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 2019.
A process-bearing multicellular eukaryotic microorganism. Argued to be an early fungus by Loron et al. (2019).[7] Genus includes new species O. giraldae.
Fossil sporocarps indistinguishable from sporocarps of members of the extant genus Stemonitis are described from the Cretaceous amber from Myanmar by Rikkinen, Grimaldi & Schmidt (2019).[11]
Sponge spicules and spicule-like structures that probably represent sponge fossils are described from four sections of the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary interval in the Yangtze Gorges (China) by Chang et al. (2019).[15]
A member of Protomonaxonida belonging to the family Piraniidae. The type species is "Pirania" auraeum Botting (2007); genus also includes new species A. pinwyddeni, A. pykitia and A. sciurucauda.
A member of Protomonaxonida belonging to the family Piraniidae. The type species is C. canna; genus also includes new species C. vermiformis', as well as "Pirania" llanfawrensis Botting (2004).
A hexactinellidsponge. Genus includes new species E. carlinslowpensis. Announced in 2019; the final version of the article naming it was published in 2020.
A study on the growth characteristics of three species of Ordovician corals belonging to the genus Agetolites from the Xiazhen Formation (China), and on their implications for inferring phylogenetic relationships of this genus, is published by Sun, Elias & Lee (2019).[33]
Fossils of tabulate corals without septa, representing the first evidence that unmetamorphosed, slightly indurated Paleozoic sandstones crop out amidst the deposits of the Atlantic Coastal Plain Province of the United States, are reported from South Carolina by Landmeyer et al. (2019).[36] This finding is strongly disputed because all other rocks of Paleozoic age in the study area are greatly metamorphosed, the rocks where the fossils were found are traditionally mapped as the Cretaceous Middendorf Formation, and it is suggested that the fossils in question are the bark of Cretaceous conifers in Cretaceous sandstone, instead of Paleozoic corals in Paleozoic sandstone.[37]
A study aiming to determine whether ecological selection based on physiology, behavior, habitat, etc. played a role in the long-term survival of corals during the late Paleocene and early Eocene is published by Weiss & Martindale (2019).[38]
A study on the distribution of reef corals during the last interglacial is published by Jones et al. (2019), who also evaluate the utility of fossil reef coral data for predictions of impact of future climate changes on reef corals.[40]
A study on a problematic fossil specimen from the Devonian Ponta Grossa Formation (Brazil), assigned by different authors to the species Serpulites sica or Euzebiola clarkei, is published by Van Iten et al. (2019), who interpret this fossil as a medusozoan capable of clonal budding, and transfer it to the genus Sphenothallus.[41]
The oldest mesophotic coral ecosystems, dating back to middle Silurian, from the Lower Visby Beds on Gotland have been described by Zapalski & Berkowski.[42] These communities, dominated by platy corals give also clues about the onset of coral-algal symbiosis.
A study on the anatomy, ontogeny and taxonomy of the NorianhydrozoanHeterastridium, based on data from fossil specimens from central Iran and south Turkey, is published by Senowbari-Daryan & Link (2019).[44]
A rugosecoral belonging to the family Cystiphyllidae. Originally described as a species of Cystiphylloides, but subsequently made the type species of the separate genus Marennophyllum.[51]
A coral. The type species is D. latisubex; genus also includes new species D. pedderi,[53]"Combophyllum" multiradiatum Meek (1868), "Glossophyllum" discoideum Soshkina (1936) and possibly also "Hadrophyllum" wellingtonense Packham (1954) and "Glossophyllum" clebroseptatum Kravtsov (1975).
A rugosecoral belonging to the family Kumpanophyllidae. The type species is D. multiplexa; genus also includes D. similis, D. recessia, D. composita, D. extrema and D. nana.
A study on the morphology and phylogenetic relationships of the putative stem-echinoderm Yanjiahella biscarpa is published by Topper et al. (2019);[84] the study is subsequently criticized by Zamora et al. (2020).[85][86]
Soft tissue traces found in conjunction with skeletal molds are described in stylophorans by Lefebvre et al. (2019), who interpret their findings as supporting echinoderm and not hemichordate-like affinities of stylophorans.[87]
A study on the morphology and phylogenetic relationships of the lepidocystoid echinoderm Vyscystis is published by Nohejlová et al. (2019).[88]
A study on the phylogenetic relationships of diploporitanblastozoans is published by Sheffield & Sumrall (2019).[89]
A study on the morphology of the feeding ambulacral system in the Ordovician diploporitan Eumorphocystis, as indicated by data from well-preserved specimens from the Bromide Formation (Oklahoma, United States), is published by Sheffield & Sumrall (2019), who interpret their findings as indicating that Eumorphocystis was closely related to crinoids and that crinoids are nested within blastozoans;[90] their conclusions about the relationship between Eumorphocystis and crinoids are subsequently contested by Guensburg et al. (2020).[91]
A study on the morphology and phylogenetic relationships of Macurdablastus uniplicatus is published by Bauer, Waters & Sumrall (2019).[92]
A study on the morphology and phylogenetic relationships of Hexedriocystis is published online by Zamora & Sumrall (2019), who consider this taxon to be a blastozoan.[93]
A study on the morphology of Cupulocrinus and on its implications for inferring the origin of the flexible crinoids is published by Peter (2019).[95]
A study on the phylogenetic relationships of diplobathrid crinoids is published by Cole (2019).[96]
A study on the biological and ecological controls on duration of diplobathrid crinoid genera is published online by Cole (2019).[97]
A study on the macro-evolutionary patterns of body-size trends of cyrtocrinid crinoids is published by Brom (2019).[98]
A study on patterns of paleocommunity structure and niche partitioning in crinoids from the Ordovician (Katian) Brechin Lagerstätte (Ontario, Canada) is published by Cole, Wright & Ausich (2019).[99]
A study on the anatomy of the nervous and circulatory systems of the Cretaceous crinoid Decameros ricordeanus and on the phylogenetic relationships of this species is published online by Saulsbury & Zamora (2019).[100]
A fossil brittle star belonging to the genus Ophiopetra, representing the first record of articulated brittle star from the Mesozoic of South America reported so far, is described from the Lower Cretaceous Agua de la Mula Member of the Agrio Formation (Argentina) by Fernández et al. (2019), who transfer the genus Ophiopetra to the family Ophionereididae within the order Amphilepidida.[103]
A crinoid. The type species is "Apiocrinus" constrictus von Hagenow in Quenstedt (1876); genus also includes "Bourgueticrinus" baculatus Klikushin (1982) and "Bourgueticrinus" danicus Brünnich Nielsen (1913).
A crinoid belonging to the group Roveacrinida and the family Roveacrinidae. The type species is D. dentatus; genus also includes D. minutus, D. compactus and D. hoyezi.
A crinoid belonging to the group Roveacrinida and the family Roveacrinidae. Originally described as a species of Drepanocrinus, but subsequently transferred to the genus Striacrinus.[114]
A crinoid belonging to the group Roveacrinida and the family Roveacrinidae. The type species is "Roveacrinus" euglypheus Peck (1943); genus also includes "R." pyramidalis Peck (1943).
A crinoid. The type species is "Eugeniacrinus" pyriformis Münster in Goldfuss (1826); genus also includes "Conocrinus" cazioti Valette (1924), "Conocrinus" handiaensis Roux (1978) and "Conocrinus" romanensis Roux & Plaziat (1978), as well as a new species P. pellati.
A crinoid. The type species is "Conocrinus" doncieuxi Roux (1978); genus also includes "Democrinus" maximus Brünnich Nielsen (1915) and "Conocrinus" tauricus Klikushin (1982).
A member of Edrioasteroidea. Subsequently transferred to the genus Sprinkleoglobus by Zamora, Guensburg & Sprinkle (2025).[135]
Conodonts
Research
A study on the feeding habits of conodonts, as indicated by data from calcium stable isotopes, is published by Balter et al. (2019).[136]
A study on the variation of conodont element crystal structure throughout their evolutionary history is published online by Medici et al. (2019).[137]
A study on the evolution of platform-like P1 elements in conodonts, evaluating its possible link to ecology of conodonts, is published by Ginot & Goudemand (2019).[138]
A study on the impact of early Paleozoic environmental changes on evolution and paleoecology of conodonts from the Canadian part of Laurentia is published online by Barnes (2019).[139]
A study on the morphology, occurrences and biostratigraphical value of Paroistodus horridus is published online by Mestre & Heredia (2019).[140]
A revision of the taxonomy and evolutionary relationships of the Late Ordovician genera Tasmanognathus and Yaoxianognathus is published by Yang et al. (2019).[141]
A study on the composition and architecture of the apparatus of Erismodus quadridactylus is published by Dhanda et al. (2019).[142]
A study on fossils of members of the genus Alternognathus from the Upper Devonian of the Kowala quarry (central Poland), attempting to calibrate the course of their ontogeny in days and documenting cyclic mortality events, is published by Świś (2019).[144]
The apparatus of Vogelgnathus simplicatus is reconstructed from discrete elements from a sample of limited diversity from the Carboniferous strata from Ireland by Sanz-López, Blanco-Ferrera & Miller (2019).[145]
Neospathodid conodont elements with partly preserved basal body (one of two main parts of conodont elements, besides the crown) are reported from the Lower Triassic of Oman by Souquet & Goudemand (2019), who interpret their finding as indicating that the absence of basal bodies in post-Devonian conodonts was due to a preservational bias only.[146]
Natural assemblages of conodonts, preserving possible impressions of "eyes", are described from the Lower Triassic pelagic black claystones of the North Kitakami Belt (Japan) by Takahashi, Yamakita & Suzuki (2019).[147]
A study on the composition of the apparatus of Nicoraella, based on data from clusters from the Middle Triassic Luoping Biota (Yunnan, China), is published by Huang et al. (2019).[148]
The architecture of apparatus of Nicoraella kockeli is reconstructed by Huang et al. (2019), who also evaluate proposed functional interpretations of the conodont feeding apparatus.[149]
A study on Middle Triassic conodont assemblages from Jenzig section of the Jena Formation and Troistedt section of the Meissner Formation (Germany) is published by Chen et al. (2019), who also study the morphology of the apparatuses of Neogondolella haslachensis and Nicoraella germanica, and review and revise the species Neogondolella mombergensis.[150]
A study evaluating the quantitative morphological variation of P1 conodont elements within and between seven conodont morphospecies from the Pizzo Mondello section (Sicily, Italy) and their evolution within 7 million years around the Carnian/Norian boundary is published by Guenser et al. (2019).[151]
A study on the taphonomy of basal tissue of conodont elements is published online by Suttner & Kido (2019).[152]
A member of the family Gondolellidae. The type species is "Neogondolella" composita Dagys (1984); genus also includes "Neogondolella" griesbachensis Orchard (2007), "Neogondolella" mongeri Orchard (2007); Siberigondolella altera (Klets), S. siberica (Dagys) and S. jakutensis (Dagys).
A study on the morphological diversity and morphological changes of the humeri of Paleozoic and Triassic synapsids through time is published by Lungmus & Angielczyk (2019).[162]
A study on the diversity of patterns of skull shape (focusing on the relative lengths of the face and braincase regions of the skull) in non-mammalian synapsids is published by Krone, Kammerer & Angielczyk (2019).[163]
Description of new skull remains of Echinerpeton intermedium and a study on the phylogenetic relationships of this species is published online by Mann & Paterson (2019).[165]
Fossil material of a large carnivorous synapsid belonging to the family Sphenacodontidae is described from the Torre del Porticciolo locality (Italy) by Romano et al. (2019), representing the first carnivorous non-therapsidsynapsid from the Permian of Italy reported so far, and one of the few known from Europe.[166]
Description of the morphology and histology of a small neural spine from the Early Permian Richards Spur locality (Oklahoma, United States) attributable to Dimetrodon is published by Brink, MacDougall & Reisz (2019), who also report evidence from fossil teeth indicative of presence of a derived species of Dimetrodon (otherwise typical of later, Kungurian localities of Texas and Oklahoma) at the Richards Spur locality.[167]
A study on the adaptations to herbivory in the teeth of members of the family Tapinocephalidae is published by Whitney & Sidor (2019).[170]
An almost complete skeleton of Tapinocaninus pamelae, providing new information on the anatomy of the appendicular skeleton of this species (including the first accurate vertebral count for a dinocephalian), is described from the lowermost Beaufort Group of South Africa by Rubidge, Govender & Romano (2019).[171]
Romano & Rubidge (2019) present body mass estimates for a well preserved and complete skeleton of Tapinocaninus pamelae from the lowermost Beaufort Group of South Africa.[172]
A study on the skull anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of Styracocephalus platyrhynchus is published by Fraser-King et al. (2019).[173]
A study on the evolution of the sacral vertebrae of dicynodonts is published by Griffin & Angielczyk (2019).[174]
A study on the diversity of dicynodonts from the Upper Permian Naobaogou Formation (China) is published by Liu (2019).[175]
A study on skulls of South American dicynodonts, aiming to determine whether the differences in skull morphology were related to differences in feeding function, is published by Ordonez et al. (2019).[176]
New fossil material of Endothiodon tolani is described from the Permian K5 Formation of the Metangula Graben (Mozambique) by Macungo et al. (2019).[177]
Small dicynodont skull assigned to the genus Digalodon is described from the Lopingian upper Madumabisa Mudstone Formation (Zambia) by Angielczyk (2019), expanding known geographic range of this genus.[179]
Digital endocast of Rastodon procurvidens is reconstructed by de Simão-Oliveira, Kerber & Pinheiro (2019), who evaluate biological implications of the endocast morphology of this species.[180]
A study on the body mass of Lisowicia bojani is published online by Romano & Manucci (2019).[182]
A study on fossils of a putative Cretaceous dicynodont from Australia reported by Thulborn & Turner (2003)[183] is published online by Knutsen & Oerlemans (2019), who consider these fossils to be of Pliocene-Pleistocene age, and reinterpret it as fossils of a large mammal, probably a diprotodontid.[184]
A study aiming to determine patterns of morphological and phylogenetic diversity of therocephalians throughout their evolutionary history is published by Grunert, Brocklehurst & Fröbisch (2019).[185]
A study on variation in rates of body size evolution of therocephalians is published by Brocklehurst (2019).[186]
A study on the morphology of the manus of a new therocephalian specimen referable to the genus Tetracynodon from the Early Triassic of South Africa, and on the evolution of the manus morphology of therocephalians, is published by Fontanarrosa et al. (2019).[187]
A study on patterns of nonmammalian cynodont species richness and the quality of their fossil record is published by Lukic-Walther et al. (2019).[188]
A study on the morphology and bone histology of the postcranial skeleton of Galesaurus planiceps is published by Butler, Abdala & Botha-Brink (2019).[189]
Redescription of the anatomy of the skull of Galesaurus planiceps is published by Pusch, Kammerer & Fröbisch (2019).[190]
Description of teeth of all known diademodontid and trirachodontid cynodont taxa is published by Hendrickx, Abdala & Choiniere (2019), who also propose a standardized list of anatomical terms and abbreviations in the study of gomphodont teeth, assign Sinognathus and Beishanodon to the family Trirachodontidae, and consider all specimens previously referred to the species Cricodon kannemeyeri to be younger individuals of Trirachodon berryi.[191]
Hypsodont postcanine teeth of Menadon besairiei are described by Melo et al. (2019), who also study patterns of dental growth and replacement in this species.[193]
A skull of a member of the species Massetognathus ochagaviae is described from the CarnianSantacruzodon Assemblage Zone of the Santa Maria Supersequence (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) by Schmitt et al. (2019).[195]
Description of brain endocasts of Siriusgnathus niemeyerorum and Exaeretodon riograndensis, using virtual models based on computed tomography scan data, is published by Pavanatto, Kerber & Dias-da-Silva (2019).[196]
Description of new fossil material of Siriusgnathus niemeyerorum from the Upper Triassic Caturrita Formation (Brazil) and a study on the age of its fossils is published online by Miron et al. (2019).[197]
A study on the evolution of infraorbital maxillary canal in probainognathian cynodonts and on its implications for the knowledge of evolution of mobile whiskers in non-mammalian synapsids, as indicated by data from skulls of non-mammalian probainognathian cynodonts and early mammaliaforms, is published online by Benoit et al. (2019).[198]
Digital skull endocast of a specimen of Riograndia guaibensis is reconstructed by Rodrigues et al. (2019).[199]
Description of the anatomy of the first postcranial specimens referable to Riograndia guaibensis is published by Guignard, Martinelli & Soares (2019).[200]
A study on the anatomy of the postcranial skeleton of Brasilodon quadrangularis is published by Guignard, Martinelli & Soares (2019).[201]
A study on tooth wear patterns of members of the family Tritylodontidae and on their possible diet is published by Kalthoff et al. (2019).[202]
Possible cynodont teeth, which might be the most recent non-mammaliaform cynodont fossils from Africa reported so far, are described from the Late Jurassic or earliest Cretaceous locality of Ksar Metlili (Anoual Syncline, eastern Morocco) by Lasseron (2019).[203]
A study on the origin of the mammalian middle earossicles, as indicated by the anatomy of the jaw-otic complex in 43 synapsid taxa, is published by Navarro-Díaz, Esteve-Altava & Rasskin-Gutman (2019).[204]
A study on the evolution of the morphological complexity of the mammalian vertebral column, as indicated by data from mammals and non-mammalian synapsids, is published by Jones, Angielczyk & Pierce (2019).[205]
A member of the family Edaphosauridae; a new genus for "Naosaurus" mirabilis Fritsch (1895). Announced in 2019; the final version of the article naming it was published in 2020.
A member of Varanopidae. Genus includes new species D. unamakiensis. Announced in 2019; the final version of the article naming it is scheduled to be published in 2020.
An early member of Sphenacodontia; a new genus for "Haptodus" grandis. Announced in 2019; the final version of the article naming it was published in 2020.
A gigantic dicynodont reaching an estimated body mass of 9 tons. The type species is L. bojani. Announced in 2018; the final version of the article naming it was published in 2019.
A member of the family Edaphosauridae. Genus includes new species R. robustus. Announced in 2019; the final version of the article naming it was published in 2020.
