2024 in paleontology
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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 2024.
| 2024 in science |
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| Fields |
| Technology |
| Social sciences |
| Paleontology |
| Extraterrestrial environment |
| Terrestrial environment |
| Other/related |
Flora[edit]
Plants[edit]
"Algae"[edit]
Phycological research[edit]
- Kiel et al. (2024) report the discovery of kelp holdfasts from the Oligocene strata in Washington State (United States), providing evidence of the presence of kelp in the northeastern Pacific Ocean since the earliest Oligocene.[2]
Arthropods[edit]
Molluscs[edit]
Echinoderms[edit]
New taxa[edit]
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Type locality | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Research[edit]
- A review of the early evolution of echinoderms is published by Rahman and Zamora (2024). [3]
- Bohatý et al. (2024) describe new fossil material of Monstrocrinus from the Devonian strata in Germany, and reinterpret Monstrocrinus as an attached, stalked echinoderm.[4]
Conodonts[edit]
New taxa[edit]
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Type locality | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Ssp. nov |
Valid |
Orchard & Golding |
Middle Triassic |
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|
Neogondolella excentrica sigmoidalis[5] |
Ssp. nov |
Valid |
Orchard & Golding |
Middle Triassic |
||||
|
Neogondolella quasiconstricta[5] |
Sp. nov |
Valid |
Orchard & Golding |
Middle Triassic |
||||
|
Neogondolella quasicornuta[5] |
Sp. nov |
Valid |
Orchard & Golding |
Middle Triassic |
Fish[edit]
Amphibians[edit]
New taxa[edit]
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Type locality | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Gen. et sp. nov |
Valid |
Werneburg et al. |
An eryopid temnospondyl. The type species is S. boldi. |
|||||
|
Gen. et sp. nov |
Valid |
Santos et al. |
Oligocene |
A typhlonectid caecilian. The type species is Y. acrux. |
Research[edit]
- A study on the affinities of Chinlestegophis jenkinsi is published by Marjanović et al. (2024), whose phylogenetic analysis doesn't support the interpretation of C. jenkinsi and stereospondyls in general as stem caecilians.[8]
- A diverse assemblage of amphibian fossils is described from the Miocene and Pliocene strata from the Hambach surface mine (Germany) by Villa, Macaluso & Mörs (2024), who interpret the studied fossils as indicative of a humid climate persisting in the area throughout the Neogene.[9]
Reptiles[edit]
Synapsids[edit]
Non-mammalian synapsids[edit]
New taxa[edit]
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Type locality | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Sp. nov |
Valid |
Martin et al. |
Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) |
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|
Gen. et sp. nov |
Averianov et al. |
Early Cretaceous |
A tegotheriid docodont. The type species is E. ichchi. |
Mammals[edit]
Other animals[edit]
New taxa[edit]
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Type locality | Location | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Gen. et sp. nov |
Zhao et al. |
Ediacaran |
Dengying Formation |
A possible member Trilobozoa. The type species is L. tribrachialis. |
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|
Gen. et sp. nov |
Park et al. |
Cambrian |
Sirius Passet Lagerstätte |
A member of the stem group of Chaetognatha. The type species is K. koprii. |
Other organisms[edit]
Research[edit]
- Demoulin et al. (2024) interpret Polysphaeroides filiformis from the Proterozoic Mbuji-Mayi Supergroup (Democratic Republic of the Congo) as a photosynthetic cyanobacterium representing the oldest unambiguous complex fossil member of Stigonemataceae known to date.[14]
- Evidence of preservation of thylakoid membranes within 1.78 to 1.73-billion-years-old fossils of Navifusa majensis from the McDermott Formation (Tawallah Group; Australia) and in 1.01 to 0,9-billion-years-old specimens from the Grassy Bay Formation (Shaler Supergroup; Canada) is reported by Demoulin et al. (2023).[15]
- A study on the depositional setting of the strata of the Diabaig and Loch na Dal formations (Scotland, United Kingdom) preserving approximately 1-billion-years-old eukaryotic microfossils is published by Nielson, Stüeken & Prave (2024), who interpret their findings as indicating that early eukaryotes from the studied formations lived in estuaries rather than lakes, and were likely exposed to frequently changing water conditions.[16]
History of life in general[edit]
- Evidence from calcareous nannofossils and small foraminifera from the Transylvanian Basin (Romania), interpreted as indicative of the appearance of a diverse continental vertebrate faunal assemblage on Hațeg Island by the second half of the late Campanian, presence of kogaionid multituberculates in the earliest known Hațeg faunas, and post-Campanian arrivial of hadrosauroids and titanosaur sauropods on the island, is presented by Bălc et al. (2024).[17]
References[edit]
- ^ 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.
- ^ Kiel, S.; Goedert, J. L.; Huynh, T. L.; Krings, M.; Parkinson, D.; Romero, R.; Looy, C. V (2024). "Early Oligocene kelp holdfasts and stepwise evolution of the kelp ecosystem in the North Pacific". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 121 (4). e2317054121. doi:10.1073/pnas.2317054121.
- ^ Rahman, I; Zamora, S (January 2, 2024). "Origin and Early Evolution of Echinoderms". Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences. 52. doi:10.1146/annurev-earth-031621-113343.
- ^ Bohatý, J.; Poschmann, M. J.; Müller, P.; Ausich, W. I. (2024). "Putting a crinoid on a stalk: new evidence on the Devonian diplobathrid camerate Monstrocrinus". Journal of Paleontology: 1–18. doi:10.1017/jpa.2023.84.
- ^ a b c d Orchard, M. J.; Golding, M. L. (2024). "The Neogondolella constricta (Mosher and Clark, 1965) group in the Middle Triassic of North America: speciation and distribution". Journal of Paleontology: 1–31. doi:10.1017/jpa.2023.52.
- ^ Werneburg, R.; Witzmann, F.; Rinehart, L.; Fischer, J.; Voigt, S. (2024). "A new eryopid temnospondyl from the Carboniferous–Permian boundary of Germany". Journal of Paleontology: 1–31. doi:10.1017/jpa.2023.58.
- ^ Santos, R. O.; Wilkinson, M.; Couto Ribeiro, G.; Carvalho, A. B.; Zaher, H. (2024). "The first fossil record of an aquatic caecilian (Gymnophiona: Typhlonectidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad188.
- ^ Marjanović, D.; Maddin, H. C.; Olori, J. C.; Laurin, M. (2024). "The new problem of Chinlestegophis and the origin of caecilians (Amphibia, Gymnophionomorpha) is highly sensitive to old problems of sampling and character construction". Fossil Record. 27 (1): 55–94. doi:10.3897/fr.27.e109555.
- ^ Villa, A.; Macaluso, L.; Mörs, T. (2024). "Miocene and Pliocene amphibians from Hambach (Germany): new evidence for a late Neogene refuge in northwestern Europe". Palaeontologia Electronica. 27 (1). 27.1.a3. doi:10.26879/1323.
- ^ Martin, T.; Averianov, A. O.; Lang, A. J.; Schultz, J. A.; Wings, O. (2024). "Docodontans (Mammaliaformes) from the Late Jurassic of Germany". Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. doi:10.1080/08912963.2023.2300635.
- ^ Averianov, A. O.; Martin, T.; Lopatin, A. V.; Skutschas, P. P.; Vitenko, D. D.; Schellhorn, R.; Kolosov, P. N. (2024). "Docodontans from the Lower Cretaceous of Yakutia, Russia: new insights into diversity, morphology, and phylogeny of Docodonta". Cretaceous Research. 105836. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2024.105836.
- ^ Zhao, M.; Mussini, G.; Li, Y.; Tang, F.; Vickers-Rich, P.; Li, M.; Chen, A. (2024). "A putative triradial macrofossil from the Ediacaran Jiangchuan Biota". iScience: 108823. doi:10.1016/j.isci.2024.108823.
- ^ Park, T.Y. S.; Nielsen, M. L.; Parry, L. A.; Sørensen, M. V.; Lee, M.; Kihm, J.H.; Ahn, I.; Park, C.; De Vivo, G.; Smith, M. P.; Harper, D. A. T.; Nielsen, A. T.; Vinther, J. (2024). "A giant stem-group chaetognath". Science Advances. 10 (1): eadi6678. doi:10.1126/sciadv.adi6678. PMID 38170772.
- ^ Demoulin, C. F.; Sforna, M. C.; Lara, Y. J.; Cornet, Y.; Somogyi, A.; Medjoubi, K.; Grolimund, D.; Sanchez, D. F.; Tachoueres, R. T.; Addad, A.; Fadel, A.; Compère, P.; Javaux, E. J. (2024). "Polysphaeroides filiformis, a Proterozoic cyanobacterial microfossil and implications for cyanobacteria evolution". iScience. 108865. doi:10.1016/j.isci.2024.108865.
- ^ Demoulin, C. F.; Lara, Y. J.; Lambion, A.; Javaux, E. J. (2024). "Oldest thylakoids in fossil cells directly evidence oxygenic photosynthesis". Nature: 1–6. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06896-7. PMID 38172638.
- ^ Nielson, G. C.; Stüeken, E. E.; Prave, A. R. (2024). "Estuaries house Earth's oldest known non-marine eukaryotes". Precambrian Research. 401. 107278. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2023.107278.
- ^ Bălc, R.; Bindiu-Haitonic, R.; Kövecsi, S.-A.; Vremir, M.; Ducea, M.; Csiki-Sava, Z.; Tabără, D.; Vasile, Ș. (2024). "Integrated biostratigraphy of Upper cretaceous deposits from an exceptional continental vertebrate-bearing marine section (Transylvanian Basin, Romania) provides new constraints on the advent of 'dwarf dinosaur' faunas in Eastern Europe". Marine Micropaleontology. 187. 102328. doi:10.1016/j.marmicro.2023.102328.