Related Research Articles
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. 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.
Lithornis is a genus of extinct paleognathous birds. Although Lithornis was able to fly well, their closest relatives are the extant tinamous and ratites.
Psittacopes is an extinct genus of bird from Middle Eocene. One species is recorded from Messel, Germany, and other three possible species are from London Clay, England, one named ?Psittacopes occidentalis in 2022, and the other two unnamed. Its phylogenetic placement within Aves is uncertain; it was originally interpreted as a parrot, but the phylogenetic analysis conducted by Mayr (2015) recovered it as more closely related to the passerines and the extinct family Zygodactylidae.
Eurofluvioviridavis is a genus of extinct birds from the Middle Eocene Messel Pit, Germany. It contains a single species, Eurofluvioviridavis robustipes. It is related to Avolatavis and Vastanavis, other members of the family Vastanavidae.
Eostrix is a genus of extinct primitive owls in the family Protostrigidae, along with Oligostrix and Minerva. These owls date from the early Eocene of the United States, Europe, and Mongolia. They have been described based on fossil remains. The genus was created by Pierce Brodkorb in 1971 to place a fossil species known until that time as Protostrix mimica.
Messelornis, also known as the Messel rail, is an extinct genus of gruiform bird, closely related to modern rails. It is the most abundant bird from the Messel Lagerstätte, representing roughly half of all Messel bird fossils with more than 500 specimens known. The fossil record are from the Paleocene to the early Eocene.
Avolatavis is an extinct genus of stem-parrot (pan-psittaciform) or a member of the stem group of Psittacopasseres, known from the early Eocene Fossil Butte Member of the Green River Formation of Wyoming, United States, and from the London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze. It was first named by Daniel T. Ksepka and Julia A. Clarke in 2012 and the type species is Avolatavis tenens. Gerald Mayr and Andrew C. Kitchener described the second species, A. europaeus, in 2023. Mayr and Kitchener assigned Avolatavis to the family Vastanavidae, which might be early diverging stem group presentatives of Pan-Psittaciformes or stem group representatives of Psittacopasseres.
Vastanavidae is an extinct family of birds related to parrots and passerine birds. They are known from fossils from Eocene sites in India, Europe, and North America. The vastanavids resemble parrots and the extinct parrot relative Quercypsitta in their morphology, including the partially zygodactyl foot, in which two toes could face opposite the other two.
Halcyornithidae is an extinct family of telluravian birds thought to be related to the Psittaciformes (parrots), Passeriformes (songbirds), and to the extinct Messelasturidae. Halcyornithids have been found in various Eocene formations in Europe and North America. Widespread and diverse in the Early Eocene of North America and Europe, halcyornithids are not found in locales later than the Middle Eocene. Halcyornithids were small, arboreal birds with zygodactyl feet, with two toes facing forwards and two facing back, a trait shared with other tree-dwelling families of Eocene birds like the Zygodactylidae and the messelasturids. The skull of halcyornithids features a ridge of bone above the eye called the supraorbital process, similar to birds of prey. The relationships of the halcyornithids to other birds remain uncertain. Halcyornithids have been proposed as relatives to owls and as a lineage closer to parrots than to songbirds. Most recently, halcyornithids have been identified as the sister group of the clade including parrots and songbirds. It is also possible that Halcyornithidae is paraphyletic with respect to the Messelasturidae.
Madelaine Böhme is a German palaeontologist and professor of palaeoclimatology at the University of Tübingen.
Messelornithidae is an extinct clade of gruiform birds, closely related to modern rails. The fossil record are from the Paleocene to the early Oligocene of Europe and North America.
Allgoviachen is an extinct genus of anatid bird from the Late Miocene (Tortonian) Hammerschmiede clay pits of Bavaria, Germany. The genus contains a single species, A. tortonica, known from bones belonging to the left leg.
Danielsraptor is an extinct genus of masillaraptorid bird from the Early Eocene (Ypresian) Walton Member of the London Clay Formation in Essex, United Kingdom. The genus contains a single species, D. phorusrhacoides, known from a partial skeleton.
The Hammerschmiede clay pit is a fossil bearing locality in Pforzen, Bavaria, Germany most well known for the discovery of Danuvius guggenmosi, the potentially earliest known bipedal ape. With an age of 11.66-11.42 Ma the site dates to the transition between the Middle and Late Miocene epoch, providing an important window into the faunal changes taking place during this time. This correlates to the time just after the Serravallian-Tortonian boundary, and the MN zones 7/8. It is one of the most well-known Miocene sites, with over 15,000 individual fossils and 117 species having been discovered as of 2020. It has been called "the most important German paleontological discovery of the last decades".
Waltonavis is an extinct genus of potentially leptosomiform bird from the Early Eocene London Clay Formation of Essex, United Kingdom. The genus contains two species: W. paraleptosomus and W. danielsi, both known from partial skeletons.
Psittacomimus is an extinct genus of psittacopedid bird from the Early Eocene London Clay Formation of Essex, United Kingdom. The genus contains a single species, P. eos, known from a partial skeleton.
Minutornis is an extinct genus of parapasserine bird from the Early Eocene London Clay Formation of Essex, United Kingdom. The genus contains a single species, M. primoscenoides, known from a fragmentary skeleton.
Pulchrapollia is an extinct genus of halcyornithid bird from the Early Eocene London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze, United Kingdom and the Nanjemoy Formation of Virginia, United States. The genus contains three species, Pulchrapollia gracilis, Pulchrapollia tenuipes and Pulchrapollia eximia.
Serudaptus is an extinct genus of halcyornithid bird from the Middle Eocene Messel pit in Hesse, Germany. The genus contains one species, Serudaptus pohli, and is known for long, raptorial claws on its zygodactyl feet.
Eotrogon is an extinct genus of trogon that inhabited England during the Ypresian stage of the Eocene epoch. It is a monotypic genus that contains the species E. stenorhynchus.
References
- ↑ Mayr, Gerald (2016). Avian evolution: the fossil record of birds and its paleobiological significance. Topics in Paleobiology. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 306. ISBN 978-1-119-02076-9.
- ↑ "Dr Gerald Mayr". Senckenberg – World of Diversity. Senckenberg Research Institute. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
- ↑ Mayr, Gerald (2009). Paleogene Fossil Birds. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-540-89627-2.
- 1 2 Mayr, Gerald; Lechner, Thomas; Böhme, Madelaine (2022-03-07). "Nearly complete leg of an unusual, shelduck-sized anseriform bird from the earliest late Miocene hominid locality Hammerschmiede (Germany)". Historical Biology. 35 (4): 465–474. doi: 10.1080/08912963.2022.2045285 . ISSN 0891-2963. S2CID 247310405.
- ↑ Bertelli, Sara; Giannini, Norberto Pedro; García-López, Daniel Alfredo; Deraco, Virginia; Babot, Judith; Del Papa, Cecilia; Armella, Matias Alberto; Herrera, Claudia; Mayr, Gerald (9 November 2024). "The first Eocene bird from Northwestern Argentina". Publicación Electrónica de la Asociación Paleontológica Argentina. 24 (2): 78–89. doi: 10.5710/PEAPA.31.05.2024.511 . Retrieved 4 January 2025.
- 1 2 Mayr, Gerald; Kitchener, Andrew C. (28 February 2023). "The Vastanavidae and Messelasturidae (Aves) from the early Eocene London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze (Essex, UK)". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen . 307 (2): 113–139. doi:10.1127/njgpa/2023/1119. ISSN 0077-7749 . Retrieved 4 January 2025.
- ↑ Mayr, Gerald; De Pietri, Vanesa L.; Kitchener, Andrew C. (5 May 2023). "Narrow-beaked trogons from the early Eocene London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze (Essex, UK)". Journal of Ornithology . 164 (4): 749–764. Bibcode:2023JOrni.164..749M. doi: 10.1007/s10336-023-02071-x . ISSN 2193-7192 . Retrieved 4 January 2025– via Springer Nature Link.
- ↑ Mayr, Gerald (18 July 2021). Lautenschlager, Stephan (ed.). "An early Eocene fossil from the British London Clay elucidates the evolutionary history of the enigmatic Archaeotrogonidae (Aves, Strisores)". Papers in Palaeontology . 7 (4): 2049–2064. Bibcode:2021PPal....7.2049M. doi:10.1002/spp2.1392. ISSN 2056-2799 . Retrieved 4 January 2025– via Wiley Online Library.
- ↑ Mayr, Gerald; H. Hurum, Jørn (8 October 2020). "A tiny, long-legged raptor from the early Oligocene of Poland may be the earliest bird-eating diurnal bird of prey". The Science of Nature . 107 (6). doi:10.1007/s00114-020-01703-z. ISSN 0028-1042. PMC 7544617 . PMID 33030604 . Retrieved 5 January 2025– via Springer Nature Link.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
 | This article about a paleontologist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |