1959 in paleontology

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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 1959.

Arthropods[edit]

Newly named insects[edit]

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Penthetria? fryi^[2]	Sp nov	valid	Rice	Ypresian	Driftwood Shales	Canada British Columbia	A bibionid fly	Penthetria (?) fryi
Penthetria whipsawensis^[2]	Sp nov	valid	Rice	Ypresian	Allenby Formation	Canada British Columbia	A bibionid fly	Penthetria whipsawensis
Plecia angustipennis^[2]	Comb nov	valid	(Handlirsch)	Ypresian	"Horsefly Shales"	Canada British Columbia	A bibionid fly Moved from Penthetria angustipennis (1910)^[3]	Plecia angustipennis
Plecia avus^[2]	Comb nov	valid	(Handlirsch)	Ypresian	Allenby Formation	Canada British Columbia	A bibionid fly Moved from Penthetria avus (1910)^[3]	Plecia avus
Plecia cairnesi^[2]	Sp nov	valid	Rice	Ypresian	Driftwood Shales	Canada British Columbia	A bibionid fly	Plecia cairnesi
Plecia canadensis^[2]	Comb nov	valid	(Handlirsch)	Ypresian	Allenby Formation	Canada British Columbia	A bibionid fly Moved from Penthetria canadensis (1910)^[3]	Plecia canadensis
Plecia curtula^[2]	Comb and syn nov	valid	(Handlirsch)	Ypresian	"Horsefly Shales"	Canada British Columbia	A bibionid fly Moved from Penthetria curtula (1910)^[3] Senior synonym of Penthetria avunculus (1910)^[2]	Plecia curtula
Plecia dilatata^[2]	Comb nov	valid	(Handlirsch)	Ypresian	"Horsefly Shales"	Canada British Columbia	A bibionid fly Moved from Penthetria dilatata (1910)^[3]	Plecia dilatata
Plecia elatior^[2]	Comb nov	valid	(Handlirsch)	Ypresian	Allenby Formation	Canada British Columbia	A bibionid fly Moved from Penthetria elatior (1910)^[3]	Plecia elatior
Plecia intermedia^[2]	Comb nov	jr synonym	(Scudder)	Priabonian	Florissant Formation	United States Colorado	A bibionid fly Moved from Mycetophaetus intermedius (1892)^[4] Moved to Penthetria intermedia (1999)^[5]
Plecia kelownaensis^[2]	Sp nov	valid	Rice	Ypresian	Coldwater Beds	Canada British Columbia	A bibionid fly	Plecia kelownaensis
Plecia minutula^[2]	Sp nov	valid	Rice	Ypresian	Allenby Formation	Canada British Columbia	A bibionid fly	Plecia minutula
Plecia nana^[2]	Comb nov	valid	(Handlirsch)	Ypresian	Allenby Formation	Canada British Columbia	A bibionid fly Moved from Penthetria nana (1910)^[3]	Plecia nana
Plecia pictipennis^[2]	Comb and syn nov	valid	(Handlirsch)	Ypresian	Allenby Formation	Canada British Columbia	A bibionid fly Moved from Penthetria pictipennis (1910)^[3] Senior synonym of Penthetria lambei, Pe. ovalis, & Pe. separanda (1910)^[2]	Plecia pictipennis
Plecia platyptera^[2]	Comb nov	valid	(Handlirsch)	Ypresian	"Horsefly Shales"	Canada British Columbia	A bibionid fly Moved from Penthetria platyptera (1910)^[3]	Plecia platyptera
Plecia pulchra^[2]	Comb nov	valid	(Handlirsch)	Ypresian	Allenby Formation	Canada British Columbia	A bibionid fly Moved from Penthetria pulchra (1910)^[3]	Plecia pulchra
Plecia pulla^[2]	Comb and syn nov	valid	(Handlirsch)	Ypresian	Allenby Formation	Canada British Columbia	A bibionid fly Moved from Penthetria pulla (1910)^[3] Senior synonym of Penthetria brevipes (1910)^[2]	Plecia pulla
Plecia reducta^[2]	Comb nov	valid	(Handlirsch)	Ypresian	"Horsefly Shales"	Canada British Columbia	A bibionid fly Moved from Penthetria reducta (1910)^[3]	Plecia reducta
Plecia transitoria^[2]	Comb and syn nov	valid	(Handlirsch)	Ypresian	"Horsefly Shales"	Canada British Columbia	A bibionid fly Moved from Penthetria transitoria (1910)^[3] Senior synonym of Penthetria falcatula & Pe. fragmentum (1910)^[2]	Plecia transitoria
Plecia tulameenensis^[2]	Sp nov	valid	Rice	Ypresian	Allenby Formation	Canada British Columbia	A bibionid fly	Plecia tulameenensis

Conodonts[edit]

German paleontologist Klaus J. Müller (1923-2010) described the conodont family Westergaardodinidae.^[6]

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Notes
Dollymae^[7]		valid	Hass	Carboniferous	Type species D. sagittula
Furnishina^[6]	Gen et sp nov.	valid	Müller	Cambrian	Type species F. furnishi
Hertzina^[6]		valid	Müller	Cambrian	Type species H. bisulcata
Westergaardodina^[6]	Gen et sp nov	valid	Müller	Cambrian	Type species W. bicuspidata

Archosauromorphs[edit]

Incertae sedis[edit]

Name	Status	Authors		Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Palaeosauriscus^[8]	Junior synonym	Kuhn		Late Triassic			Junior synonym of Palaeosaurus.

Newly named pseudosuchians[edit]

Name	Status	Authors		Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Clarencea^[9]	Junior synonym	Brink		Early Jurassic (Hettangian-Sinemurian)

Newly named dinosaurs[edit]

Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.^[10]

Name	Status	Authors		Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Chialingosaurus^[11]	Valid taxon.	Yang Zhongjian (as Young C. C.)		Late Jurassic (Bathonian-Callovian)		China	A stegosaur.	Chialingosaurus
Pachysauriscus^[8]	Junior synonym	Kuhn		Late Triassic (Norian)			Junior synonym of Plateosaurus.

Plesiosaurs[edit]

Newly named Plesiosaurs[edit]

Name	Status	Authors		Age	Unit	Location	Notes
Stretosaurus	Nomen dubium	Tarlo		Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian)			A dubious pliosaurid belonging to Thalassophonea.

Birds[edit]

Newly named birds[edit]

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes
Anthropodyptes ^[12]	Gen. et Sp. nov.	valid	Simpson	Middle Miocene, Balcombian Stage		Australia	A Spheniscidae, type species A. gilli
Bathoceleus ^[13]	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	valid	Brodkorb	Pleistocene-Late Holocene	Banana Hole, New Providence Island	Bahamas	A Picidae, type species B. hyphalus.
Burhinus nanus ^[13]	Sp. nov.	valid	Brodkorb	Pleistocene-Late Holocene	Banana Hole, New Providence Island	Bahamas	A Burhinidae.
Caracara creightoni ^[13]	Sp. nov.	valid	Brodkorb	Pleistocene	Banana Hole, New Providence Island	Bahamas	A Falconidae.
Colinus suilium ^[14]	Sp. nov.	valid	Brodkorb	Middle Pleistocene	Reddics beds, Arredondo clay	USA Florida	An Odontophoridae.
Cremaster tytthus ^[14]	Gen. et Sp. nov.	valid	Brodkorb	Middle Pleistocene	Arredondo clay	USA Florida	An Icteridae, type species C. tytthus.
Henocitta ^[15]	Gen. et Sp. nov.	valid	Holman	Pleistocene	Arredondo clay	USA Florida	A Corvidae, type species H. brodkorbi.
Falco readei ^[14]	Sp. nov.	synonym	Brodkorb	Pleistocene	Arredondo clay	USA Florida	A Falconidae, moved to Milvago readei.
Pliogyps ^[16]	Gen. et Sp. nov.	valid	Tordoff	Pliocene	Rexroad Formation	USA Kansas	A Cathartidae, type species P. fisheri
Coltonia recurvirostra ^[17]	Sp. nov.	synonym	Hardy	Early Eocene	Colton Formation	USA Utah	A Presbyornithidae, moved to Presbyornis recurvirostrus.

Pterosaurs[edit]

New taxa[edit]

Name	Status	Authors		Age	Unit	Location	Notes
Titanopteryx	Preoccupied	Arambourg		Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian)	Phosphate deposits	Israel Senegal USA ( New Jersey)	Later renamed Arambourgiana Nesov, Kanznyshkina, and Cherepanov, 1987

References[edit]

^ 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.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x Rice, H. M. A (1959). "Fossil Bibionidae (Diptera) from British Columbia". Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin. 55: 1–36.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Handlirsch, A. (1910). "Canadian fossil Insects. 5. Insects from the Tertiary lake deposits of the southern interior of British Columbia, collected by Mr. Lawrence M. Lambe". Contributions to Canadian Palaeontology. 2 (3): 93–129.
^ Scudder, S. H. (1892). "Some Insects of special interest from Florissant, Colorado and other points in the Tertiaries of Colorado and Utah". Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey. 93: 1–25.
^ Fitzgerald, S. J. (1999). "A new species of Plecia from the Green River Formation and new combinations of fossil Bibionidae (Diptera)". Great Basin Naturalist. 59: 182–187. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.15821.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Kambrische conodonten. KJ Müller, Zeitschrift der deutschen geologischen Gesellschaft, 1959, volume 111, pages 434-485 (URL^{[permanent dead link]} at Schweizerbart Science Publishers, Stuttgart, Germany
^ Conodonts from the Chappel limestone of Texas. Wilbert H. Hass, 1959
^ ^a ^b Kuhn, O. 1959. Ein neuer Microsaurier aus dem deutschen Rotliegenden. N. Jb. Geol. Palaeontol. Mh. 1959: pp. 424-426;
^ Brink, A.S. 1959. A new small thecodont from the Red Beds of the Stormberg series. Palaeontologia Africana 6: pp. 109–115.
^ Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
^ Young C.-C. 1959. On a new Stegosauria from Szechuan, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 3: pp. 1-8.
^ Simpson, George Gaylord (1959). "A New Fossil Penguin from Australia". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 71 (4699): 113–119. Bibcode:1959Natur.184S1612.. doi:10.1038/1841612c0. S2CID 41339269.
^ ^a ^b ^c Pierce Brodkorb (1959). "Pleistocene Birds from New Providence Island, Bahamas". Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences. 4 (11): 349–371.
^ ^a ^b ^c Pierce Brodkorb (1959). "The Pleistocene Avifauna of Arredondo, Florida". Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences. 4 (9): 269–291.
^ J. Alan Holman (1959). "Birds and Mammals from the Pleistocene of Williston, Florida". Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences. 5: 1–24.
^ Harrison B. Tordoff (1959). "A Condor from the Upper Pliocene of Kansas". Condor. 61 (5): 338–343. doi:10.2307/1365126. JSTOR 1365126.
^ John William Hardy (1959). "A Previously Undescribed Recurvirostrid from the Eocene of Utah". Auk. 76 (9): 106–108. doi:10.2307/4081861. JSTOR 4081861.

[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.

[Rice1959-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x Rice, H. M. A (1959). "Fossil Bibionidae (Diptera) from British Columbia". Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin. 55: 1–36.

[Handlirsh1910-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Handlirsch, A. (1910). "Canadian fossil Insects. 5. Insects from the Tertiary lake deposits of the southern interior of British Columbia, collected by Mr. Lawrence M. Lambe". Contributions to Canadian Palaeontology. 2 (3): 93–129.

[Scuddar1892-4] Scudder, S. H. (1892). "Some Insects of special interest from Florissant, Colorado and other points in the Tertiaries of Colorado and Utah". Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey. 93: 1–25.

[Fitzgerald1999-5] Fitzgerald, S. J. (1999). "A new species of Plecia from the Green River Formation and new combinations of fossil Bibionidae (Diptera)". Great Basin Naturalist. 59: 182–187. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.15821.

[Muller-6] Kambrische conodonten. KJ Müller, Zeitschrift der deutschen geologischen Gesellschaft, 1959, volume 111, pages 434-485 (URL^{[permanent dead link]} at Schweizerbart Science Publishers, Stuttgart, Germany

[7] Conodonts from the Chappel limestone of Texas. Wilbert H. Hass, 1959

[kuhn59microsaurier-8] Kuhn, O. 1959. Ein neuer Microsaurier aus dem deutschen Rotliegenden. N. Jb. Geol. Palaeontol. Mh. 1959: pp. 424-426;

[9] Brink, A.S. 1959. A new small thecodont from the Red Beds of the Stormberg series. Palaeontologia Africana 6: pp. 109–115.

[ddinogeorge-10] Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2008-08-07.

[11] Young C.-C. 1959. On a new Stegosauria from Szechuan, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 3: pp. 1-8.

[Simpson1959-12] Simpson, George Gaylord (1959). "A New Fossil Penguin from Australia". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 71 (4699): 113–119. Bibcode:1959Natur.184S1612.. doi:10.1038/1841612c0. S2CID 41339269.

[Brodkorb1959-13] Pierce Brodkorb (1959). "Pleistocene Birds from New Providence Island, Bahamas". Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences. 4 (11): 349–371.

[Colinus1959-14] Pierce Brodkorb (1959). "The Pleistocene Avifauna of Arredondo, Florida". Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences. 4 (9): 269–291.

[Holman1959-15] J. Alan Holman (1959). "Birds and Mammals from the Pleistocene of Williston, Florida". Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences. 5: 1–24.

[Tordoff1959-16] Harrison B. Tordoff (1959). "A Condor from the Upper Pliocene of Kansas". Condor. 61 (5): 338–343. doi:10.2307/1365126. JSTOR 1365126.

[Hardy1959-17] John William Hardy (1959). "A Previously Undescribed Recurvirostrid from the Eocene of Utah". Auk. 76 (9): 106–108. doi:10.2307/4081861. JSTOR 4081861.

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