2006 in paleontology

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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 2006.

Plants

Pteridophyta

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Wessiea oroszii	Sp nov	Valid	Serbet & Rothwell	Campanian	Horseshoe Canyon Formation	Canada	A fern of uncertain affinity

Arthropods

Insects

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Avitomyrmex	Gen et sp. nov	valid	Archibald, Cover, & Moreau	Ypresian	Unnamed Formation, Kamloops Group	Canada	New bulldog ant genus with three species
Emiliana	Trib, Gen, et sp. nov	valid	Shcherbakov	Lutetian	Parachute Member, Green River Formation	USA	oldest member of Tropiduchidae
Feroseta	Gen et sp nov	valid	Poinar	Burdigalian	Dominican amber	Dominican Republic	A mantidfly, type sp. F. prisca
Macabeemyrma	Gen et sp. nov	valid	Archibald, Cover, & Moreau	Ypresian	Unnamed Formation, Kamloops Group	Canada	New bulldog ant genus with a single species
Ypresiomyrma	Gen et sp. nov & sp nov comb	valid	Archibald, Cover, & Moreau	Ypresian	Fur, Unnamed, & Klondike Mountain Formations	Denmark Canada USA	New bulldog ant genus, Y. orbiculata, Y. bartletti, Y. rebekkae

Tetrapodomorphs

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Tiktaalik	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Daeschler, Shubin, & Jenkins	Late Devonian	Fram Formation	Canada	Type species T. roseae.	Tiktaalik roseae

Amphibians

Newly named temnospondylians

Name	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Iberospondylus	Valid	Laurin Soler-Gijon	Late Carboniferous		Spain	The type species is Iberospondylus schultzei.	File:Trematolestes12DB.jpg Trematolestes
Tirraturhinus	Valid	Nield Damiani Warren	Early Triassic	Arcadia Formation	Australia	The type species is Tirraturhinus smisseni.
Trematolestes	Valid	Schoch	Middle Triassic	Erfurt Formation	Germany	The type species is Trematolestes hagdorni.

Newly named amphibians

Name	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Pangerpeton	Valid	Wang Evans	Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous	Daohugou Beds	China	The type species is Pangerpeton sinensis.

Ichthyosaurs

Name	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Maiaspondylus	Valid	Maxwell Caldwell	Early Cretaceous	Loon River Formation	Canada	The type species is Maiaspondylus lindoei.

Lepidosauromorphs

Newly named basal lepidosauromorphs

Name	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Rautiania	Valid	Bulanov Sennikov	Late Permian	Vyasovka Formation	Russia	Two species was descript: Rautiania alexandri (type) and R. minchi.

Newly named plesiosaurs

Name	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Bobosaurus	Valid	Dalla Vecchia	Late Triassic	Rio del Lago Formation	Italy	The type species is Bobosaurus forojuliensis.
Futabasaurus	Valid	Sato Hasegawa Manabe	Late Cretaceous	Tamayama Formation	Japan	The type species is Futabasaurus suzukii.
Opallionectes	Valid	Kear	Early Cretaceous		Australia	The type species is Opallionectes andamookaensis.
Umoonasaurus	Valid	Kear Schroeder Lee	Early Cretaceous	Bulldog Shale	Australia	The type species is Umoonasaurus demoscyllus.

Newly named squamates

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Najash	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Apesteguia & Zaher	Late Cretaceous	Candeleros Formation	Argentina	Type sp N rionegrina.

Archosauromorphs

Newly named crurotarsans

Name	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Adamantinasuchus	Valid	Nobre Carvalho	Late Cretaceous	Adamantina Formation	Brazil	A notosuchian. The type species is Adamantinasuchus navae.	File:Adamantinasuchus BW.jpg Adamantinasuchus Effigia Isisfordia
Aldabrachampsus	Valid	Brochu	Pleistocene		Seychelles	A crocodylid. The type species is Aldabrachampsus dilophus.
Effigia	Valid	Nesbitt Norell	Late Triassic	Chinle Formation	USA	A rauisuchian. The type species is Effigia okeeffeae.
Isisfordia	Valid	Salisbury Molnar Frey Willis	Early-Late Cretaceous	Winton Formation	Australia	A eusuchian. The type species is Isisfordia duncani.

Newly named dinosaurs

• Vickaryous, M K., 2006, New information on the cranial anatomy of Edmontonia rugosidens Gilmore, a Late Cretaceous nodosaurid dinosaur from Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta: JVP, v. 26, n. 4: 1011-1013.

Data coutersy of George Olshevky's dinosaur genera list.

Name	Status	Authors		Notes	Images
Adamantisaurus	Valid taxon	Rodrigo Santucci	Reinaldo Jose Bertini		Agujaceratops Dracorex Europasaurus Guanlong File:Juravenator BW.jpg Juravenator Mantellisaurus File:Mapusaurus BW.jpg Mapusaurus Othnielosaurus Theiophytalia Tsaagan Yamaceratops Yinlong
Agujaceratops	Valid taxon	Spencer G. Lucas Sullivan	Hunt
Alaskacephale	Valid taxon	Sullivan
Aniksosaurus	Valid taxon	Martínez	Novas
Antarctopelta.	Valid taxon	Salgado	Gasparini
Balochisaurus	Valid taxon	Malkani
"Bayosaurus"	Nomen nudum	Rodolfo Coria Phillip J. Currie	Paulina Carabajal
Cedrorestes	Valid taxon	David Gilpin Tony DiCroce	Kenneth Carpenter
Dracorex	Valid taxon	Robert Bakker Sullivan Porter	Larson Saulsbury
Dracovenator	Valid taxon	Yates
Erketu	Valid taxon	Ksepka	Mark Norell
Europasaurus	Valid taxon	Mateus Laven Knötschke vide: Sander Mateus	Laven Knötschke
Fusuisaurus	Valid taxon	Mo Wang W. Huang Z.	Huang X. Xu X.
Guanlong	Valid taxon	Xu Xing Clark Forster Mark Norell	Erickson Eberth Jia C. Zhao Q.
Huanghetitan.	Valid taxon	You Li D.	Zhou L. Ji Q.
Jiutaisaurus	Valid taxon	Wu W. H. Dong Zhiming Sun	Li C. Li T.
Juravenator	Valid taxon	Göhlich	Luis M. Chiappe
Khetranisaurus	Valid taxon	Malkani
Koutalisaurus	Valid taxon	Prieto-Marquez Gaete Rivas	Galobart Boada
Ligabuesaurus	Valid taxon	Jose Bonaparte González-Riga (as González Riga)	Apesteguía
Mantellisaurus	Valid taxon	Paul
Mapusaurus	Valid taxon	Rodolfo Coria	Phillip J. Currie
Marisaurus	Valid taxon	Malkani
Maxakalisaurus	Valid taxon	Kellner Campos Azevedo Trotta	Henriques Craik Silva
"Moabosaurus"	Nomen nudum	Britt vide: Anonymous		The name was published in The Gigantic Dinosaur Expo 2006 Official Guidebook.
Othnielosaurus	Valid taxon	Peter Galton
Pakisaurus	Valid taxon	Malkani
Razanandrongobe	Valid taxon	Maganuco Dal Sasso	Pasini	Described by the authors as a possible crocodylomorph or theropod.
Sacisaurus	Valid taxon	Ferigolo	Langer
Sonidosaurus	Valid taxon	Xu X. Zhang X. H. Tan Q.	Zhao X. Tan L.
Sulaimanisaurus	Valid taxon	Malkani
Theiophytalia	Valid taxon	Brill	Carpenter
Tsaagan	Valid taxon	Mark Norell Clark Turner	Makovicky Rinchen Barsbold Rowe
Turiasaurus	Valid taxon	Royo-Torres Cobos	Alcalá
Vitakridrinda.	Valid taxon	Malkani
Xuanhuaceratops	Valid taxon	Zhao X. Cheng Z.	Xu X. Makovicky
Yamaceratops	Valid taxon	Makovicky	Mark Norell
Yinlong	Valid taxon	Xu X. Forster	Clark Mo
Yuanmousaurus	Valid taxon	Lü Li S. Ji Q.	Wang G. F. Zhang J. H. Dong Zhiming
Zapalasaurus	Valid taxon	Salgado Carvalho	Garrido

Newly named birds

Name	Status	Novelty	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Abdounornis marinus	Nomen Nudum	Thesis name	Bourdon	Early Ypresian		Morocco	A species of Charadriiformes, Abdounornithidae.
Aequornis traversei	Nomen Nudum	Thesis name	Bourdon	Middle Eocene		Togo	A species of Pelagornithidae.
Anas cheuen	Valid	Sp. nov.	Agnolín	Early or Middle Pleistocene	Miramar Formation	Argentina	A species of Anas.
Archaeorhynchus spathula	Valid	Gen et Sp. nov.	Zhonghe & Fucheng	Early Cretaceous	Yixian Formation	China	An Ornithurae, type sp A. spathula.
Branta thessaliensis	Valid	Sp. nov.	Boev & Koufos	Middle Turolian		Greece	An Anatidae.
Cerebavis cenomanica	Valid	Gen. et Sp. nov.	Kurochkin, Saveliev, Postnov, Pervushov, & Popov	Cenomanian		Russia	An Enantiornithes, described from a brain endocast.
Corvitalusoides	Valid	Gen. et Sp. nov.	Boles	Late Oligocene or Early Miocene	Riversleigh	Australia: Queensland	A Passeriformes Incertae Sedis. Type species C. grandiculus
Cyanoliseus patagonopsis	Valid	Sp. nov.	Hospitaleche & Tambussi	Pleistocene	Miramar Formation	Argentina	A Psittacidae.
Dalingheornis	Valid	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Zhang, Hou, Hasegawa, O'Connor, Martin, & Chiappe	Early Cretaceous	Yixian Formation	China	An Enantiornithes, type species is Dal. liweii.
Dapingfangornis	Valid	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Li, Duan, Hu, Wang, Cheng, & Hou	Early Cretaceous	Jiufotang Formation	China	An Enantiornithes, type species Dap. sentisorhinus
Didunculus placopedetes	Valid	Sp. nov.	Steadman	Subrecent	‘Eua	Tonga	A Columbidae.
Ducula harrisoni	Valid	Sp. nov.	Wragg & Worthy	Subrecent	Henderson Island	Pitcairn	A Columbidae.
Eclectus infectus	Valid	Sp. nov.	Steadman	Holocene	‘Eua, ‘Anatu	Vanuatu	A Psittacidae.
Gallirallus ernstmayri	Valid	Sp. nov.	Jeremy J. Kirchman & Steadman	Holocene	New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago	Papua New Guinea	A Rallidae.
Gallirallus pendiculentus	Valid	Sp. nov.	Kirchman & Steadman	Holocene	Tinian	Northern Mariana Islands	A Rallidae.
Gallirallus pisonii	Valid	Sp. nov.	Kirchman & Steadman	Holocene	Tinian	Northern Mariana Islands	A Rallidae.
Gallirallus storrsolsoni	Valid	Sp. nov.	Kirchman & Steadman	Holocene	Huahine, Society Islands	French Polynesia	A Rallidae.
Gallirallus temptatus	Valid	Sp. nov.	Kirchman & Steadman	Holocene	Rota	Northern Mariana Islands	A Rallidae.
Jungornis geraldmayri	Valid	Sp. nov.	Mourer-Chauviré & Sigé	Late Eocene	Phosphorites du Quercy	France	A Jungornithidae
Loxioides kikuchi	Valid	Sp. nov.	James & Olson	Subrecent	Kaua’i, Hawaii Islands	USA	An Fringillidae
Masillaraptor	Valid	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Mayr	Middle Eocene	Messel pit	Germany	A Masillaraptoridae, type species M. parvunguis
Nyctanassa carcinocatactes	Valid	Sp. nov.	Olson & Wingate	Holocene	Bermuda	Bermuda	An Ardeidae.
Odontopteryx gigas	Nomen Nudum	Thesis name	Bourdon	Early Ypresian		Morocco	A Odontopterygidae
Odontoptila inexpectata	Nomen Nudum	Thesis name	Bourdon	Early Ypresian		Morocco	A Odontopterygidae
Pleistoanser	Valid	Gen. et Sp. nov.	Agnolín	Early or Middle Pleistocene	Miramar Formation	Argentina	A Anatidae. Type species is P. bravardi.
Plesiocathartes major	Valid	Sp. nov.	Weidig	Late Wasatchian	Green River Formation	USA	A Leptosomidae.
Plesiocathartes wyomingensis	Valid	Sp. nov.	Weidig	Green River Formation	USA	A Leptosomidae.
Porphyrio mcnabi	Valid	Sp. nov.	Kirchman & Steadman	Holocene	Huahine, Fa’ahia, Society Islands	French Polynesia	A Rallidae.
Pygoscelis calderensis	Valid	Sp. nov.	Hospitaleche, Chávez, & Fritis	Late Miocene-Middle Pliocene	Bahia Inglesa Formation	Chile	A Spheniscidae.
Pygoscelis grandis	Valid	Sp. nov.	Walsh & Suárez	?Early Pliocene	Bahia Inglesa Formation	Chile	A Spheniscidae.
Shanxiornis	Valid	Gen. et Sp. nov.	Wang, Zhao, Hu, & Sun	Early Pleistocene	Sanmen Formation	China	A Phasianidae, type species is S. fenyinis
Tonniornis	Valid	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Tambussi, Hospitaleche, Reguero, & Marenssi	Late Eocene	La Meseta Formation	Antarctica	A Spheniscidae, two species T. mesetaensis & T. minimum
Waimanu	Valid	Gen. nov. et Sp. nov.	Slack, Jones, Ando, Harrison, Fordyce, Arnason, & Penny	Early Paleocene	Basic Waipara Greensand	New Zealand	A stem Spheniscidae, two species Wa. manneringi & Wa. tuatahi
Wieslochia	Valid	Gen. et Sp. nov.	Mayr & Manegold	Rupelian		Germany	An early Passeriformes Incertae Sedis, type species is Wi. weissi

Newly named pterosaurs

Name	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Cathayopterus	Valid	Wang Zhou	Early Cretaceous	Yixian Formation	China	A pterodactyloid. The type species is Cathayopterus grabaui.
Caviramus	Valid	Fröbisch Fröbisch	Late Triassic	Kössen Formation	Switzerland	A rhamphorhynchoid. The type specie sis Caviramus schesaplanensis.
Longchengpterus	Valid	Wang Li Duan Cheng	Early Cretaceous	Jiufotang Formation	China	A pterodactyloid. The type species is Longchengpterus zhoai.
Muzquizopteryx	Valid	Frey Buchy Stinnesbeck Gonzalez Stefano	Late Cretaceous	Austin Group	Mexico	The type species is Muzquizopteryx coahuilensis.
Yixianopterus	Valid	Lü Ji Yuan Gao Sun Ji	Early Cretaceous	Yixian Formation	China	A pterodactyloid. The type species is Yixianopterus jingangshanensis.

Synapsids

Non-mammalian

Name	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Herpetoskylax	Valid	Sidor Rubidge	Late Permian		South Africa	The type species is Herpetoskylax hopsoni.
Elliotherium	Valid	Sidor Hancox	Upper Triassic	Lower Elliot Formation	South Africa	The type species is Elliotherium kerstenae (emmend.).
Idelesaurus	Valid	Kurkin	Upper Permian		Russia	The type species is Idelisaurus tataricus.
Langbergia	Valid	Abdala Neveling Welman	Early Triassic	Burgersdorp Formation	South Africa	The type species is Langbergia modisei.
Nanogomphodon	Valid	Hopson Sues	Middle Triassic	Erfurt Formation	Germany	The type species is Nanogomphodon wildi.
Oromycter	Valid	Reisz	Early Permian		USA	The type species is Oromycter dolesorum.
Pachydectes	Valid	Rubidge Sidor Modesto	Middle Permian	Koonap Formation	South Africa	The type species is Pachydectes elsi.
Paraburnetia	Valid	Smith Rubidge Sidor	Upper Permian	Teekloof Formation	South Africa	The type species is Paraburnetia sneeubergensis.
Protheriodon	Valid	Bonaparte, Soares, & Schultz	Middle Triassic	Santa Maria Formation	Brazil	Type sp P. estudianti.