1958 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 1958.

List of years in paleontology (table)
… 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 …
In science 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961
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Arthropods

Insects

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Parastylotermes calico[2]	Sp. nov	valid	Pierce	Miocene		USA	A Stylotermitid termite.

Archosauromorphs

Newly named non-avian dinosaurs

Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.^[3]

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Chingkankousaurus	Gen et sp nov	Nomen dubium	Yang (as Young C. C.)	Late Campanian	Jingangkou Formation	China	A tyrannosauroid.
Tsintaosaurus[4]	Gen et sp nov	Valid taxon	Yang (as Young C. C.)	Late Campanian	Jingangkou Formation	China	A lambeosaurine hadrosaurid.	Tsintaosaurus

Birds

Newly named birds

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Anas apscheronica [5]	Sp. nov.	valid	Burchak-Abramovisch	Late Pliocene	Apscherion	Azerbaijan	An Anatidae.
Bartramia umatilla [6]	Sp. nov.	valid	Brodkorb	Middle Pliocene		USA  Oregon	A Scolopacidae.
Callipepla shotwelli [6]	Sp. nov.	valid	Brodkorb	Middle Pliocene		USA  Oregon	An Odontophoridae.
Cygnus hibbardi [7]	Sp. nov.	valid	Brodkorb	Early Pleistocene	Irvingtonian, Hagerman Lake Beds	USA  Idaho	An Anatidae.
Morus humeralis [8]	Sp. nov.	valid	Miller Bowman	Late Pliocene		USA  California	A Sulidae.
Ornimegalonyx [9]	Gen. et Sp. nov.	valid	Arredondo	Late Pleistocene		Cuba	A Strigidae, the types species of the new genus is Ornimegalonyx oteroi.
Pardirallus lacustris [7]	Sp. nov.	valid	(Brodkorb)	Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene	Hagerman and Rexroad Local Fauna	USA  Idaho	A Rallidae, described as Porzana lacustris but transferred by Storrs L. Olson in 1977 to Pardirallus Bonaparte, 1856.
Phalacrocorax macer [7]	Sp. nov.	valid	Brodkorb	Late Pliocene	Irvingtonian, Glenns Ferry Formation, Hagerman Lake Beds	USA  Idaho	A Phalacrocoracidae.
Podiceps subparvus [8]	Sp. nov.	valid	(Miller Bowman)	Middle Pliocene	Blancan, San Diego Formation	USA  California	A Podicipedidae, described as Colymbus subparvus.
Promilio epileus [10]	Sp. nov.	valid	Wetmore	Early Miocene	Thomas Farm Beds	USA  Florida	An Accipitridae, the type species of the genus is Proictinia effera Wetmore, 1923.
Promilio brodkorbi [10]	Sp. nov.	valid	Wetmore	Early Miocene	Thomas Farm Beds	USA  Florida	An Accipitridae, the type species of the genus is Proictinia effera Wetmore, 1923.
Ptychoramphus tenuis [8]	Sp. nov.	valid	Miller Bowman	Middle Pliocene	Blancan, San Diego Formation	USA  California	An Alcidae.
Querandiornis [11]	Gen. et Sp. nov.	valid	Rusconi	Late Pliocene	Ensenada Formation	Argentina	A Furnariidae, Dendrocolaptinae, The type species is Querandiornis romani, described in the Tinamiidae, transferred by Tonni & Tambussi, 1986 to Aves Incertae Sedis, transferred by Agnolin, 2016 to Dendrocolaptinae
Sula pohli [12]	Sp. nov.	valid	Howard	Late Miocene		USA  California	A Sulidae.
Troglodytes gracilis [13]	Sp. nov.	valid?	Brunner	Late Pleistocene		Germany	A Troglodytidae, better seen as a Passeriformes Incertae Sedis.

Synapsids

Non-mammalian

Name	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Basicranodon	Junior synonym	Vaughn	Early Permian		US	A junior synonym of the varanopid Mycterosaurus.
Diarthrognathus	Valid	Crompton	Early Jurassic	Elliot Formation	South Africa	A member of Trithelodontidae.

Other Animals

Name	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Charnia	Valid	Ford	Ediacaran	Maplewell Group	United Kingdom
Charniodiscus	Valid	Ford	Ediacaran	Maplewell Group	United Kingdom
Spriggina	Valid	Glaessner	Ediacaran		Australia

References

• Paleontology portal

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. Pierce, W.D. (1958). "Fossil arthropods of California. No. 21. Termites from Calico Mountains nodules" (PDF). Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences. 575 (1): 13–24.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
3. Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
4. Young C.-C. 1958. The dinosaurian remains of Laiyang, Shanrung. Palaeontol. Sinica (ser. C) 16: pp. 1-138.
5. Burchak-Abramovisch, Nikolaj Iosifovich (1958). "Tertiary Birds of the USSR Tertiary Birds of the USSR". Uchenie Zapiski Azerbaijan State University, Serie Biology. 1: 81–88.
6. Pierce Brodkorb (1958). "Birds from the Middle Pliocene of McKay, Oregon". Condor. 60 (4): 252–255. doi:10.2307/1365194. JSTOR 1365194.
7. Pierce Brodkorb (1958). "Fossil Birds from Idaho". Wilson Bulletin. 70: 237–242.
8. Loye Holmes Miller & Robert I. Bowman (1958). "Further Bird Remains from the San Diego Pliocene". Museum of Natural History of Los Angeles County, Contributions in Science. 20: 1–15.
9. Oscar Arredondo (1958). "Aves Gigantes de Nuestro Pasado Prehistórico, El Cartero Cubana". La Habana. XVII (7): 10–12.
10. Alexander Wetmore (1958). "Miscellaneous Notes on Fossil Birds". Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 135 (8): 1–11.
11. Carlos Rusconi (1958). "Ave Fósil del Plioceno de Buenos Aires". Revista del Museo del Historia Natural de Mendoza. 11: 157–160.
12. Hildegarde Howard (1958). "Miocene Sulids of Southern California". Los Angeles County Museum Contributions in Science. 25: 3–15.
13. G. Brunner (1958). "Nachtrag zur Breitenberghöhle bei Gösswenstein Ofr". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Monatshefte. 1958: 500–517.