2020 in reptile paleontology

Turtles

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country	Notes	Images
Akoranemys[60]	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	Pérez-García	Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian)		Madagascar	A bothremydid pleurodiran. Genus includes new species A. madagasika.
Alatochelon[61]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Pérez-García, Vlachos & Murelaga	Early Pliocene	Cigarrón	Spain	A large tortoise. Genus includes new species A. myrteum.
Allaeochelys liliae[62]	Sp. nov	In press	Carbot-Chanona et al.	Miocene (Aquitanian)	Mazantic Shale	Mexico
Amabilis[63]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Hermanson et al.	Late Cretaceous	Bauru	Brazil	A podocnemidoid pleurodiran. Genus includes new species A. uchoensis.
Aragochersis[64]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Pérez García et al.	Early Cretaceous (Albian)	Escucha	Spain	A member of the family Helochelydridae. Genus includes new species A. lignitesta.
Axestemys erquelinnensis[65]	Sp. nov	Valid	Pérez-García & Smith	Eocene (Ypresian)		Belgium	Announced in 2020; the final version of the article naming was published in 2021.
Chelonoidis alburyorum keegani[66]	Subsp. nov	Valid	Franz, Albury & Steadman	Late Holocene		Turks and Caicos Islands	A tortoise.
Chelonoidis alburyorum sementis[66]	Subsp. nov	Valid	Franz, Albury & Steadman	Late Holocene		Turks and Caicos Islands	A tortoise.
Chersine khosatzkyi[67]	Sp. nov	Valid	Redkozubov et al.	Early Pliocene		Moldova	A tortoise. Announced in 2020; the final version of the article naming it was published in 2021.
Gallica[68]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Pérez-García	Late Paleocene		France	A " eucryptodiran . Genus includes new species G. lapparentiana.
Itapecuruemys[69]	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	Batista, Carvalho & de la Fuente	Early Cretaceous	Itapecuru	Brazil	A pleurodiran turtle belonging to the group Pelomedusoides . Genus includes new species I. amazonensis.
Jainemys[70]	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Joyce & Bandyopadhyay	Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian)	Lameta	India	A member of the family Bothremydidae belonging to the tribe Kurmademydini; a new genus for "Carteremys" pisdurensis Jain (1977).
Lakotemys[71]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Joyce, Rollot & Murelaga	Early Cretaceous (Berriasian–Valanginian)	Lakota	United States ( South Dakota)	A member of the family Baenidae. The type species is L. australodakotensis.
Laurasichersis[72]	Gen. et sp. nov		Pérez García	Paleocene (Thanetian)	Sables de Bracheux	France	A member of the family Sichuanchelyidae. The type species is L. relicta.
Melanochelys tapani[73]	Nom. nov	Valid	Garbin, Bandyopadhyay & Joyce	Miocene/Pliocene	Siwalik Hills	India	A species of Melanochelys; a replacement name for Nicoria tricarinata var. sivalensis Lydekker (1889).
Mesoclemmys vanegasorum[74]	Sp. nov	Valid	Cadena et al.	Laventan	La Victoria	Colombia	A species of Mesoclemmys
Palaeomauremys metallicus[75]	Sp. nov	Valid	Karl	Oligocene		Germany	A member of the family Geoemydidae.
Palauchelys[76]	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	López-Conde et al.	Late Cretaceous (Campanian)	Olmos	Mexico	A bothremydid pleurodiran. Genus includes new species P. montellanoi.
Prochelidella buitreraensis[77]	Sp. nov	Valid	Maniel et al.	Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian)	Candeleros	Argentina
Ragechelus[78]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Lapparent de Broin, Chirio & Bour	Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian)	Farin-Doutchi	Niger	A member of the family Podocnemididae belonging to the subfamily Erymnochelyinae. The type species is R. sahelica.
Solnhofia brachyrhyncha[79]	Sp. nov	Valid	Anquetin & Püntener	Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian)	Reuchenette	Switzerland	A member of Thalassochelydia.
Testudo hellenica[80]	Sp. nov	Valid	Garcia et al.	Miocene (Vallesian)		Greece	A species of Testudo.
Titanochelon kayadibiensis[81]	Sp. nov	Valid	Karl, Staesche & Safi	Miocene (Turolian -Tortonian)		Turkey	A species of Titanochelon
Waluchelys[82]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Sterli et al.	Late Triassic	Quebrada del Barro	Argentina	A member of the family Australochelyidae. Genus includes new species W. cavitesta.
Yaminuechelys sulcipeculiaris[83]	Sp. nov	Valid	Oriozabala, Sterli & De La Fuente	Late Cretaceous (Campanian–Maastrichtian)	La Colonia	Argentina	A member of the family Chelidae

Research

• A study on the evolution of turtle skull architecture, aiming to assess the functional significance of changes in their skull architecture during feeding on the basis of data from extant and fossil taxa, is published by Ferreira et al. (2020).^[84]
• A study on the relation between ecology and shell shape in extant turtles, and its implications for the knowledge of the ecology of fossil turtles, is published by Dziomber, Joyce & Foth (2020).^[85]
• A study on the early evolution of turtles during the Triassic period is published by de la Fuente, Sterli & Krapovickas (2020).^[86]
• A study on non‐marine turtle distribution and diversity from the Late Triassic to the Paleogene is published by Cleary et al. (2020).^[87]
• Szczygielski (2020) revises the first described Triassic turtle Chelytherium obscurum, and considers it to be synonymous with Proterochersis robusta.^[88]
• Description of new fossil material of Indochelys spatulata from the Jurassic Kota Formation (India), and a study on the anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of this taxon, is published by Joyce & Bandyopadhyay (2020).^[89]
• The first three-dimensional reconstruction of the skull of Kallokibotion bajazidi is presented by Martín-Jiménez, Codrea & Pérez-García (2020).^[90]
• Fossil material of an indeterminate member of
  Pelomedusoides is described from the Valanginian Rosablanca Formation (Colombia) by Cadena (2020), who interprets this finding as additional evidence supporting the occurrence of Pelomedusoides during the Valanginian in northern South America.^[91]
• New specimens of Araripemys barretoi, providing new information on the morphological variation within this species, are described from the Crato Formation and Romualdo Formation (Brazil) by Limaverde et al. (2020).^[92]
• A study on the histology of the shell of Cearachelys placidoi is published by Sena et al. (2020).^[93]
• New fossil material of Cordichelys is described from the Eocene Birket Qarun Formation and Qasr el Sagha Formation (Egypt) by Cherney et al. (2020), who evaluate the implications of these fossils for the knowledge of the morphological variation within the genus Cordichelys, its ecology and the relationship between Cordichelys and Stereogenys.^[94]
• Cadena et al. (2020) describe new fossil material of Stupendemys geographicus from the Miocene of Venezuela and Colombia, providing new information on the anatomy and paleobiology of this species.^[95]
• Peltochelys duchastelii is reinterpreted as a member of Paracryptodira by Joyce & Rollot (2020).^[96]
• Description of the anatomy of the skull of Pleurosternon bullockii is published by Evers, Rollot & Joyce (2020).^[97]
• Redescription of the anatomy of the skull and mandible of Sandownia harrisi is published by Evers & Joyce (2020).^[98]
• New information on the anatomy and stratigraphic and geographic distribution of Anosteira pulchra is presented by Adrian et al. (2020).^[99]
• A revision of the extinct geoemydid Echmatemys from North America, based mainly on data from a slab containing several turtle shells collected from the Bridgerian of Levett Creek (Wyoming, United States), is published by Vlachos (2020).^[100]
• A study on the phylogenetic relationships of a putative testudinoid Cardichelyon rogerwoodi is published by Joyce & Claude (2020), who consider it more likely that this taxon is a member of Kinosternoidea.^[101]
• Fossil remains of dermochelyid turtles representing the first confidently identified multispecies assemblage of dermochelyids are described from the Oligocene Chandler Bridge and Ashley formations (South Carolina, United States) by Fallon & Boessenecker (2020).^[102]

Archosauriformes

Archosaurs

Other archosauriforms

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country	Notes	Images
Polymorphodon[103]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Sues et al.	Middle Triassic (Ladinian)	Erfurt	Germany	A non-archosaurian member of Archosauriformes. Genus includes new species P. adorfi.
Rugarhynchos[104]	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Wynd et al.	Late Triassic	Chinle	United States ( New Mexico)	A member of the family Doswelliidae; a new genus for "Doswellia" sixmilensis Heckert, Lucas & Spielmann (2012).

Research

• New Early Triassic archosauriform track assemblage is described from the Gardetta Plateau (Western Alps, Italy) by Petti et al. (2020), who interpret this finding as evidence of the presence of archosauriforms at low latitudes soon after the Permian–Triassic extinction event, and name a new ichnotaxon Isochirotherium gardettensis.^[105]
• Postcranial material of an erythrosuchid from the Rassypnaya locality (Olenekian; Orenburg Oblast, Russia), previously referred to Vjushkovia triplicostata, is referred to the species Garjainia prima by Maidment et al. (2020), who evalue the implications of this fossil material for the knowledge of the phylogenetic relationships, body mass and locomotor musculature of erythrosuchids.^[106]
• Redescription of the anatomy of the holotype specimen of Chanaresuchus bonapartei and a study on the phylogenetic relationships of this species is published by Trotteyn & Ezcurra (2020).^[107]
• Redescription of the anatomy of the skull and mandible of Euparkeria capensis is published Sookias et al. (2020).^[108]
• A study on the joint mobility of the hindlimb of Euparkeria capensis, and on its implications for the knowledge of the evolution of the locomotor capabilities of archosaurs, is published by Demuth, Rayfield & Hutchinson (2020).^[109]
• Phytosaur remains are described from the Upper Triassic Upper Karoo Group (Zimbabwe) by Barrett et al. (2020), representing the first record of members of this group from sub-Saharan Africa.^[110]
• An assemblage of at least 21 phytosaur specimens dominated by juveniles and subadults is described from the Upper Triassic Tiki Formation (India) by Datta, Mukherjee & Ray (2020), who interpret this finding as likely evidence of parental care in phytosaurs, and study the taphonomy of the assemblage.^[111]
• A study on the evolution of the skull shape in phytosaurs is published by Datta, Sharma & Ray (2020).^[112]
• A study comparing teeth microwear textures in Machaeroprosopus pristinus, Mystriosuchus planirostris, Nicrosaurus kapffi, N. meyeri and "Smilosuchus" lithodendrorum, aiming to determine whether microwear texture differences reflect dietary differences between phytosaur species, is published by Bestwick et al. (2020).^[113]

Other reptiles

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country	Notes	Images
Carbonodraco	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Mann et al.	Carboniferous (Moscovian)	Allegheny	United States	A member of the family Acleistorhinidae. The type species is C. lundi. Announced in 2019;[114] the correction including the required ZooBank accession number was published in 2020.[115]
Elessaurus[116]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	De-Oliveira et al.	Early Triassic	Sanga do Cabral	Brazil	An archosauromorph reptile of uncertain phylogenetic placement, possibly a relative of tanystropheids. The type species is E. gondwanoccidens.
Eomurruna[117]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Hamley, Cisneros & Damiani	Early Triassic	Arcadia	Australia	A procolophonid. Genus includes new species E. yurrgensis.
Feralisaurus[118]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Cavicchini, Zaher & Benton	Middle Triassic (Anisian)	Helsby Sandstone	United Kingdom	A neodiapsid reptile of uncertain phylogenetic placement, possibly a member of Lepidosauromorpha. The type species is F. corami.
Gunakadeit[119]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Druckenmiller et al.	Late Triassic (Norian)	Hound Island	United States ( Alaska)	A thalattosaur . The type species is G. joseeae.
Heishanosaurus[120]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Dong et al.	Early Cretaceous (Aptian–Albian)	Shahai	China	A member of Choristodera. The type species is H. pygmaeus.
Lanceirosphenodon[121]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Vivar et al.	Late Triassic (Norian)	Candelária	Brazil	A rhynchocephalian. Genus includes new species L. ferigoloi.
Micromenodon[122]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Sues & Schoch	Late Triassic (Carnian)	Doswell	United States ( Virginia)	A rhynchocephalian. Genus includes new species M. pitti.
Oculudentavis	Gen. et sp. nov	Disputed	Xing et al.	Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian)	Burmese amber	Myanmar	A diapsid of uncertain phylogenetic placement. Originally described as a member of Avialae[123] but subsequently argued to be a lizard.[124] Genus includes new species O. khaungraae. Its status as a validly named taxon is controversial because the scientific article it was named in was subsequently retracted.[125][126]
Oryctorhynchus[127]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Sues, Fitch & Whatley	Late Triassic (Carnian? - Norian?)	Wolfville	Canada ( Nova Scotia)	A rhynchosaur. Genus includes new species O. bairdi.
Raibliania[128]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Dalla Vecchia	Late Triassic (Carnian)	Calcare del Predil	Italy	A member of the family Tanystropheidae. The type species is R. calligarisi.
Skybalonyx[129]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Jenkins et al.	Late Triassic	Chinle	United States ( Arizona)	A member of the family Drepanosauridae. Genus includes new species S. skapter.
Smilodonterpeton[130]	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	Skinner, Whiteside & Benton	Late Triassic (Rhaetian)		United Kingdom	A procolophonid. Genus includes new species S. ruthinensis.
Tanystropheus hydroides[131]	Sp. nov	Valid	Spiekman et al.	Late Triassic	Besano	Italy-Switzerland border
Trilophosaurus phasmalophos[132]	Sp. nov	Valid	Kligman et al.	Late Triassic (Norian)	Chinle	United States ( Arizona)
Vellbergia[133]	Gen. et sp. nov		Sobral, Simões & Schoch	Middle Triassic (Ladinian)	Erfurt	Germany	A non-lepidosaurian lepidosauromorph. The type species is V. bartholomaei.
Youngetta[117]	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Hamley, Cisneros & Damiani	Early Triassic		China	A procolophonid; a new genus for "Eumetabolodon" dongshengensis Li (1983).

Research

• A study on fracture planes (unossified regions in the middle of vertebral centra) in tail vertebrae of mesosaurs is published by MacDougall et al. (2020), who argue that mesosaurs were theoretically capable of tail autotomy, but probably did not utilize this ability.^[134]
• A study on patterns of tooth development and replacement in Belebey and Bolosaurus, indicating that bolosaurid teeth had thecodont implantation with deep roots, is published by Snyder et al. (2020).^[135]
• Revision of Pachypes‐like footprints from the Cisuralian–Guadalupian of Europe and North America is published by Marchetti et al. (2020), who date the earliest known occurrence of Pachypes to the Artinskian, interpret the footprints belonging to the ichnospecies Pachypes ollieri as produced by nycteroleter pareiasauromorphs, and argue that the earliest occurrences of pareiasauromorph footprints precede the earliest occurrence of this group in the skeletal record by at least 10 million years.^[136]
• A study on the dental wear along the tooth rows of nearly one hundred jaws of Captorhinus aguti, indicating that this reptile preferred to feed using the right side of the jaw, is published by Reisz et al. (2020).^[137]
• Redescription of Cargninia enigmatica is published by Vivar et al. (2020).^[138]
• A study on the phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of
  sphenodontian reptiles is published by Simões, Caldwell & Pierce (2020).^[139]
• A study on the feeding mechanics and ecology of Clevosaurus hudsoni and C. cambrica, as indicated by their bite force, resistance of skull bones to bending and torsion, and the distribution of stresses in the jaws during biting, is published by Chambi‐Trowell et al. (2020).^[140]
• A study on the anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of Colobops noviportensis is published by Scheyer et al. (2020), who reinterpret this taxon as a probable rhynchocephalian.^[141]
• A study on the morphology of teeth of Priosphenodon avelasi is published by LeBlanc et al. (2020).^[142]
• Partial skeleton of a small reptile, probably a juvenile specimen of Eusaurosphargis dalsassoi, is described from the Anisian Buchenstein Formation (northern Dolomites, Italy) by Renesto, Kustatscher & Gianolla (2020), who interpret this finding as possible evidence of that the lands emerged near the basins of the northern Dolomites, Besano Formation and Prosanto Formation had a similar reptilian fauna during the middle-late Anisian.^[143]
• Fossil tracks possibly produced by a
  monjurosuchid-like choristoderan are described from the Albian Daegu Formation (South Korea) by Lee, Kong & Jung (2020), who attempt to determine the trackmaker’s locomotory posture on land, and name a new ichnotaxon Novapes ulsanensis.^[144]
• A study on the anatomy of the skull of Champsosaurus lindoei is published by Dudgeon et al. (2020), who evaluate the morphology of a putative neomorphic bone in the skull and its possible developmental and functional origins.^[145]
• A study on the internal anatomy of the skull of Champsosaurus lindoei and C. natator, and on their probable sensory abilities, is published by Dudgeon et al. (2020).^[146]
• A study on the Triassic fossil record and evolution of non-archosaurian archosauromorph reptiles in South America is published by Ezcurra et al. (2020), who also identify the first record of the family Proterosuchidae from South America (partial braincase from the Buena Vista Formation, Uruguay).^[147]
• New fossil material of tanystropheid and azendohsaurid archosauromorphs, providing new information on the diversity of Late Triassic archosauromorph reptiles in North America, is described from the Lamy Quarry south of the town of Lamy (Garita Creek Formation; New Mexico, United States) by Hégron et al. (2020).^[148]
• Redescription of the anatomy of the skeleton of Macrocnemus fuyuanensis is published by Scheyer et al. (2020).^[149]
• Description of the morphology of the skull of Macrocnemus bassanii is published by Miedema et al. (2020).^[150]
• A study on the morphology of the skull of Tanystropheus hydroides is published by Spiekman et al. (2020).^[151]
• A study on bone histology of three archosauromorph reptiles (Lagerpeton chanarensis, Tropidosuchus romeri and Chanaresuchus bonapartei) from the Triassic Chañares Formation (Argentina), evaluating its implications for the knowledge of the paleobiology of these taxa, is published by Marsà, Agnolín & Novas (2020).^[152]

Reptiles in general

• A study on the dynamics of phenotypic and molecular evolution of reptiles during the early diversification of the major lineages of diapsid reptiles in the Permian and Triassic periods, and during the evolution of lepidosaurs from the Jurassic to the present, is published by Simões et al. (2020).^[153]
• A large, soft-shelled egg, most closely resembling eggs of extant lizards and snakes and possibly produced by a mosasaur, is described from the Upper Cretaceous Lopez de Bertodano Formation (Antarctica) by Legendre et al. (2020), who name a new ootaxon Antarcticoolithus bradyi.^[154]
• A study on the ecological diversity of Mesozoic marine tetrapods is published by Reeves et al. (2020).^[155]
• Diverse marine reptile faunas, including taxa previously known nearly exclusively from coeval strata of Europe (such as Temnodontosaurus, Stenopterygius, microcleidids, rhomaleosaurids and basal pliosaurids), are described from the Lower Jurassic Series (Pliensbachian and Toarcian stages) of Eastern Siberia (Russia) by Zverkov, Grigoriev & Danilov (2020).^[156]
• A study on the evolution of the archosauromorph ankle, aiming to test the hypothesis of fusion between the centrale and astragalus and the alternative hypothesis of a complete loss of the centrale, based on embryological and palaeontological data, is published by Blanco, Ezcurra & Bona (2020).^[157]

References