2009 in paleontology



Cephalopods

Three new species of extinct Octopoda discovered in 2009. The species – Keuppia hyperbolaris, Keuppia levante, and Styletoctopus annae – lived about 95 million years ago, and bear a strong resemblance to modern octopuses, suggesting that the Octopoda order has remained relatively unchanged for tens of millions of years. The fossils included evidence of arms, muscles, rows of suckers, ink, and internal gills. The discovery was made by a team led by Dirk Fuchs of the Freie University, which is located at Berlin, Germany. The fossils were found at Hakel and Hadjoula, Lebanon. Various new ammonoid taxa were named, including Ivoites.
NameNoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeUnitLocationNotesImages

Keuppia
Gen et sp nov
Valid
Fuchs, Bracchi, & Weis
Upper Cenomanian
Lebanon

Bony fish

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Amphibians

Newly named amphibians

NameStatusAuthorsAgeUnitLocationNotesImages

Baphetes orientalis
Valid
  • Milner
  • Milner
  • Walsh
Late Carboniferous
Czech Republic

Basal reptiles

Newly named basal reptiles

NameStatusAuthorsDiscovery yearAgeUnitLocationNotesImages

Australothyris
Valid
Middle Permian
Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone
South Africa

Turtles

Newly named turtles

NameStatusAuthorsDiscovery yearAgeUnitLocationNotesImages

Angolachelys
Valid
Turonian
Angola

Lepidosauromorphs

Plesiosaurs

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Synapsids

Non-mammalian

NameStatusAuthorsAgeUnitLocationNotesImages

Protuberum
Valid
Middle Triassic
Santa Maria Formation
Brazil

Relevant research in other sciences

Evolutionary biology

  • A study is published that proposes that females from certain taxa use ornaments as a criterion for mate choice because other dimorphic structures, like biological "weaponry" could be used to coerce or force them to mate.
  • A study concludes that biotic factors have more pronounced local and short term evolutionary impacts than abiotic factors, which in turn have a more pronounced effect through time and on biodiversity as a whole.

Extinction

A study noting the effects of the KT mass extinction on Earth's modern biota is published.

Geology

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Ichnology

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Paleobiogeography

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Paleoecology

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Complete author list

As science becomes more collaborative, papers with large numbers of authors are becoming more common. To prevent the deformation of the tables, these footnotes list the contributors to papers that erect new genera and have many authors.