Xu & Norell | |||||||
Valid | Naish, Martill, & Frey | |||||||
Preoccupied name | Lü, Tomida, Azuma, | Renamed Nemegtomaia | ||||||
Nomen nudum | Zhao & Tan | |||||||
Valid | Chinnery | |||||||
Valid | ||||||||
Valid | Xu, & Wang | |||||||
Valid | Sereno, Wilson & Conrad | A ceratosaur; new genus for | ||||||
Valid | Harris & Dodson | |||||||
Valid | Novas, Cambiaso, & Ambrosio | |||||||
Valid | Allain et al | |||||||
Valid | Leal, Azevedo, | |||||||
| Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Avgodectes | Valid | Peters | Early Cretaceous | A pterosaur hatchling. | |||
Valid | Gasparini Fernández de la Fuente | Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) | |||||
Nomen Nudum | Maisch Matzke Ge Sun | Late Jurassic (Tithonian) | |||||
Valid | Maisch, M.W., Matzke, A.T., and Ge Sun | Early Cretaceous (Aptian) | |||||
| Name | Status | Authors Location | Notes | Images | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crosbysaurus [48] | Valid non-dinosaurian taxon. | ||||
| Protecovasaurus [49] | Valid non-dinosaurian taxon. |
| |||
| Name | Status | Novelty | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid | Gen et sp. nov. | An Enantiornithes, | ||||||
Valid | Gen et sp. nov. | An Anseranatidae, the type species of Anserpica Mourer-Chauviré, Berthet & Hugueney, 2004. | ||||||
Valid | Gen et sp. nov. | Middle Miocene | A Psittacidae, the type species of Bavaripsitta Mayr & Göhlich, 2004. | |||||
Valid | Gen et sp. nov. | A Phalacrocoracidae, the type species of Borvocarbo Mourer-Chauviré, Berthet & Hugueney, 2004. | ||||||
Valid | Sp. nov. | Early Oligocene | A Gaviidae, not certain a species of Colymboides Milne-Edwards, 1868. | |||||
Valid | Gen et sp. nov. | Early Oligocene | A Trochilidae, the type species of Eurotrochilus Mayr, 2004. | |||||
Valid | Gen et sp. nov. |
| An Ornithurae, the type species of Iaceornis Clarke, 2004. | |||||
Valid | Gen et sp. nov. | An Enantiornithes, Euenantiornithes, the type species of Longirostravis Hou, Chiappe, Zhang et Chuong, 2004. | ||||||
Valid | Gen et sp. nov. | Late Quaternary | A Turdidae, the type species of Meridiocichla Louchart, 2004. | |||||
Valid | Gen et sp. nov. | Middle Meothis | A Corvidae, the type species of Miopica Kurochkin & Sobolev, 2004. | |||||
Valid | Gen et sp. nov. | Middle Miocene | A Scolopacidae, the type species of Mirolia Ballmann, 2004. | |||||
Valid | Sp. nov. | Middle Miocene | A Scolopacidae. | |||||
Valid | Sp. nov. | Middle Miocene | A Scolopacidae, not certain to belong in Mirolia Ballmann, 2004. | |||||
Valid | Sp. nov. | Middle Miocene | A Scolopacidae. | |||||
Valid | Sp. nov. | Middle Eocene | A Primobucconidae Feduccia et Martin, 1976. | |||||
Valid | Sp. nov. | Middle Eocene | A Primobucconidae Feduccia et Martin, 1976. | |||||
Valid | Gen et sp. nov. | Early Pliocene | A Sulidae, the type species of Ramphastosula Stucchi & Urbina, 2004. | |||||
Valid | Sp. nov. | Early-Middle Pleistocene | A Tytonidae. | |||||
Valid | Gen et sp. nov. | An Enentiornithes Walker, 1981, this is the type species of the new genus, most probably a junior synonym of Hebeiornis fengningensis Yan, 1999. | ||||||
Valid | Gen et sp. nov. | A Rallidae, the type species of Vitirallus Worthy, 2004. | ||||||
Valid | Gen et sp. nov. | Late Pleistocene or Early Holocene | A Cathartidae, the type species of Wingegyps Alvarenga & Olson, 2004. |
| Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plesiopterys | Valid | O'Keefe | Toarcian | Posidonienschiefer | ||
| Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ianthodon [66] | Valid | Kissel & Reisz | Kasimovian | ||||
| Lobalopex [67] | Valid | Sidor, Hopson and Keyser | Lopingian | Teekloof Formation | |||
| Progalesaurus [68] | Valid | Sidor & Smith | Induan | Balfour Formation | |||
| Pyozia [69] | Valid | Anderson and Reisz | Capitanian | Krasnoschelsk Formation | |||
| Rewaconodon [70] | Valid | Datta, Das & Luo | Late Triassic | Tiki Formation | |||
| Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charniodiscus procerus | Valid | LaFlamme et al., 2004 | Ediacaran | Mistaken Point Formation and Trepassey Formation | |||