1968 in paleontology

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 1968.

Flora

Ferns and fern allies

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Location	Notes	Images
Allantodiopsis pugetensis[2]	Sp nov	valid	Wolfe	Middle Eocene	Puget Group "Lower Fultonian"	USA Washington	A dryopteridaceous fern	Allantodiopsis pugetensis

Angiosperms

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Location	Notes	Images
Alnus kluckingi[2]	Sp nov	valid	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Upper Ravenian"	Puget Group "below Kummer sandstone bed" Loc 9837	USA Washington	A alder species.
Anacardites franklinensis[2]	Sp nov	valid	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Lower Fultonian"	Roslyn Formation	USA Washington	A cashew foliage form genus.
Artocarpoides kummerensis[2]	Sp nov	jr synonym	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Upper Ravenian"	Puget Group "below Cashman bed" Loc 9731	USA Washington	A dicot of uncertain affinity. Moved to Dicotylophyllum kummerensis (1977)[3] Moved to Republica kummerensis (1987)[4]
Artocarpoides litseafolia[2]	Comb nov	jr synonym	(MacGinitie) Wolfe	Eocene Ypresian	Ione Formation "Chalk Bluff Flora" Loc P3324	USA California	A dicot of uncertain affinity. Moved from Lauropliyllum litseafolia (1941)[5] Moved to Dicotylophyllum litseafolia (1969). Moved to Republica litseafolia (1987)[4]
Calkinsia[2]	Gen et sp nov	valid	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Upper Ravenian"	Puget Group "below Cashman bed" Loc 9731	USA Washington	A moon seed relative. The type species is C. franklinensis
Camellia multiforma[2]	Comb nov	valid	(Potbury) Wolfe	Latest Eocene-Earliest Oligocene	La Porte Tuff	USA California	A Camellia species. Moved from Euphorbiophyllum multiformum (1935)[6]
Carya cashmanensis[2]	Sp nov	valid	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Upper Ravenian"	Puget Group "below Cashman bed" Loc 9731	USA Washington	A hickory relative.
Carya pugetensis[2]	Sp nov	valid	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Upper Ravenian"	Puget Group "below Kummer sandstone bed" Loc 9680	USA Washington	A hickory relative.
Castanopsis franklinensis[2]	Sp. nov	valid	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Lower Fultonian"	Puget Group "Above Franklin bed 12" Loc 9678	USA Washington	A chinquapin species.
Cladrastis pugetensis[2]	Sp. nov	valid	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Upper Ravenian"	Puget Group "below Cashman bed" Loc 9731	USA Washington	A Cladrastis species legume.
Dryophyllum pugetensis[2]	Sp. nov	valid	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Lower Ravenian"	Puget Group "Between Ravensdale beds 3 & 4" Loc 9694	USA Washington	A Dryophyllum species.
Fothergilla durhamensis[2]	Sp. nov	jr synonym	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Upper Fultonian"	Puget Group "Below Durham bed 1" Loc 9832	USA Washington	A platanaceous species. Moved to Platimeliphyllum durhamensis in (2022)[7]
Goweria[2]	Gen et 2 Sp. nov	valid	Wolfe	Eocene		USA Oregon	A icacinaceous genus. The type species is "Benzoin" dilleri (1900). The genus also includes G. linearis.
Hyperbaena dilleri[2]	Comb nov	Jr synonym	(Knowlton) Wolfe	Eocene		USA Oregon	A moon seed relative. Moved from "Benzoin" dilleri (1900). Moved to Calkinsia dilleri (1977)[3]
Hypserpa cashmanensis[2]	Gen et sp nov	valid	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Upper Ravenian"	Puget Group "below Cashman bed" Loc 9731	USA Washington	A Hypserpa species moon seed.
Hypserpa cashmanensis[2]	Sp nov	valid	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Upper Ravenian"	Puget Group "below Cashman bed" Loc 9731	USA Washington	A Hypserpa species moon seed.
Hypserpa franklinensis[2]	Sp nov	valid	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Lower Fultonian"	Puget Group "Above Franklin bed 12" Loc 9678	USA Washington	A Hypserpa species moon seed.
Macaranga pugetensis[2]	Sp. nov	valid	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Upper Ravenian"	Puget Group "below Cashman bed" Loc 9731	USA Washington	A Macaranga species euphorbe.
Macclintockia pugetensis[2]	Sp nov	valid	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Upper Kummerian"	Puget Group Renton Formation Loc 9688	USA Washington	A Macclintockia species.
Pterocarya pugetensis[2]	Sp. nov	valid	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Upper Ravenian"	Puget Group "below Kummer sandstone bed" Loc 9837	USA Washington	A wingnut species.
"Pugetia"[2]	Gen et sp nov	homonym	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Upper Fultonian"	Puget Group "Green River canyon, above vein 12" Loc 1963	USA Washington	A possible hickory relative. The type species is "P". longifolia Junior homonym of Pugetia Kylin, 1925
Rhamnites cashmanensis[2]	Sp nov	jr synonym	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Upper Ravenian"	Puget Group "below Cashman bed" Loc 9731	USA Washington	identified as a Rhamnites buckthorn foliage. Moved to Parashorea cashmanensis (1977)[3]
Rhamnites franklinensis[2]	Sp nov	valid	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Lower Fultonian"	Puget Group "Above Franklin bed 12" Loc 9678	USA Washington	A Rhamnites buckthorn foliage.
Ternstroemites ravenensis[2]	Sp nov	valid	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Lower Ravenian"	Puget Group "Between Ravensdale beds 3 & 4" Loc 9694	USA Washington	A Ternstroemites theaceous foliage.
Viburnum pugetensis[2]	Sp nov	valid	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Lower Fultonian"	Puget Group "Above Franklin bed 12" Loc 9678	USA Washington	A Viburnum species.
Vinea[2]	Gen et sp nov	valid	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Upper Fultonian"	Puget Group "Below Durham bed 1" Loc 9832	USA Washington	A walnut relative. Also noted from the Roslyn Formation.
Willisia[2]	Gen et sp nov	Jr homonym	Wolfe	Late Eocene "Upper Fultonian"	Puget Group "Below Durham bed 1" Loc 9832	USA Washington	A linden relative. Jr homonym of Willisia Warming 1901. Renamed Plafkeria in (1977) The type species is "W." rentonensis

Arthropods

Insects

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Eriocampa tulameenensis[8]	sp nov	Valid	Rice	Early Eocene	Allenby Formation	Canada British Columbia	A Tenthredinidae sawfly	Eriocampa tulameenensis
Pseudosiobla campbelli[8]	sp nov	Valid	Rice	Early Eocene	Horsefly Shales	Canada British Columbia	A Tenthredinidae sawfly	Pseudosiobla campbelli

Conodonts

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Location	Notes	Images
Neognathodus	gen nov	Valid taxon	David L. Dunn	Pennsylvanian	Brazil China Egypt Mexico

Archosauriformes

Dinosaurs

Taxon	Novelty	Status	Author(s)	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Aralosaurus tuberiferus[9]	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Rozhdestvensky	Santonian	Bostobe Svita	Kazakhstan	A hadrosaur
Procheneosaurus convincens[9]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Rozhdestvensky	Santonian	Dabrazinskaya Svita	Kazakhstan	A species of Procheneosaurus, later given the genus name Kazaklambia

Birds

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country	Notes	Images
Aethia rossmoori [10]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Howard	Late Miocene		USA ( California)	An Alcidae.
Alauda jordanica [11]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Tchernov	Middle Pleistocene	Ubeidiya Formation	Israel	An Alaudidae.
Alcodes [10]	Gen et sp nov.	Valid	Howard	Late Miocene?		USA	An Alcidae, type species A. ulnulus
Bathornis fricki [12]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Cracraft	Early Miocene		USA ( Wyoming)	A Bathornithid
Buteo circoides [13]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Kurochkin	Middle Oligocene	Tatal-Gol	Mongolia	An Accipitridae.
Coturnicops avita [14]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Feduccia	Late Pliocene	Glenns Ferry Formation	USA ( Idaho)	A Rallidae.
Cygnavus formosus [15]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Kurochkin	Late Eocene	Zaysan Bassin	Kazakhstan	An Anatidae.
"Cygnopterus" lambrechti[15]	Sp. nov.	valid	Kurochkin	Middle Oligocene	Kustovskaya	Kazakhstan	Phoenicopteriformes Incertae Sedis
Fulica stekelesi [11]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Tchernov	Middle Pleistocene	Ubeidiya Formation	Israel	A Rallidae.
Fulmarus hammeri [10]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Howard	Late Miocene		USA ( California)	A Procellariidae.
Gobihierax [13]	Gen et Sp. nov.	Valid	Kurochkin	Middle Oligocene	Tatal-Gol	Mongolia	An Accipitridae, Type sp G. edax
Guguschia nailiae [16]	Sp. nov.	Invalid[17]	Aslanova & Burchak-Abramovich	Middle Oligocene	Maykopian Clay	Azerbaijan	A Swan, Anatidae.
Laterallus insignis [14]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Feduccia	Late Pliocene	Rexroad Formation	USA ( Kansas)	A Rallidae.
Limicorallus [15]	Gen. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Kurochkin	Middle Oligocene-Miocene	Myn-Say Gorge	Kazakhstan	A Phalacrocoracidae, type species L. saiensis.
Megaegotheles [18]	Gen. et sp. nov.	Jr synonym	Scarlett	Pleistocene-modern		New Zealand	An Aegothelidae, type sp M. novaezealandiae, jr syn of Aegotheles.[19]
Megagallinula [15]	Gen. et Sp. nov.	Valid	Kurochkin	Middle Oligocene	Kur-Say Gorge	Kazakhstan	A Rallidae. type sp. M. harundinea
Melanocorypha gracilis [11]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Tchernov	Middle Pleistocene	Ubeidiya Formation	Israel	An Alaudidae.
Palaeorallus alienus [13]	Sp. nov.	nomen dubium	Kurochkin	Middle Oligocene	Tatal-Gol	Mongolia	A possible Rallidae,
Paracrax gigantea[20]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Cracraft	Late Oligocene	Brule Formation	USA ( South Dakota)	A Bathornithidae
Paracrax wetmorei [20]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Cracraft	Late Oligocene	Brule Formation	USA ( South Dakota)	A Bathornithidae
Petronia brevirostris [11]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Tchernov	Middle Pleistocene	Ubeidiya Formation	Israel	A Passeridae.
Puffinus calhouni [10]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Howard	Late Miocene		USA ( California)	A Procellariidae.
Tutor dementievi [13]	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Kurochkin	Middle Oligocene	Tatal-Gol	Mongolia	An Accipitridae, jr syn of Venerator dementievi

Sauropterygians

Plesiosaurs

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Location	Notes	Images
Ceraunosaurus	Gen et sp nov	jr synonym	Thurmond	Late Cretaceous			junior synonym of Trinacromerum

Synapsids

Mammaliformes

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Location	Notes	Images
Megazostrodon	Gen et sp nov	Valid	Crompton & Jenkins	Early Jurassic	Elliot Formation	Lesotho	A megazostrodontid morganucodont	Megazostrodon

References

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.
2. Wolfe, J.A. (1968). Paleogene Biostratigraphy of nonmarine rocks in King County, Washington (Report). Professional Paper. Vol. 571. United States Geological Survey. pp. 1–29. doi:10.3133/pp571.
3. Wolfe, J.A. (1977). Paleogene floras from the Gulf of Alaska region (Report). Professional Paper. Vol. 997. United States Geological Survey. pp. 1–108. doi:10.3133/pp997.
4. Wolfe, J.A.; Wehr, W.C. (1987). Middle Eocene dicotyledonous plants from Republic, northeastern Washington (Report). Bulletin. Vol. 1597. United States Geological Survey. pp. 1–25. doi:10.3133/b1597.
5. MacGinitie, H.D. (1941). A Middle Eocene Flora from the Central Sierra Nevada (Report). Contributions to Paleontology. Vol. 534. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution of Washington. p. 116.
6. Potbury, S.S. (1935). "The La Porte flora of Plumas County, California". Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication. 63 (5): 29–82.
7. Huegele, I.B.; Zhu, H.; Zhao, B.; Wang, Y.-F.; Manchester, S. R. (2021). "Trans-Beringial Distribution of Platimeliphyllum (Platanaceae) in the Eocene of Eastern Asia and Western North America". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 183 (2): 139–153. doi:10.1086/717692. S2CID 239529168.
8. Rice, H.M.A. (1968). "Two Tertiary sawflies, (Hymenoptera - Tenthredinidae), from British Columbia". Geological Survey of Canada. 67 (59): 1–21.
9. Rozhdestvensky, A.K. (1968). "Гадрозавры Казахстана" [Hadrosaurs of Kazakhstan]. In Tatarinov, L.P. (ed.). Верхнепалеозойские и мезозойские земноводные и пресмыкающиеся СССР [Upper Paleozoic and Mesozoic amphibians and reptiles of the USSR] (in Russian). Академии наук СССР. pp. 97–141.
10. Howard, H (1968). "Tertiary Birds from Laguna Hills, Orange County, California" (PDF). Museum of Natural History of Los Angeles County, Contributions in Science. 142: 1–21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-07. Retrieved 2014-12-03.
11. Tchernov, E (1968). "A Preliminary Investigation of the Birds on the Pleistocene Deposits of Ubeidia". Publications of the Israel Academy of Science and Humanities. 1968: 1–44.
12. Cracraft, J (1968). "A Review of the Bathornithidae (Aves: Gruiformes), with Remarks on the Relationships of the Suborder Cariamae" (PDF). American Museum Novitates (2326): 1–46.
13. Kurochkin, EN (1968). "[Fossil Remains of Birds from Mongolia]". Ornithologiya. 9: 323–330.
14. Feduccia, A (1968). "The Pliocene Rails of North America" (PDF). Auk. 85 (July): 441–453. doi:10.2307/4083293. JSTOR 4083293.
15. Kurochkin, EN (1968). "New Oligocene Birds from Kazakhstan". Paleontological Journal. 2: 83–90.
16. Aslanova, SM; Burchak-Abramovich, NI (1968). "A Fossil Swan from the Maykopian Series of Azerbaydzhan". Acta Zoologica Cracovensis. 13 (14): 325–338.
17. Mayr, Gerald (2009). Paleogene fossil birds. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 978-3-540-89627-2. OCLC 302080522.
18. Scarlett, RJ (1968). "An Owlet-Nightjar from New-Zealand" (PDF). Notornis. 15: 254–266. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2014-12-04.
19. Storrs L. Olson, Jean Chr. Balouet & C. T. Fisher (1987). "The Owlet-Nightjar of New Caledonia, Aegotheles savesi, with Comments on the Systematics of the Aegothelidae". De Giervalk / Le Gerfaut. 77: 341–352.
20. Cracraft, J (1968). "A Review of the Bathornithidae (Aves: Gruiformes), with Remarks on the Relationships of the Suborder Cariamae" (PDF). American Museum Novitates (2326): 1–46.

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