Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. 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 1991.
Plants
Angiosperms
Arthropods
Insects
Mollusca
Newly named bivalves
Archosauromorphs
- Sankar Chatterjee's discovery of a possible Triassic bird, Protoavis, if genuine, would push avian origins back almost 70 million years. The find ignites controversy over the connection between dinosaurs and birds.
Newly named dinosaurs
Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.
Newly named birds
Genera no longer considered to be birds
- Protoavis. The avian status of Protoavis has since been almost universally rejected by paleontologists.
Pseudosuchians
Pterosaurs
New taxa
Synapsids
Non-mammalian
References
