1976 in paleontology
Paleontology or palaeontology 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 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 1976.
1976 in science |
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Fields |
Technology |
Social sciences |
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Paleontology |
Extraterrestrial environment |
Terrestrial environment |
Other/related |
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Flora
Cycads
Name | Novelty | Status | Authors | Age | Type locality | Location | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gen et Sp nov |
valid |
Barthel |
An eostangerioid zamiaceous cycad. |
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Dinosaurs
Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list.[3]
Newly named dinosaurs
Name | Status | Author | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Image |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alioramus[4] | Valid taxon | Sergei Kurzanov | Maastrichtian | Nemegt Formation | Mongolia | A Tyrannosaur with five knobs on the snout. | |
Itemirus[5] | Valid taxon | Sergei Kurzanov | Turonian | Bissekty Formation | Uzbekistan | A close relative of Velociraptor. | |
Marshosaurus | Valid taxon | J. H. Madsen | Kimmeridgian | Morrison Formation | USA ( Colorado and Utah) | A North American Megalosaur Close Relative of the Piatnitzkysaurus. | |
Ouranosaurus[6] | Valid taxon | Philippe Taquet | Aptian-Albian | Elrhaz Formation Koum Formation | Niger Cameroon | A sail-backed Iguanodont | |
Zigongosaurus[7] | Disputed. | Hou, Zhao, & Chao | Middle to Late Jurassic | Shaximiao Formation | China | Possible junior synonym of Mamenchisaurus. | |
Newly named birds
Name | Novelty | Status | Author | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Image |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aegialornis broweri [8] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Charles T. Collins |
MP 16-28; |
An Apodiformes, Aegialornithidae Lydekker, 1891, transferred to the new genus Mesogiornis Mlíkovský, 2002. by Mlíkovský, 2002.[9] |
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Aegialornis wetmorei [8] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Charles T. Collins |
MP 16-28 |
An Apodiformes, Aegialornithidae Lydekker, 1891, transferred to the new genus Mesogiornis Mlíkovský, 2002. by Mlíkovský, 2002.,[9] it is the type species of the new genus. |
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Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
An Enantiornithes Walker, 1981, Alexornithiformes Brodkorb, 1976, Alexornithidae Brodkorb, 1976. |
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Anas soporata [11] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Chirgiz-Nur Formation |
An Anatidae, transferred to the genus Dendrocygna by Jíří Mlíkovský & Petr Švec, 1986.[12] |
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Anser liskunae [11] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Zavhan |
An Anatidae. |
||||
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
25,000 Ybp |
A Threskiornithidae, this is the type species of the new genus. |
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Aythya spatiosa [11] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Hyargas Nuur Formation |
An Anatidae. |
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Apus wetmorei [14] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Peter Ballmann |
MN 14-15 |
An Apodidae. |
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Butorides validipes [15] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Kenneth E. Campbell, Jr. |
Late Blancan |
An Ardeidae. |
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Columba omnisanctorum [14] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Peter Ballmann |
ppMN 14-15 |
A Columbidae. |
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Eobucco brodkorbi [16] |
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Larry D. Martin |
Described as a Piciformes, Primobucconidae Feduccia et Martin, 1976, now placed in the Coliiformes, Sandcileidae Houde et Olson, 1992, it is the type species of the new genus. |
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Gigantibis incognita [17] |
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Colin J. O. Harrison |
Described as a Threskiornithidae, placed in Aves Incertae Sedis by Olson, 1981,[18] this is the type species of the new genus. |
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Heterochen vicinus [11] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Hyargas Nuur Formation |
An Anatidae, transferred to the genus Anser by Jíří Mlíkovský & Petr Švec, 1986,[12] and made the type species of his new genus Heteroanser by Nikita V. Zelenkov, 2012.[19] |
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Howardia eous [17] |
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Colin J. O. Harrison |
An Anatidae, this is the type species of this new genus but it is preoccupied by Howardia Berlese et Leonardi, 1896. (Insecta: Hemiptera)so transferred to and becoming the type species of the new genus Palaeopapia Harrison et Walker, 1979 by Colin J. O. Harrison & Cyril A. Walker in 1979.[20] |
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Jacana farrandi [21] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Alachua Formatie, Early Hemphillian |
A Jacanidae. |
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Gen. nov et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Colin J. O. Harrison |
MP 8-9 |
A Pelagornithidae Fürbringer, 1888, this is the type species of the new genus. |
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Milvago alexandri [23] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Cave deposits |
A Falconidae. |
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Nyctanassa kobdoena [11] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
An Ardeidae. |
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Ogygoptynx wetmorei [24] |
Gen. nov et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Patricia Vickers Rich David J. Bohaska |
A Strigiformes, Ogygoptyngidae Rich et Bohaska, 1981.,[25] this is the type species and type genus of the new genus and the new family. |
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Oreopholus orcesi [26] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Kenneth E. Campbell, Jr. |
A Charadriidae. |
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Palaeotodus emryi [27] |
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
A Todidae, this is the type species of the new genus. |
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Pandion homalopteron [28] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Stuart L. Warter |
|
A Pandionidae. |
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Pelecanus aethiopicus [29] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Colin J. O. Harrison |
Early Middle Pleistocene |
Olduvai Series |
A Pelecanidae. |
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Petropluvialis simplex [17] |
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Colin J. O. Harrison |
Described in the Burhinidae, placed in Aves Incertae Sedis by Mlíkovský 2002,[9] according to Mayr et Smith, 2001 [30] closely related to Palaeopapia eous (Harrison et Walker, 1976) and possibly synonymous with this species so they place it in the Anseriformes, this is the type species of the new genus. |
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Phalacrocorax reliquus [11] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
||||||
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Collin J. O. Harrison |
A Phoenicopteridae, transferred to the genus Leakeyornis Vickers-Rich & Walker, 1983 by Patricia Vickers Rich & Cyril A. Walker,[32] it is the type species of the new genus. |
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Piscator tenuirostris [17] |
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Colin J. O. Harrison |
Described in the Phalacrocoracidae, placed in Aves Incertae Sedis by Mlíkovský 2002,[9] this is the type species of the new genus. |
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Sp. nov. |
Valid |
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Praemancalla wetmorei [34] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Monterey Formatie |
|
An Alcidae, transferred to the genus Miomancalla N. A. Smith, 2011 by N. Adam Smith, 2011.[35] |
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Primobucco olsoni [16] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Larry D. Martin |
Described as a Piciformes, Primobucconidae Feduccia et Martin, 1976, made the type species of the new genus Cyrilavis Martin, 2010 [36] and placed in the stem Psittaciformes, Halcyornithidae Harrison et Walker, 1972. |
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Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Colin J. O. Harrison |
MP 8-9 |
A Pelagornithidae Fürbringer, 1888. |
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Strix? perpasta [14] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Peter Ballmann |
MN 14-15 |
A Strigidae, transferred to the genus Bubo by Mlíkovský 1998.[37] |
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Tenuicrus magnum [17] |
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Colin J. O. Harrison |
A Phoenicopteriformes, Juncitarcidae, this is the type of this new genus but it is preoccupied by Tenuicrus Womersley, 1940. (Arachnida: Acarina)so transferred to and becoming the type species of the new genus Kashinia Harrison et Walker, 1979 by Colin J. O. Harrison & Cyril A. Walker in 1979.[20] |
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Tetrao macropus [38] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Dénes Jánossy |
A Phasianidae. |
||||
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
|||||||
Uintornis marionae [39] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Larry D. Martin |
Described in the Piciformes, Primobucconidae Feduccia & Martin, 1976, transferred to the Coliiformes, Sandcoleidae Houde et Olson, 1992 by Peter W. Houde & Storrs L. Olson, 1992.[40] |
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Villetus grandis [17] |
Gen. nov. et Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Colin J. O. Harrison |
MP 14-16 |
Described in the Scolopacidae, placed in Aves Incertae Sedis by Mlíkovský 2002,[9] this is the type species of the new genus. |
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Villetus waltoni [17] |
Sp. nov. |
Valid |
Colin J. O. Harrison |
MP 14-16 |
Described in the Scolopacidae, placed in Aves Incertae Sedis by Mlíkovský 2002.[9] |
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Plesiosaurs
New taxa
Name | Status | Authors | Age | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Georgia[41] | Valid | Otschev | Late Cretaveous | Russia | preoccupied by a genus of mollusk, renamed to Georgiasaurus in 1977 |
Other Animals
Name | Status | Author | Age | Unit | Location | Notes | Image |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
species moved to Dickinsonia by Ivantsov in 2007 [43] | Keller | Ediacaran | Russia | ||||
References
- Gini-Newman, Garfield; Graham, Elizabeth (2001). Echoes from the past: world history to the 16th century. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. ISBN 9780070887398. OCLC 46769716.
- Barthel, M (1976). Eozäne Floren des Geiseltales: Farne und Cycadeen. Abhandlungen des Zentralen Geologischen Institutes. Paläontol Ab-handl.
- Olshevsky, George. "Dinogeorge's Dinosaur Genera List". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
- Kurzanov, S.M. 1976. A new Late Cretaceous carnosaur from Nogon-Tsav, Mongolia [in Russian]. Sovm. Sov.-Mong. Paleontol. Eksped. Trudy 3: pp. 93-104.
- Kurzanov, S.M. 1976. Braincase structure in the carnosaur Itemirus n. gen. and some aspects of the cranial anatomy of dinosaurs. Paleontol. Zhurnal 1976: pp. 127-137.
- Taquet, P. 1977. Dinosaurs of Niger. Nigerina Field 42 (1): pp. 1-8.
- Hou, L.-h.; Zhou, S.-w.; Chao, S.-c. (1976). "New discovery of sauropod dinosaurs from Sichuan". Vertebrata PalAsiatica (in Chinese). 14 (3): 160–165.
- Charles T. Collins (1976). "A Review of the Lower Miocene Swifts (Aves: Apodiae)" (PDF). In Collected Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring the 90th Birthday of Alexander Wetmore Ed.: Storrs. L. Olson; Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 27: 129–132.
- Jírí Mlíkovský (2002). "Cenozoic Birds of the World Part 1: Europe" (PDF). Praha Ninox Press: 1–407. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2014-09-13.
- Pierce Brodkorb (1976). "Discovery of a Cretaceous Bird, Apparently Ancestral to the Orders Coraciiformes and Piciformes" (PDF). In Collected Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring the 90th Birthday of Alexander Wetmore Ed.: Storrs. L. Olson; Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 27: 67–73.
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- Jíří Mlíkovský & Petr Švec (1986). "Review of the Tertiary Waterfowl (Aves: Anseridae) of Asia" (PDF). Vestnik Ceskoslovenske Spolecnosti Zoologicke. 50: 249–272. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2014-09-25.
- Storrs L. Olson & Alexander Wetmore (1976). "Preliminary Diagnoses of Two Extraordinary New Genera of Birds from Pleistocene Deposits in the Hawaiian Islands" (PDF). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 89: 247–258. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-09-13. Retrieved 2014-09-13.
- Peter Ballmann (1976). "Fossile Vögel aus dem Neogen der Halbinsel Gargano (Italien) Zweiter Teil". Scripta Geologica. 38: 1–59.
- Kenneth E. Campbell, Jr. (1976). "An Early Pleistoceen Avifauna from Haile XVA, Florida" (PDF). Wilson Bulletin. 88 (2): 345–347.
- Alan Feduccia & Larry D. Martin (1976). "The Eocene Zygodactyl Birds of North America (Aves: Piciformes)" (PDF). In Collected Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring the 90th Birthday of Alexander Wetmore Ed.: Storrs. L. Olson; Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 27: 101–110.
- Colin J. O. Harrison & Cyril A. Walker (1976). "Birds of the British Upper Eocene". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 59 (4): 323–351. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1976.tb01017.x.
- Storrs L. Olson (1981). "The Generic Allocation of Ibis pagana Milne-Edwards, with A Review of the Fossil Ibises (Aves: Threskiornithidae)" (PDF). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 1 (2): 165–170. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.510.7434. doi:10.1080/02724634.1981.10011888.
- Nikita V. Zelenkov (2012). "Neogene Geese and Ducks (Aves: Anatidae) from Localities of the Great Lakes Depression, Western Mongolia". Paleontological Journal. 46 (11): 607–619. doi:10.1134/S0031030112060123. S2CID 84232041.
- Colin J. O. Harrison & Cyril A. Walker (1979). "New Names for Two Upper Eocene Bird Genera". Tertiary Research. 2 (3): 110.
- Storrs L. Olson (1976). "A Jacana from the Pliocene of Florida (Aves: Jacanide)" (PDF). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 89: 259–264.
- Colin J. O. Harrison & Cyril A. Walker (1976). "A Review of the Bony-Toothed Birds (Odontopterygiformes): with the Description of Some New Species". Tertiary Research Special Papers. 2: 1–72.
- Storrs L. Olson (1976). "A New Species of Milvago from Hispaniola, with Notes on Other Fossil Caracaras from the West Indies (Aves: Falconidae)" (PDF). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 88 (3): 355–366.
- Patricia Vickers Rich & David J. Bohaska (1976). "The World's Oldest Owl: A New Strigiform from the Paleocene of Southwestern Colorado" (PDF). In Collected Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring the 90th Birthday of Alexander Wetmore Ed.: Storrs. L. Olson; Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 27: 87–93.
- Patricia Vickers Rich & David J. Bohaska (1981). "The Ogygoptyngidae, a New Family of Owls from the Paleocene of North America" (PDF). Alcheringa. 5 (2): 95–102. doi:10.1080/03115518108565424. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-07-27. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
- Kenneth E. Campbell, Jr. (1976). "The Late Pleistocene Avifauna of La Carolina, Southwestern Ecuador" (PDF). In Collected Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring the 90th Birthday of Alexander Wetmore Ed.: Storrs. L. Olson; Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 27: 155–168.
- Storrs L. Olson (1976). "Oligocene Fossils Bearing on the Origins of the Todidae and the Motmotidae (Aves: Coraciiformes)" (PDF). In Collected Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring the 90th Birthday of Alexander Wetmore Ed.: Storrs. L. Olson; Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 27 (27): 111–119. doi:10.5479/si.00810266.27.1.
- Stuart L. Warter (1976). "A New Osprey from the Miocene of California (Falconiformes: Pandionidae)" (PDF). In Collected Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring the 90th Birthday of Alexander Wetmore Ed.: Storrs. L. Olson; Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 27: 133–139.
- Colin J. O. Harrison & Cyril A. Walker (1976). "A New Fossil Pelican from Olduvai". Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Geology Series. 27 (4): 315–320. doi:10.5962/p.313817.
- Gerald Mayr & Richard Smith (2001). "Ducks, Rails and Limicoline Waders (Aves: Anseriformes, Gruiformes, Charadriiformes) from the Lowermost Oligocene of Belgium" (PDF). Praha Ninox Press. 34 (5): 547–561. doi:10.1016/s0016-6995(01)80069-3.
- Collin J. O. Harrison & Cyril A. Walker (1976). "Cranial Material of Oligocene and Miocene Flamingos: With a Description of a New Species". Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Geology Series. 27: 305–314. doi:10.5962/p.313816.
- Patricia Vickers Rich & Cyril A. Walker (1983). "A New Genus of Miocene Flamingo from East Africa". Ostrich. 54 (2): 95–104. doi:10.1080/00306525.1983.9634452.
- Robert W. Storer (1976). "The Pleistocene Pied-billed Grebes (Aves: Podicipedidae)" (PDF). In Collected Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring the 90th Birthday of Alexander Wetmore Ed.: Storrs. L. Olson; Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 27: 147–153.
- Hildegarde Howard (1976). "A New Species of Flightless Auk from the Miocene of California (Alcidae: Mancallinae)" (PDF). In Collected Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring the 90th Birthday of Alexander Wetmore Ed.: Storrs. L. Olson; Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 27: 141–146.
- N. Adam Smith (2011). "Taxonomic Revision and Phylogenetic Analysis of the Flightless Mancallinae (Aves, Pan-Alcidae)" (PDF). ZooKeys (91): 1–116. doi:10.3897/zookeys.91.709. PMC 3084493. PMID 21594108. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-20. Retrieved 2014-09-25.
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- Jíří Mlíkovský (1998). "Two New Owls (Aves: Strigidae) from the Early Miocene of the Czech Republic, with Comments on the Fossil History of the Subfamily Striginae" (PDF). Buteo. 10: 5–21.
- Dénes Jánossy (1976). "Plio-Pleistocene Bird Remains from the Carpathian Basin. I. Galliformes. 1. Tetraonidae". Aquila. 82: 13–36.
- Alan Feduccia & Larry D. Martin (1976). "The Eocene Zygodactyl Birds of North America (Aves: Piciformes)" (PDF). In Collected Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring the 90th Birthday of Alexander Wetmore Ed.: Storrs. L. Olson; Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 27: 101–110.
- Peter W. Houde & Storrs L. Olson (1992). "A Radiation of Coly-like Birds from the Eocene of North America (Aves: Sandcoleiformes New Order)" (PDF). In Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring Pierce Brodkorb. Ed: Jonathan J. Becker, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Science Series. 36: 137–160.
- Otschev, V.G. (1977). "A substitution for the preoccupied name Georgia penzensis". Paleontological Journal. 11: 118.
- Keller, B.M.; Fedonkin, M.A. (1976). "New records of fossils in the Valdaian group of the precambrian on the Syuz'ma River" (PDF). Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSR. Seriya Geologicheskaya (in Russian). 3: 38–44. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-27.
- Ivantsov, A. Y. (2007). "Small Vendian transversely articulated fossils". Paleontological Journal. 41 (2): 113–122. doi:10.1134/S0031030107020013. S2CID 86636748.