1971 in paleontology

List of years in paleontology
... 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 ... 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 ... 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 ...
In science 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974
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Paleontology, palaeontology or palæontology (from Greek: paleo, "ancient"; ontos, "being"; and logos, "knowledge") 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 mankind has 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 1971.

Archosauromorphs

Newly named pseudosuchians

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Venaticosuchus	gen et sp nov	valid	Bonaparte	Late Triassic		Argentina	an ornithosuchid	File:Venaticosuchus BW.jpg Venaticosuchus rusconii

Newly named dinosaurs

Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Nemegtosaurus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Nowinski	Late Cretaceous	Nemegt Basin	Mongolia		Nemegtosaurus
Yaverlandia	gen et sp nov	Valid taxon	Galton	Lower Cretaceous	Wessex Formation	England	Maniraptoran?

Newly named onithodirans

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Lagerpeton	gen et sp nov	Valid	Romer	Ladinian	Chañares Formation	Argentina
Lagosuchus	fam et gen et sp nov	valid	Romer	Ladinian	Chañares Formation	Argentina		Lagosuchus

Newly named birds

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Anser devjatkini	Sp. nov.	Valid	Evgeny N. Kurochkin	Late Miocene	Hyargas Nuur Formation	Mongolia	An Anatidae.
Antillovultur varonai	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Oscar Arredondo	Late Quaternary	Las Breas de San Felipe	Cuba	An Accipitridae, transferred to the genus Gymnogyps by William Suarez et Steven D. Emslie, 2003., this is the type species of the new genus.
Bathornis minor	Sp. nov.	Valid	Joel Cracraft	Early Miocene		USA: South Dakota	A Gruiformes, Bathornithidae Wetmore, 1933.
Bucorvus brailloni	Sp. nov.	Valid	J. Brunet	Middle Miocene	MN 7	Morocco	A Bucorvidae.
Campephilus dalquesti	Sp. nov.	Valid	Pierce Brodkorb	Late Pliocene	Blancan	USA: Texas	A Picidae.
Cerorhinca minor	Sp. nov.	Valid	Hildegarde Howard	Late Miocene - Late Pliocene	Almejas Formation	Mexico	An Alcidae.
Cygnus pristinus	Sp. nov.	Valid	Evgeny N. Kurochkin	Late Miocene - Early Pliocene	Chirgiz-Nur Formation	Mongolia	An Anatidae.
Dolichonyx kruegeri	Sp. nov.	Valid	Karlheinz Fischer Burkhard Stephan	Late Pleistocene	Cave deposits	Cuba	An Icteridae.
Eutreptornis uintae	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Joel Cracraft	Middle Eocene	Uinta Formation	USA: Utah	A Gruiformes, Bathornithidae Wetmore, 1933. This is the type species of the new genus.
Fulica picapicensis	Sp. nov.	Valid	Karlheinz Fischer Burkhard Stephan	Quaternary	Cave deposits	Cuba	A flightless Rallidae, transferred to the genus Nesotrochis Wetmore, 1918 by Storrs L. Olson, 1974.
Grus cubensis	Sp. nov.	Valid	Karlheinz Fischer Burkhard Stephan	Late Pleistocene	Cave deposits	Cuba	A flightless Gruidae.
Macrorhamphus finitimus	Sp. nov.	Valid	Evgeny N. Kurochkin	Pliocene		Mongolia	A Scolopacidae, transferred to the genus Limnodromus.
Mancalla cedrosensis	Sp. nov.	Valid	Hildegarde Howard	Early Pliocene	Almejas Formation	Mexico	An Alcidae, Mancalinae.
Onychopteryx simpsoni	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Joel Cracraft	Early Eocene	Casamajor Formation	Argentina	Described in the Opisthocomiformes in a new family, Onychopterygidae, Cracraft, 1971. This is the type species o th new genus.
Phalacrocorax mongoliensis	Sp. nov.	Valid	Evgeny N. Kurochkin	Pliocene	Great Lakes	Mongolia	A Phalacrocoracidae.
?Platydyptes marplesi	Sp. nov.	Valid	George G. Simpson	Early or Middle Oligocene	Duntroonian	New Zealand	A Spheniscidae.
Progrus turanicus	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Oleg G. Bendukidze	Middle-Late Eocene	Kalmakpai River	USSR: Kazakhstan	A Gruiformes, Eogruidae Wetmore, 1934. This is the type species of the new genus, the species was transferred to the genus Eogrus Wetmore, 1934.
Proplegadis fisheri	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Colin J. O. Harrison Cyril A. Walker	Early Eocene	Sheppey, MP 8-9	UK: England	Described in the Threskiornithidae, placed in Aves Incerte Sedisby Storrs L. Olson, 1981. Mayr. 2009: it looks more like a Phaethontidae, this is the type species of the new genus.
Puffinus tedfordi	Sp. nov.	Valid	Hildegarde Howard	Early Pliocene	Almejas Formation	Mexico	A Spheniscidae.
Spheniscus predemersus	Sp. nov.	Valid	George G. Simpson	Late Pliocene	Langebaanweg	South Africa	A Spheniscidae, in 1975 Simpson created a new genus, Inguza for the species
Spizaetus tanneri	Sp. nov.	Valid	Larry D. Martin	Early Pleistocene	Broadwater Formation	USA; Nebraska	An Accipitridae.
Struthio transcaucasicus	Sp. nov.	Valid	Nikolay I. Burchak-Abramovich Abesalom K. Vekua	Late Pliocene	Akchagil age	Georgia; Azerbaijan; ?Turkey	A Struthionidae.
Wimanornis seymourensis	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Valid	George G. Simpson	Eocene	Seymour Island	Antarctica	A basal Spheniscidae, this is the type species of the new species.

Newly named pterosaurs

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Araripesaurus	gen et sp nov	Valid	Price	Early Cretaceous	Santana Formation	Brazil	an ornithocheirid
Sordes	gen et sp nov	Valid	Sharov	Late Jurassic	Karabastau Svita	Kazakhstan	possible rhamphorhynchid	Sordes pilosus