1944 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 1944.

Plants

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Location	Synonymized taxa	Notes
Amelanchier couleeana^[2]	Comb nov	valid	(E.W. Berry, 1931)	Miocene Langhian	Latah Formation	USA Washington	Amelanchier dignata of Smith, 1941 Amelanchier dignatus of Brown, 1935 p. p. Amelanchier elliptica of Smith, 1941 Amelanchier grayi of MacGinitie, 1933 Amelanchier magnifolia 1937 Amelanchier scudderi of Berry, 1929 Amelanchier subserrata of Smith, 1941 Phyllites couleeanus 1931	A saskatoon berry species. Moved from Phyllites couleeanus (1931)
Betula taylorana^[2]	Comb nov	valid	R.W. Brown	Eocene	Ackerman Formation	USA Tennessee		A birch species.
Cladrastis oregonensis^[2]	Comb nov	valid	(E.W. Berry & T.D.A. Cockerell, 1919)	Eocene	Clarno Formation	USA Oregon		A yellowwood species. First named as Fraxinus oregonensis (1919) Moved from Umbellularia oregonensis (1925).
Cornus republicensis^[3]	Nom nov	jr synonym	LaMotte	Eocene Ypresian	Eocene Okanagan Highlands Klondike Mountain Formation Tom Thumb Tuff	USA Washington		A replacement name for Cornus acuminata Berry, 1929 Moved to Schoepfia republicensis in 1987
Koelreuteria mixta^[2]	Comb nov	valid (pro parte)	(Lesquereux, 1878)	Eocene, Ypresian	Ione Formation	USA California		A golden rain tree species Moved from Rhus mixta (1878) Species definition expanded to include fruits Fruits moved to Koelreuteria dilcheri in 2013.^[4]

Arthropods

Newly named crustaceans

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Location	Notes	Images
Palaeophoberus portlandicus^[5]	Sp nov	Valid	Roger & Lapparent	Late Jurassic (Tithonian)	Hannaches	France	A stenochirid

Conodonts

Name	Status	Authors		Location	Images
Siphonodella^[6]	valid	Edward Branson Maurice Mehl		Austria China Germany Russia USA ( Virginia)

Dinosaurs

The only known fossils of Poekilopleuron are destroyed during the Allied liberation of Normandy.^[7]

Newly named dinosaurs

Data are courtesy of George Olshevky's dinosaur genera list.^[8]

Name	Status	Authors		Location	Notes	Images
Sanpasaurus^[9]	Nomen dubium.	Yang Z. J. (as Young C. C.)		China	It has been argued that the remains were ornithopods or sauropods. They are now the remains of a sauropod.

Plesiosaurs

New taxa

Name	Status	Authors		Location	Notes
Sinopliosaurus	Valid	Young		China

References

^ 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.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Brown, R.W. (1946). "Alterations in some fossil and living floras". Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences. 36 (10): 344–355.
^ Wolfe, J.A.; Wehr, W.C. (1987). "Middle Eocene Dicotyledonous Plants from Republic, Northeastern Washington". United States Geological Survey Bulletin. 1597: 1–25.
^ Wang, Q.; Manchester, S.R.; Gregor, H.-J.; Shen, S.; Li, Z.-Y. (2013). "Fruits of Koelreuteria (Sapindaceae) from the Cenozoic throughout the northern hemisphere: their ecological, evolutionary, and biogeographic implications". American Journal of Botany. 100 (2): 422–449. doi:10.3732/ajb.1200415. ISSN 1537-2197. PMID 23360930.
^ Roger, J.; Lapparent, A.F. (1944). "Une nouvelle espèce de crustacé décapode Palaeophoberus portlandicus, découverte dans le Portlandien du Pays de Bray". Bulletin de la Société géologique de France. 14: 365–374.
^ Conodonts. EB Branson and MG Mehl, in HW Shimer and RR Shrock, Index Fossils of North America. 1944
^ Farlow, James O.; M. K. Brett-Surmann (1999). The Complete Dinosaur. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 16. ISBN 0-253-21313-4.
^ Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
^ Young C.-C. 1944. On the reptilian remains from Weiyuan, Szechuan, China. Bull. Geol. Soc. China 24: pp. 187-209.

[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.

[Brown1946-2] Brown, R.W. (1946). "Alterations in some fossil and living floras". Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences. 36 (10): 344–355.

[JWWW1987-3] Wolfe, J.A.; Wehr, W.C. (1987). "Middle Eocene Dicotyledonous Plants from Republic, Northeastern Washington". United States Geological Survey Bulletin. 1597: 1–25.

[Wang2013-4] Wang, Q.; Manchester, S.R.; Gregor, H.-J.; Shen, S.; Li, Z.-Y. (2013). "Fruits of Koelreuteria (Sapindaceae) from the Cenozoic throughout the northern hemisphere: their ecological, evolutionary, and biogeographic implications". American Journal of Botany. 100 (2): 422–449. doi:10.3732/ajb.1200415. ISSN 1537-2197. PMID 23360930.

[5] Roger, J.; Lapparent, A.F. (1944). "Une nouvelle espèce de crustacé décapode Palaeophoberus portlandicus, découverte dans le Portlandien du Pays de Bray". Bulletin de la Société géologique de France. 14: 365–374.

[6] Conodonts. EB Branson and MG Mehl, in HW Shimer and RR Shrock, Index Fossils of North America. 1944

[7] Farlow, James O.; M. K. Brett-Surmann (1999). The Complete Dinosaur. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 16. ISBN 0-253-21313-4.

[ddinogeorge-8] Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2008-08-07.

[9] Young C.-C. 1944. On the reptilian remains from Weiyuan, Szechuan, China. Bull. Geol. Soc. China 24: pp. 187-209.

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