2002 in paleontology
Encyclopedia

Newly named dinosaurs

Data courtesy of George Olshevsky
George Olshevsky
George Olshevsky is a freelance editor, writer, publisher, amateur paleontologist, and mathematician living in San Diego, California.Olshevsky maintains the comprehensive online Dinosaur Genera List...

's dinosaur genera list and Dr. Jeremy Montague's dinosaur genus database.
Name Status Authors Notes
Agnosphitys
Agnosphitys
Agnosphitys is a disputed genus of dinosaur. It contains only one species, the type species A. cromhallensis. Its remains include an ilium, maxilla, astragalus and humerus, which date variously from the Norian and Rhaetian stages of the Late Triassic...

Valid taxon
  • Fraser
  • Kevin Padian
    Kevin Padian
    Kevin Padian is a Professor of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, Curator of Paleontology, University of California Museum of Paleontology and President of the National Center for Science Education. Padian's area of interest is in vertebrate evolution, especially the...

  • Walkden
  • Davis
Anabisetia
Anabisetia
Anabisetia is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of Patagonia, South America. It was a small bipedal herbivore, almost seven feet long....

Valid taxon
  • Rodolfo Coria
    Rodolfo Coria
    Dr. Rodolfo Coria is an Argentine paleontologist.He is best known for having directed the field study and co-naming of the Argentinosaurus in 1993, and the Giganotosaurus , in 1996 among other landmark South American dinosaurs...

  • Calvo
  • "Archaeovolans" Valid non-dinosaurian
    Bird
    Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

     taxon; possible junior synonym of Yanornis
    Yanornis
    Yanornis is an extinct genus of omnivorous Early Cretaceous birds, thought to be closely related to the common ancestor of all modern birds. One species, Yanornis martini,...

  • Stephen Czerkas
  • Xu Xing
  • Aucasaurus
    Aucasaurus
    Aucasaurus was a genus of medium-sized theropod dinosaur from Argentina that lived during the Santonian stage . It was smaller than the related Carnotaurus, although more derived in some ways, such as its extremely reduced arms and almost total lack of fingers.The type skeleton is complete to the...

    Valid taxon
  • Rodolfo Coria
    Rodolfo Coria
    Dr. Rodolfo Coria is an Argentine paleontologist.He is best known for having directed the field study and co-naming of the Argentinosaurus in 1993, and the Giganotosaurus , in 1996 among other landmark South American dinosaurs...

  • Luis M. Chiappe
  • Lowell Dingus
  • "Byranjaffia" Nomen nudum
    Nomen nudum
    The phrase nomen nudum is a Latin term, meaning "naked name", used in taxonomy...

    ; later named Byronosaurus
    Byronosaurus
    Byronosaurus is a genus of troodontid dinosaur which lived during the Late Cretaceous Period. It was named for Byron Jaffe, "in recognition of his family's support for the Mongolian Academy of Sciences-American Museum of Natural History Paleontological Expeditions." The first example of...

  • Michael Novacek
  • Crichtonsaurus
    Crichtonsaurus
    Crichtonsaurus is a genus of ankylosaurid ankylosaur dinosaur named for Michael Crichton, the author of Jurassic Park. It was an ankylosaurine, and it lived during the late Cretaceous Period. Its fossils were discovered in China, and it was formally described by Dong Zhiming in 2002. The type...

    Valid taxon
  • Dong Zhiming
    Dong Zhiming
    Dong Zhiming , from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, is one of China's leading paleontologists. He began working at the IVPP in 1962, learning from Yang Zhongjian who was director at the time...

  • "Cryptovolans" Possible Junior synonym of Microraptor
    Microraptor
    Microraptor is a genus of small, four-winged dromaeosaurid dinosaurs. Numerous well-preserved fossil specimens have been recovered from Liaoning, China...

  • Stephen Czerkas
  • Zhang D.
  • Li J.
  • Li Y. X.
  • Epidendrosaurus Valid taxon
  • Zhang F.
  • Zhou Z.
  • Xu Xing
  • Wang X.
  • Erliansaurus
    Erliansaurus
    Erliansaurus is a genus of therizinosauroid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of China.A fossil of Erliansaurus was found near Sanhangobi in Inner-Mongolia. The type species, Erliansaurus bellamanus, was described by Xu Xing, Zhang Xiaohong, Paul Sereno, Zhao Xijin, Kuang Xuewen, Han Jun...

    Valid taxon
  • Xu Xing
  • Zhang X. H.
  • Paul Sereno
    Paul Sereno
    Paul Callistus Sereno is an American paleontologist from the University of Chicago who discovered several new dinosaur species on several continents. He has conducted excavations at sites as varied as Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco, and Niger...

  • Zhao X.
  • Kuang
  • Han J.
  • Tan L.
  • "Fusinasus" Junior synonym of Eotyrannus
    Eotyrannus
    Eotyrannus was a genus of tyrannosauroid theropod dinosaur hailing from the Early Cretaceous Wessex Formation beds, included in Wealden Group, located in the southwest coast of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom...

  • Hutt
  • “Huaxiasaurus” Nomen nudum
    Nomen nudum
    The phrase nomen nudum is a Latin term, meaning "naked name", used in taxonomy...

    ; later named Huaxiagnathus
    Huaxiagnathus
    Huaxiagnathus is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China. It was a compsognathid, large for that group at about half a meter longer than Compsognathus and larger specimens of Sinosauropteryx, with the largest specimen about 1.8 meters in length.The name Huaxiagnathus is...

  • Rey
  • Incisivosaurus
    Incisivosaurus
    Incisivosaurus is a genus of small, probably herbivorous theropod dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period of what is now the People's Republic of China...

    Valid Taxon
  • Xu Xing
  • Cheng Zhengwu Y.
  • Wang X.
  • Chang C.
  • "Jeholornis" Junior synonym of Shenzhouraptor
    Shenzhouraptor
    Jeholornis is a genus of Mesozoic birds that lived approximately 120 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous of China...

  • Zhou Z.
  • Zhang F.
  • "Rutellum
    Rutellum
    Rutellum is the pre-Linnaean name given to a dinosaur specimen from the Middle Jurassic. It was a sauropod, possibly a cetiosaurid, which lived in what is now England. The specimen, called Rutellum implicatum, was described in 1699 by Edward Lhuyd, and is notable as the earliest named entity that...

    "
    Nomen oblitum
    Nomen oblitum
    A nomen oblitum is a technical term, used in zoological nomenclature, for a particular kind of disused scientific name....

    ; pre-Linnaean name.
  • cf. Delair and Sarjeant
  • "Jixiangornis
    Jixiangornis
    Jixiangornis is the name given to a genus of basal bird from the Early Cretaceous. Like later birds, it had developed a beak, but it had a long tail, unlike modern birds. Since teeth were still present in some more advanced short-tailed birds, Jixiangornis seems to have evolved its beak...

    "
    Valid non-dinosaurian
    Bird
    Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

     taxon.
  • Ji Qiang
  • Ji Shuan
  • Zhang Hongbin
  • You
  • Zhang J. P.
  • Wang L.
  • Yuan
  • Ji X.
  • Liaoceratops
    Liaoceratops
    Liaoceratops, meaning "Liao Horned Face", is a ceratopsian dinosaur believed to be an early relative of the horned ceratopsids. It lived in the early Cretaceous, some 130 million years ago. It was discovered in China by a team of American and Chinese scientists...

    Valid taxon
  • Xu Xing
  • Makovicky
  • Wang X.
  • Mark Norell
  • You
  • "Omnivoropteryx
    Omnivoropteryx
    Omnivoropteryx is a genus of primitive flying bird from the early Cretaceous Upper Jiufotang Formation of China...

    "
    Valid non-dinosaurian
    Bird
    Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

     taxon.
  • Stephen Czerkas
  • Ji Qiang,
  • Pycnonemosaurus
    Pycnonemosaurus
    Pycnonemosaurus is a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur that belonged to the family Abelisauridae. It was found in the Upper Cretaceous Bauru-type red conglomerate sandstone, in the Mato Grosso, in Brazil and lived about 70 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous .Thus far, fossil...

    Valid taxon
  • Kellner
  • Campos
  • Scansoriopteryx
    Scansoriopteryx
    Scansoriopteryx is a genus of avialan dinosaur. Described from only a single juvenile fossil specimen found in Liaoning, China, Scansoriopteryx is a sparrow-sized animal that shows adaptations in the foot indicating an arboreal lifestyle. It possessed an unusual, elongated third finger...

    Possible junior synonym of Epidendrosaurus
  • Stephen Czerkas
  • Yuan
  • "Shenzhouraptor
    Shenzhouraptor
    Jeholornis is a genus of Mesozoic birds that lived approximately 120 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous of China...

    "
    Valid non-dinosaurian
    Bird
    Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

     taxon.
  • Ji Qiang
  • Ji Shuan
  • You
  • Zhang J. P.
  • Yuan, Ji X.
  • Li J.
  • Li Y. X.
  • Sinovenator
    Sinovenator
    Sinovenator is a genus of troodontid dinosaur from China. It is from the early Cretaceous Period. Two fossils were originally found in the Lujiatun Beds of the lower Yixian Formation in China, about 125 million years ago during the Aptian age.The type species, Sinovenator changii, was...

    Valid taxon
  • Xu Xing
  • Mark Norell
  • Wang X.
  • Makovicky
  • Wu X.

  • New taxa

    Name Status Authors Notes

    Edgarosaurus
    Edgarosaurus
    Edgarosaurus is a genus of polycotylid plesiosaur, containing one species, E. muddi. The type specimen was found in Early Cretaceous rocks in the state of Montana in the USA. At the time, this location was covered by part of the Western Interior Seaway.-References:Druckenmiller, PS, 2002...


    Valid
    • Druckenmiller

    Kaiwhekea
    Kaiwhekea
    Kaiwhekea is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous of what is now New Zealand. The type species, Kaiwhekea katiki, was first described by Arthur Cruickshank and Ewan Fordyce in 2002. Kaiwhekea was approximately 7 meters long and lived around 69-70 million years ago...


    Valid
    • Cruickshank
    • Fordyce

    Vinialesaurus
    Vinialesaurus
    Vinialesaurus is a genus of plesiosaur from the Late Jurassic Jagua Formation of Pinar del Río, Cuba. The type species is Vinialesaurus caroli, first described as Cryptocleidus caroli by De la Torre and Rojas in 1949, and redescribed by Gasparini, Bardet and Iturralde in 2002...


    Valid
    • Gasparini
    • Bardet
    • Vinent
    • Iturralde

    Pterosaurs

    In October, a partial Mesadacylus wing was discovered in the Kingsview Quarry of Colorado. This find marks the first time that a Morrison
    Morrison Formation
    The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Late Jurassic sedimentary rock that is found in the western United States, which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America. It is composed of mudstone, sandstone, siltstone and limestone and is light grey, greenish...

     pterosaur has been found at more than one site in the formation.

    New taxa

    Name Status Authors Notes
    Austriadactylus
    Austriadactylus
    Austriadactylus is a genus of "rhamphorhynchoid" pterosaur. The fossil remains were unearthed in Late Triassic rocks of Austria.The genus was named in 2002 by Fabio Marco Dalla Vecchia e.a.. The type species is Austriadactylus cristatus. The genus name is derived from Latin Austria and Greek...

    Valid
    • Dalla Vecchia
    • Wild
    • Reitner
    Hatzegopteryx
    Hatzegopteryx
    Hatzegopteryx is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur, known from incomplete remains found in Transylvania. The skull fragments, left humerus, and other fossilized remains indicate it was among the largest pterosaurs. The skeleton of Hatzegopteryx has been considered identical to the known remains of...

    Valid
  • Buffetaut
  • Grigorescu, D.
  • Csiki, Z.
  • Jeholopterus
    Jeholopterus
    Jeholopterus was a small anurognathid pterosaur from the Daohugou Beds of northeastern China , between 168 and 152 million years ago), preserved with hair and skin remains.-Naming:...

    Valid
  • Wang, X.,
  • Zhou, Z.
  • Pterorhynchus
    Pterorhynchus
    Pterorhynchus was a genus of rhamphorhynchid "rhamphorhynchoid" pterosaur from the Late Jurassic-age Daohugou Formation of Inner Mongolia, China....

    Valid
  • Czerkas
  • Ji, Q.
  • Thalassodromeus
    Thalassodromeus
    Thalassodromeus was a large pterodactyloid pterosaur found in northeastern Brazil.The genus was named in 2002 by Alexander Kellner and Diogenes de Almeida Campos. The type species is Thalassodromeus sethi. The genus name is derived from Greek thalasse, "sea" and dromaios, "runner", in reference to...

    Valid
  • Kellner
  • Campos
  • Utahdactylus
    Utahdactylus
    Utahdactylus was a genus of extinct reptile from the Kimmeridgian-Tithonian-age Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Utah, USA. Based on DM 002/CEUM 32588 , Czerkas and Mickelson identified it as a...

    Valid
  • Czerkas
  • Mickelson

  • New taxa

    Name Status Authors Age Unit Location Notes
    "Lakumasaurus" Jr synonym Novas et al Late Campanian
    Campanian
    The Campanian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous epoch . The Campanian spans the time from 83.5 ± 0.7 Ma to 70.6 ± 0.6 Ma ...

    Santa Marta Formation
    Santa Marta Formation
    The Santa Marta Formation is a geologic formation in Antarctica. It, along with the Mount Kirkpatrick Formation and the Snow Hill Island Formation, are the only formations yet known on the continent where dinosaur fossils have been found. The formation outcrops on James Ross Island off the coast of...

     Antarctica Synonymized in 2007 with Taniwhasaurus
    Taniwhasaurus
    Taniwhasaurus is an extinct genus of mosasaur, a carnivorous, marine reptile which inhabited New Zealand, Japan and Antarctica. The genus was a close relative of the genera Tylosaurus and Hainosaurus.-Species:-T...


    Non-mammalian

    Name Status Authors Age Unit Location Notes

    Criocephalosaurus
    Criocephalosaurus
    Criocephalosaurus is an extinct genus of synapsid which existed in South Africa. It was originally named Criocephalus, but the name was preoccupied by a beetle genus....


    Valid
    • Kammerer
    • Sidor
      Christian Sidor
      Christian A. Sidor is an American biologist and paleontologist, Associate Professor of the Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, curator of vertebrate paleontology in the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, member of the editorial board of the Journal of Vertebrate...


    Upper Permian

     South Africa

    A dinocephalian. Replacement name for Criocephalus Broom, 1928, preoccupied by the beetle genus Criocephalus Mulsant 1839.

    Kitchinganomodon
    Kitchinganomodon
    Kitchinganomodon is a genus of dicynodont from Late Permian of South Africa....


    Valid
    • Maisch

    Upper Permian

     South Africa

    A dicynodont
    Dicynodont
    Dicynodontia is a taxon of anomodont therapsids or mammal-like reptiles. Dicynodonts were small to large herbivorous animals with two tusks, hence their name, which means 'two dog tooth'...

    . New genus for "Platycyclops" crassus Broom, 1948.

    Kwazulusaurus
    Kwazulusaurus
    Kwazulusaurus is an extinct genus of non-mammalian synapsid.-References:*...


    Valid
    • Maisch

    Upper Permian

    Beaufort Group

     South Africa

    A dicynodont. The type species
    Type species
    In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

     is Kwazulusaurus shakai.

    Lanthanocephalus

    Preoccupied
    • Modesto
    • Rubidge
    • Welman

    Upper Permian

    Koonap Formation

     South Africa

    A dicynodont. The type species is Lanthanocephalus mohoii. The genus is preoccupied by cnidarian Lanthanocephalus
    Lanthanocephalus
    Lanthanocephalus is a cnidarian genus of the subclassis Octocorallia. Lanthanocephalus clandestinus is the only species described, and is endemic do South Africa....

    Williams & Starmer, 2000.

    Neotrirachodon
    Neotrirachodon
    Neotrirachodon is an extinct genus of synapsid which existed in Russia during the Middle Triassic period. It contains the species Neotrirachodon expectatus....


    Valid
    • Tatarinov

    Middle Triassic

    Donguz Formation

     Russia

    A cynodont. The type species is Neotrirachodon expectatus.

    Ruhuhucerberus
    Ruhuhucerberus
    Ruhuhucerberus is an extinct genus of synapsid which existed in Tanzania during the upper Permian period. It contains the species Ruhuhucerberus terror....


    Valid
    • Maisch

    Upper Permian

    Kawinga Formation

     Tanzania

    A gorgonopsian. The type species is Ruhuhucerberus terror.

    Titanogorgon
    Titanogorgon
    Titanogorgon is an extinct genus of synapsid which existed in Tanzania during the upper Permian period. It contains the species Titanogorgon maximus....


    Valid
    • Maisch

    Upper Permian

    Kawinga Formation

     Tanzania

    A gorgonopsian. New genus for "Gorgonognathus" maximus von Huene, 1950.

    Angiosperms

    Name Status Authors Age Unit Location Notes Images

    Pinus matthewsii
    Pinus matthewsii
    Pinus matthewsii is an extinct species of conifer in the Pine family. The species is solely known from the Pliocene sediments exposed at Ch’ijee’s Bluff on the Porcupine River near Old Crow, Yukon, Canada.-Type locality:...


    Valid
    • McKown
    • Stockey
    • Schweger

    Pliocene
    Pliocene
    The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...


    Ch'ijee's Bluff, Bluefish Basin

     Canada
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