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Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life formsonEarth 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 2010.
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sp nov |
Valid |
Manchester, Xiang, and Xiang |
Oldest member of Cornus subgenus Cornus. |
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sp nov |
Valid |
Calvillo-Canadell, Cevallos-Ferriz & Rico-Arce |
Second Hymenaea sp. from Mexican amber |
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Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
McMurran & Manchester |
Green River Formation |
A fruit of uncertain affinity |
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Gen. nov. |
Valid |
Sender et al. |
Utrillas Formation |
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Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Bravia, Barone Lumagab, & Mickle |
Middle Albian |
Monti Alburni, near Petina |
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Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Shaolin Zheng & Xin Wang |
Middle Jurassic |
An early flowering plant. |
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Gen et sp nov |
Valid |
Xin Wang & Shijun Wang |
Middle Jurassic |
An early flowering plant. |
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gen. nov. |
valid |
Sánchez |
Replacement name for Emiliania Sánchez, 1999 preoccupied by Emiliania Hay & Mohler, 1967 |
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Sp. nov. |
valid |
Pérez, Iturerría & Griffin |
Anerodonid. |
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Sp. nov. |
valid |
Pérez, Iturerría & Griffin |
Acyrenid. |
Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid |
|
Late Viséan |
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Valid |
|
Gzhelian |
Atrematopid genus currently among the oldest known vertebrates with a primarily terrestrial lifestyle. |
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Valid |
|
Santonian |
Advanced frog. |
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Valid |
|
Middle/Upper Triassic |
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Valid |
|
Miocene |
Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid |
|
Lower Permian |
A basal parareptile. The species is M. mckinzieorum. |
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Valid |
|
Induan (early Triassic) |
The earliest known leptopleuronine procolophonid. | ||||
Valid |
|
Lower Permian |
A basal captorhinid. The species is Reiszorhinus olsoni. |
Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid |
|
A new genus for "Ophthalmosaurus" chirsorum (Russell, 1993). |
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Valid |
|
Lower Albian |
The most complete and stratigraphically oldest known ichthyosaur from the Cretaceous of North America. | ||||
Valid |
|
Middle Triassic |
A new genus for "Mixosaurus" panxianensis (Jiang, Schmitz, Hao & Sun, 2006). | ||||
Valid |
|
Middle Triassic |
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Valid |
|
Early Triassic |
A species of a possible ichthyopterygian genus Omphalosaurus. |
Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid |
|
Norian |
A new elasmosaurid |
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Valid |
|
Lower Toarcian |
Apliosaur, a new genus for "Plesiosaurus" victor (Fraas, 1910). |
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Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid |
|
Carnian - Norian |
Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid |
|
Late Cenomanian |
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Valid |
|
Miocene (late Karpatian) |
Acordylid, a species of Bavaricordylus. |
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Valid |
|
Late Eocene, Ludian (Priabonian) |
Ananguine lizard. The species is H. parva. |
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Heloderma welcommei[28] |
Valid |
|
Eocene |
Ananguimorph lizard. Herman and Van Den Eeckhaut (2010) consider it to be a species of Heloderma (though the authors define the genus Heloderma more broadly than most herpetologists, and explicitly synonymize the glyptosaurine genus Placosaurus with it).[28] |
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Valid |
|
Upper Campanian |
A scincomorph lizard. The species is K. grandeprairiensis. |
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Valid |
|
Lower Cretaceous |
A scincogekkonomorph lizard. The species is L. acanthocaudata. |
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Valid |
|
Early Cretaceous (late Berriasian-early Valanginan) |
A scincogekkonomorph lizard. The species is P. latifrontalis. |
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Valid |
|
Miocene (late Karpatian) |
Alygosomine skink, a species of Tropidophorus. |
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Varanus debiei[28] |
Valid |
|
Eocene |
Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid |
|
Late Miocene |
Analethinophidian snake, a species of Colombophis. |
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Valid |
|
Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) |
Anigerophiid snake |
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Valid |
|
Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) |
A madtsoiid snake |
||||
Valid |
|
Late Miocene (Clarendonian) |
Anatricine colubrid snake. The type species is Micronatrix juliescottae. |
||||
Valid |
|
Maastrichtian |
Amadtsoiid snake which preyed on hatchling sauropods. |
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Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid |
|
Paleocene |
|||||
Valid |
|
Campanian |
A taphrosphyini bothremydid | ||||
Valid |
|
Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) |
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Valid |
|
Danian |
Beryozovaya beds |
||||
Valid |
|
Late Cretaceous |
A nanhsiungchelyid turtle. | ||||
Valid |
|
Early Cretaceous |
A macrobaenid turtle. | ||||
Valid |
|
Late Campanian |
A sea turtle. A new genus for "Euclastes" coahuilaensis (Brinkman et al., 2009).[43] | ||||
Valid |
|
Miocene |
A sea turtle. | ||||
Valid |
|
Pliocene |
A species of Pangshura. | ||||
Valid |
|
Late Cretaceous |
Atrionychid with unclear systematic position, a species of Trionyx sensu lato. |
Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid |
|
Ladinian/Carnian |
A basal archosauromorph. |
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Valid |
|
Middle Triassic |
|||||
Valid |
|
The best-known basal archosauriform from South America. | |||||
Valid |
|
Alaunian (early Norian) |
Adrepanosaurid that is known from MBSN 25, a partial skeleton (Partial postcranial skeleton). | ||||
Valid |
|
Late Triassic |
Arhynchosaur. A new genus for "Scaphonyx" sulcognathus (Azevedo & Schultz, 1987). | ||||
Valid |
|
Late Triassic |
A venomous archosauriform known only from isolated teeth. | ||||
Valid |
|
Alaunian (early Norian) |
A basal drepanosauromorph that is known from MCSNB 4783, a set of vertebrae and hindlimbs. |
Name | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid |
|
Lower Triassic |
Aeucynodont. The type species is Beishanodon youngi. |
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Valid |
|
Middle Triassic? (Ladinian or Carnian) |
Acynodont. |
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Valid |
|
Early Triassic (Induan) |
A dicynodont. |
||||
Valid |
|
Carnian - Norian |
Abrasilodontid cynodont. |
||||
Valid |
|
A pylaecephalid dicynodont. The type species is Prosictodon dubei. |
|||||
Valid |
|
Upper Triassic |
A cynodont. The type species is Trucidocynodon riograndensis. |
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid |
|
Late Cambrian |
An animal of uncertain phylogenetic placement; it might be a bryozoan[58][59] or an octocoral.[60] The type species is Pywackia baileyi. |
As science becomes more collaborative, papers with large numbers of authors are becoming more common. To prevent the deformation of the tables, these footnotes list the contributors to papers that erect new genera and have many authors.