2010 in Dinosaur Paleontology

[greygirlbeast]

In 2010, approximately 56 new non-avian dinosaur genera* were named from fossils around the world. That's up from 44 in 2009.

However, the truly remarkable thing about the announcement of new dinosaur taxa this year is the variety of new ceratopsians (the "horned dinosaurs," including Triceratops). By my count, no less than eleven new ceratopsians (Infraorder Ceratopsia) were reported from Cretaceous-aged sediments worldwide. To try to underscore the significance of this, consider that between 1950 and 1986, no new ceratopians were described, and since then only a handful of valid new genera and species have been described. Only time will tell how many of these taxa are valid, but most appear to be. And, of course, this year saw a proposal to combine Triceratops and Torosaurus; the name Triceratops is retained, as it has priority (first appears in the scientific literature). There were also an unusually high number of new iguanodontians.

Anyway, here's this year's list:

Aardonyx (Sauropodomorpha; Prosauropoda)
Abydosaurus (Sauropoda; Brachiosauridae)
Ajkaceratops (Ornithischia; Ceratopsia)
Arkharavia (Sauropoda; ?Titanosauria)
Atsinganosaurus (Sauropoda; Titanosauria)
Austrocheirus (Ceratosauria; Abelisauroidea)
Balaur (Dromaeosauridae; Velociraptorinae)
Banji (Therapoda; Oviraptoridae)
Barilium (Euornithopoda; Iguanadontia)
Beishanlong (Theropoda; Ornithomimosauria)
Bistahieversor (Theropoda; Tyrannosauroidea)
Concavenator (Theropoda; Carcharodontosauridae)
Cruxicheiros (Theropoda; Tetanurae)
Diabloceratops (Ceratopsidae; Centrosaurinae)
Duriatitan (Sauropoda; Titanosauriformes)
Fruitadens (Ornithischia; Heterodontosauridae)
Fukuititan (Sauropoda; Titanosauriformes)
Geminiraptor (Theropoda; Troodontidae)
Glishades (Ornithopoda; Hadrosauroidea)
Haplocheirus (Theropoda; Alvarezsauroidea)
Hippodraco (Ornithopoda; Iguanodontia)
Hypselospinus (Ornithopoda; Iguanodontia)
Ignavusaurus (Saurischia; Sauropodomorpha)
Iguanacolossus (Ornithopoda; Iguanodontia)
Jeyawati (Ornithopoda; Hadrosauroidea)
Kayentavenator (Theropoda; Tetanurae)
Kileskus (Theropoda; Tyrannosauroidea)
Kosmoceratops (Ceratopsida; Chasmosaurinae)
Kukufeldia (Ornithopoda; Iguanodontia)
Linheraptor (Dromaeosauridae; Velociraptorinae)
Liubangosaurus (Sauropoda; Eusauropoda)
Machairasaurus (Oviraptoridael Ingeniinae)
Medusaceratops (Ceratopsidae; Chasmosaurinae)
Mojoceratops (Ceratopsidae; Chasmosaurinae)
Ojoceratops (Ceratopsidae; Chasmosaurinae)
Paludititan (Sauropoda; Titanosauria)
Panamericansaurus (Sauropoda; Titanosauridae)
Pneumatoraptor (Theropoda; Paraves [unranked])
Proplanicoxa (Ornithopoda; Iguanodontia)
Rahiolisaurus (Ceratosauria; Abelisauridae)
Rubeosaurus (Ceratopsidae; Centrosaurinae)
Sanjuansaurus (Saurischia; Herrerasauridae)
Seitaad (Prosauropoda; Plateosauria)
Sellacoxa (Ornithopoda; Iguanodontia)
Sinoceratops (Ceratopsidae; Centrosaurinae)
Tatankaceratops (Ceratopsidae; Centrosaurinae)
Texacephale (Pachycephalosauria; Pachycephalosauridae)
Tianyuraptor (Dromaeosauridae; ?Microraptorinae)
Tonganosaurus (Sauropoda; Mamenchisauridae)
Utahceratops (Ceratopsidae; Chasmosaurinae)
Vagaceratops (Ceratopsidae; Chasmosaurinae)
Xiongguanlong (Theropoda; Tyrannosauroidea)
Xixianykus (Alvarezsauroidea; Parvicursorinae)
Xixiasaurus (Theropoda; Troodontidae)
Xixiposaurus (Sauropodomorpha; Prosauropoda)
Zhuchengceratops (Ceratopsia; Leptoceratopsidae)

*I've not included new species named to preexisting genera, or this list would be a bit longer.

Comments

[lastwordy-mcgee.livejournal.com]

Would you mind if I cut and pasted this into my own journal, and possibly my facebook notes? I will credit you, of course -- I'd love to share this with my friends.

[hidheart.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is great. I was just yesterday wondering if there were some convenient list of recent dinosaur identifications, and voila.

I hope you don't mind another enthusiastic stranger, by the way. :)