The year 2013 in Archosaur paleontology was eventful.

Archosaurs Archosauria () or archosaurs () is a clade of diapsid sauropsid tetrapods, with birds and crocodilians being the only extant taxon, extant representatives. Although broadly classified as reptiles, which traditionally exclude birds, the cladistics ...

include the only living dinosaur group —

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

— and the reptile

crocodilia Crocodilia () is an order of semiaquatic, predatory reptiles that are known as crocodilians. They first appeared during the Late Cretaceous and are the closest living relatives of birds. Crocodilians are a type of crocodylomorph pseudosuchia ...

ns, plus all extinct

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

s, extinct crocodilian relatives, and

pterosaur Pterosaurs are an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 million to 66 million years ago). Pterosaurs are the earli ...

s. Archosaur

palaeontology Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geo ...

is the scientific study of those animals, especially as they existed before the

Holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...

Epoch began about 10,000 years ago. The year

2013 in paleontology Plants Cnidarians Arthropods Bryozoans Brachiopods Molluscs Echinoderms Conodonts Fishes Amphibians Research * Laloy ''et al.'' (2013) reinterpret the Eocene frog species ''Rana cadurcorum'' from the Quercy Phosphorites ...

included various significant developments regarding archosaurs. This article records new

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

archosaur Archosauria () or archosaurs () is a clade of diapsid sauropsid tetrapods, with birds and crocodilians being the only extant taxon, extant representatives. Although broadly classified as reptiles, which traditionally exclude birds, the cladistics ...

s of every kind that have been described during the year 2013, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to

paleontology Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure ge ...

of archosaurs that occurred in the year 2013.

Pseudosuchians

Research

Mesoeucrocodylia Mesoeucrocodylia is the clade that includes Eusuchia and crocodyliforms formerly placed in the paraphyletic group Mesosuchia. The group appeared during the Early Jurassic, and continues to the present day. Diagnosis It was long known that Me ...

n fossils, which might be the first recorded Cenozoic fossils of atoposaurids, are described from the Eocene Kaninah Formation of

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

by Stevens ''et al.'' (2013).

New taxa

Newly named basal dinosauromorphs

Non-avian dinosaurs

Research

* A new

Troodontid Troodontidae is a clade of bird-like theropod dinosaurs from the Late Jurassic to Late Cretaceous. During most of the 20th century, troodontid fossils were few and incomplete and they have therefore been allied, at various times, with many dinos ...

Tooth is reported from Kallamedu Formation of India. * A study on the reproductive strategies of dinosaurs is published by Werner & Griebeler (2013). * A re-analysis of prior studies on the dinosaur growth rates is published by Myhrvold (2013). * A study on an assemblage of specimens of ''

Aniksosaurus ''Aniksosaurus'' (meaning "spring lizard", from Modern Greek Άνοιξη, "Spring", referring to the fact it was found on 21 September 1995, the onset of Spring on the Southern Hemisphere) is a genus of avetheropod dinosaur from what is now Chub ...

darwini'' from the

Upper Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cret ...

Bajo Barreal Formation The Bajo Barreal Formation is a geological Formation (geology), formation in the Golfo San Jorge Basin of Chubut Province, Chubut and Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, Santa Cruz, Argentina whose strata date back to the Cenomanian, Middle Cenomanian ...

(

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

) evaluating whether the assemblage is truly monospecific and whether or not all the individuals died at the same time based on taphonomic data, is published by Ibiricu ''et al.'' (2013). * Redescription of ''

Lusotitan ''Lusotitan'' is a genus of herbivorous brachiosaurid sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of Portugal and possibly Spain. Discovery and naming In 1947 Manuel de Matos, a member of the Geological Survey of Portugal, discovered large saur ...

atalaiensis'' and a study on the phylogenetic relationships of basal

titanosauriform Macronaria is a clade of sauropod dinosaurs. Macronarians are named after the large diameter of the nasal opening of their skull, known as the external naris, which exceeded the size of the orbit, the skull opening where the eye is located (hence ...

sauropods Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their b ...

is published by Mannion ''et al.'' (2013). * A review of all fossil specimens referred to ''

Euoplocephalus ''Euoplocephalus'' ( ) is a genus of large herbivorous ankylosaurid dinosaurs, living during the Late Cretaceous of Canada. It has only one named species, ''Euoplocephalus tutus''. The first fossil of ''Euoplocephalus'' was found in 1897 in Albe ...

tutus'', as well as specimens that were previously referred to ''Euoplocephalus'' but subsequently were assigned to different genera, is published by

Arbour Arbor(s) or Arbour(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Arbor (installation), ''Arbor'' (installation), a 2013 public artwork in Indianapolis, Indiana, US * Arbor, a counterweight-carrying device found in theater fly system#Arbors, fly syste ...

Currie Currie is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edinburgh Council. It is situated be ...

(2013).

New taxa

Birds

Research

* '' Eleutherornis'' is re-examined and classified as a member of

Phorusrhacidae Phorusrhacids, colloquially known as terror birds, are an extinct family of large carnivorous, mostly flightless birds that were among the largest apex predators in South America during the Cenozoic era. Their definitive fossil records range from ...

by Angst ''et al.'' (2013).

New taxa

Newly named pterosaurs

References

{{Reflist} 2010s in paleontology

Paleontology Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure ge ...

2013 in paleontology