Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoriclife 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 1997.
A mekosuchine crocodilian and species of Pallimnarchus, described as having been more gracile than Pallimnarchus pollens. The species is valid, but now placed in the genus Paludirex.
Paleontologist Karen Chin received a coprolite that was excavated during 1995 from strata dating back to the Maastrichtian in Saskatchewan, Canada. The specimen was about 17 inches (44 cm) long and contained fragments of bone. Due to its size, contents and age, the coprolite was believed to have been the remains of Tyrannosaurus rex feces. This discovery was announced in a 1998 paper published in the journal Nature.
A Saharan expedition under the leadership of Paul Sereno yielded fruit when a team member stumbled on the bones and skull of Nigersaurus taqueti. During this and a subsequent 1999 expedition about 80% of the animal's skeleton were discovered. Later in the year of the second expedition, a formal description of the animal was published.
French paleontologist Philippe Taquet reported the finding of fossilized theropod embryos preserved in Portuguese dinosaur eggs. These eggs were from the Jurassic period dating to about 140 million years ago, nearly twice as old as any previously recovered dinosaur embryos, which had only been known from about 70 million years ago in Late Cretaceous strata.
A member of Enantiornithes Walker, 1981. Originally described as a species of Cathayornis;[25] subsequently made the type species of a separate genus Houornis.[26]
Genetecist Michael Hammer reported findings that demonstrate that after the initial "out of Africa" radiation of modern humans at about 100,000 years ago, some humans eventually returned to Africa between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago.
^Gini-Newman, Garfield; Graham, Elizabeth (2001). Echoes from the past: world history to the 16th century. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. ISBN9780070887398. OCLC46769716.
^LePage, B. A.; Currah, R. S.; Stockey, R. A.; Rothwell, G. W. (1997). "Fossil ectomycorrhizae from the middle Eocene". American Journal of Botany. 84 (3): 410–412. doi:10.2307/2446014. JSTOR2446014. PMID21708594. S2CID29913925.
^Nel, A.; Arillo, A.; Martínez-Delclòs, X. (1996). "New fossil Odonata (Insecta) from the upper Miocene of France and Spain (Anisoptera and Zygoptera)". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. 199 (2): 167–219. doi:10.1127/njgpa/199/1996/167.
^ abBechly, G.; Makarkin, V. N. (2016). "A new gigantic lacewing species (Insecta: Neuroptera) from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil confirms the occurrence of Kalligrammatidae in the Americas". Cretaceous Research. 58: 135–140. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2015.10.014.
^Dong, Z.M. and Y. Azuma. 1997. On a primitive neoceratopsian from the Early Cretaceous. In: Sino-Japanese Slik Road Dinosaur Expedition (Z.M. Dong, ed.). China Ocean Press, Beijing: pp. 68-89.
^Carpenter, K. 1997. A giant coelophysoid (Ceratosauria) theropod from the Upper Triassic of New Mexico, USA. Neües Jahrbuch fur Geologie und Palaontologie, Abhandlungen, 205 (2): pp. 189-208.
^Dong, Z.-M. 1997. A Gigantic Sauropod (Hudiesaurus sinojapanorum gen. et. sp. nov.) from the Turpan Basin, China. In: Sino-Japanese Silk Road Dinosaur Expedition (Z.-M. Dong, ed.). China Ocean Press: pp. 102-110.
^Ji, Q. and S. Ji. 1997. A Chinese archaeopterygian, Protarchaeopteryx gen. nov. Geological Science and Technology (Di Zhi Ke Ji) 238 (1997): pp. 38-41.
^Barsbold, 1997 vide Osmolska, H., P.J. Currie, and B. Barsbold. 2004. Oviraptorosauria, Chapter Eight: Holtz, T. R., Jr (2004)
Tyrannosauroidea; Chapter Five. In: The Dinosauria (2nd edition, D.B. Weishampel, P. Dodson, and H. Osmolska, eds.). California University Press: pp. 165-183.
^Dong, Z.-M. 1997. A small ornithopod from Mazongshan area, Gansu Province, China. In: Sino-Japanese Silk Road Dinosaur Expedition (Z.-M. Dong, ed.). China Ocean Press, Beijing: pp. 24–26.
^ abcdefghHou Lianhai (1997). "Mesozoic Birds of China"(PDF). Natou, Taiwan: Taiwan Feng Huang Gu Bird Garden, English Translation: 1–153.
^Min Wang; Di Liu (2015). "Taxonomical reappraisal of Cathayornithidae (Aves: Enantiornithes)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 14: 1–19. doi:10.1080/14772019.2014.994087. S2CID86665059.
^Robert F. Baird; Patricia Vickers Rich (1997). "Eutreptodactylus itaboraiensis Gen. et Sp. Nov., an Early Cuckoo (Aves: Cuculidae) from the Late Paleocene of Brazil". Alcheringa. 21 (2): 123–127. doi:10.1080/03115519708619179.
^ abTim T. Tokaryk; Stephen L. Cumbaa; John E. Storer (1997). "Early Cretaceous Birds from Saskatchewan, Canada, the Oldest Avifauna Known from North-America". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 17 (1): 172–176. doi:10.1080/02724634.1997.10010961.
^Trevor H. Worthy (1997). "A Mid-Pleistocene Rail from New Zealand". Alcheringa. 21 (1): 71–78. doi:10.1080/03115519708619186.
^Amadeo M. Rea (1997). "The Indeterminate Parrot of Nuevo León". In: A. R. Phillips & R. W. Dickerman (Comp.): The Era of Allan R. Phillips; A Festschrift Albuquerque, New Mexico, Horizon Communications, Robert Dickerman: 167–176.
^Karlheinz Fischer (1997). "Neue Vogelfunde aus dem Mittleren Oligozän des Weißelsterbeckens bei Leipzig (Sachsen)". Mauritiana. 16: 271–288.
^Steven M. Goodman (1997). "Description of a New Species of Subfossil Lapwing (Aves: Charadriiformes, Charadriidae, Vanellus) from Madagascar". Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, Section C. Série 4. 18 (1): 607–614.
^Aleksandr A. Karkhu (1997). "A New Species of Urmiornis (Gruiformes: Ergilornithidae) from the Early Miocene of Western Kazakhstan". Paleontological Journal. 31: 102–107.
^ abcJohnson, Steven C. & Madden, Richard H. 1997. Uruguaytheriinae Astrapotheres of Tropical South America. Chapter 22 in Vertebrate Paleontology in the Neotropics. The Miocene Fauna of La Venta, Colombia. Edited by Richard F. Kay, Richard H. Madden, Richard L. Cifelli, and John J. Flynn. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington and London.
Carpenter, K. (1997) Ankylosaurs. In J.O. farlow and M.K. Brett-Surman (eds.), The complete dinosaur, pp. 307–316. Bloomington Indiana University Press.
Xu, X. (1997) A new psittacosaur (Psittacosaurus mazongshanensis sp. nov.) from Mazongshan area, Gansu province, China. In. Z.-M. Dong (ed.), Sino-Japanese Silk Road Dinosaur Expedition, pp. 48–67. Institute of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology Academia Sinica. Beijing: China Ocean Press.
Sanders F, Manley K, Carpenter K. Gastroliths from the Lower Cretaceous sauropod Cedarosaurus weiskopfae. In: Tanke D.H, Carpenter K, editors. Mesozoic vertebrate life: new research inspired by the paleontology of Philip J. Currie. Indiana University Press; Bloomington, IN: 2001. pp. 166–180.