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Paleontology, palaeontology or palæontology (from Greek: paleo, "ancient"; ontos, "being"; and logos, "knowledge") 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 faeces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because mankind has 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 in the year 1978.
Expeditions, field work, and fossil discoveries
- A paleoanthropological team led by Mary Leakey found 3.5 million year old human footprints.
- Baby hadrosaurs were discovered in the Two Medicine Formation.[2]
Invertebrates
Maurits Lindström, described the earliest known octocoral in Sweden shifting the first known appearance from the Cretaceous to the Ordovician.[3]
Fish
Newly named Ray-finned fish
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Type locality | Location | Notes | Images | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sp nov | jr synonym | Wilson | A mooneye, |  | ||||
Dinosaurs
Newly named dinosaurs
Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.[6]
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Type locality | Location | Notes | Images | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gen nov | Tumanova | |||||||
| Gen et sp nov | jr homonym | Preoccupied by Blake 1863. Renamed Coloradisaurus. | ||||||
| Gen et sp nov | Valid | Possible junior synonym of Fabrosaurus. |  | |||||
| Gen nov | Valid |  | ||||||
| Valid | Wild | |||||||
| van Heerden vide: Anderson & Cruickshank | ||||||||
| Gen et sp nov | Valid | A North Polar Dromaeosaur. |  | |||||
| Gen et sp nov | Valid | Zhiming, Chang, Li, & Zhou |  | |||||
General research
- Peter M. Galton published a paper on Fabrosauridae, including redescribing Fabrosaurus, Echinodon and Nanosaurus along with naming Lesothosaurus.[9]
Birds
| Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Images | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aldabranas cabri [15] | Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. | Valid | Colin J. O. Harrison | Aldabra Atoll | An Anatidae, this is the type species of the new genus. | |||
| Anser eldaricus [16] | Sp. nov. | Valid | Nikolaj I. Burchak-Abramovich D. V. Gadzyev | Late Sarmantian | 
 | An Anatidae. | ||
| Apus baranensis [17] | Sp. nov. | Valid | Dénes Jánossy | MN 16a; MN 17 | An Apodidae. | |||
| Chaetura baconica [17] | Sp. nov. | Valid | Dénes Jánossy | MN 11-12 | An Apodidae. | |||
| "Gallus" europaeus [18] | Sp. nov. | Valid ? | Colin J. O. Harrison | MQ 2A | A Phasianidae.The taxonomic status of this species should be reevaluated. There is no evidence, that it belongs to the genus Gallus Brisson. | |||
| Sp. nov. | Valid | 
 | A Gaviidae. | |||||
| Mergus miscellus [20] | Sp. nov. | Valid | Rafael Alvarez | An Anatidae. | ||||
| "Milvus" brachypterus [17] | Sp. nov. | Valid | Dénes Jánossy | MQ 1b | An Apodidae Incertae Sedis. | |||
| Morus magnus [19] | Sp. nov. | Valid | 
 | A Sulidae. | ||||
| Phalacrocorax anatolicus [21] | Sp. nov. | Valid | A Phalacrocoracidae, transferred to the genus Nectornis Cheneval, 1984 by Mlíkovský, 1998.[22] | |||||
| Pterodroma kurodai [15] | Sp. nov. | Valid | Colin J. O. Harrison | Aldabra Atoll | ||||
| Puffinus barnesi [19] | Sp. nov. | Valid | 
 | |||||
| Recurvirostra sanctaneboulae [23] | Sp. nov. | Valid | A Recurvirostridae, most unlikely it is a Recurvirostra or even a Recurvirostridae. | |||||
| Surnia robusta [17] | Sp. nov. | Valid | Dénes Jánossy | MQ 1b | A Strigidae. | |||
| Pterosaurs
 Popular culture
 References
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