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2026 in reptile paleontology

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Fossil reptile research published in 2026 includes peer-reviewed publications on discoveries related to reptile paleontology, as well as the description of new taxa.

Contents


Lepidosauromorphs

Squamates

NameNoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityCountryNotesImages

Xenodontolacerta [1]

Gen. et sp. nov

Valid

Jiang et al.

Late Cretaceous (Coniacian–Campanian)

Hekou Formation

Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China

A polyglyphanodontian. The type species is X. fangi

 Xenodontolacerta fangi (holotype, CVEB20180206).png

Squamate research

  • Ebel, Melville & Keogh (2026) reconstruct the evolutionary history of squamate osteoderms on the basis of data from extant and extinct reptiles, reporting evidence of 13 independent acquisitions of osteoderms, the majority of which happened in the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. [2]
  • Redescription and a study on the affinities of Prognathodon waiparaensis is published by Young et al. (2026). [3]
  • Comans, Tobin & Totten (2026) reconstruct the thermoregulatory modes of Platecarpus and Tylosaurus from the Smoky Hill Chalk Member of the Niobrara Formation (Kansas, United States) on the basis stable oxygen isotope composition of tooth enamel, interpreted as consistent with endothermy. [4]
  • Liaw et al. (2026) report the discovery of a vertebra of a large-bodied python from the Pleistocene strata of the Chiting Formation (Taiwan). [5]
  • Jansen et al. (2026) report the discovery of a new assemblage of squamate fossils from the Campanian strata of the Villeveyrac-Mèze basin (France), including the oldest European members of Pan- Shinisaurus , Madtsoiidae, Monstersauria and Iguanomorpha reported to date, and possibly the oldest known anguid worldwide. [6]

Other lepidosauromorphs

NameNoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityCountryNotesImages

Airistagiz [7]

Gen. et sp. nov

Valid

Sobral & Schoch

Middle Triassic (Ladinian)

Erfurt Formation

Flag of Germany.svg Germany

A stem-lepidosaur. The type species is A. seegisi.

Hohlachia [7]

Gen. et sp. nov

Valid

Sobral & Schoch

Middle Triassic (Ladinian)

Erfurt Formation

Flag of Germany.svg Germany

A stem-lepidosaur. The type species is H. multidens.

Klainjosaura [7]

Gen. et sp. nov

Valid

Sobral & Schoch

Middle Triassic (Ladinian)

Erfurt Formation

Flag of Germany.svg Germany

A stem-lepidosaur. The type species is K. staroskalja.

Other lepidosauromorph research

  • Haridy et al. (2026) describe new fossil material of Eilenodon robustus from the strata of the Morrison Formation from Utah and Wyoming (United States), and provide the first three-dimensional reconstructions of the skull anatomy of this taxon and the first detailed study of its tooth row histology. [8]

Archosauromorphs

Archosaurs

Other archosauromorphs

NameNoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityCountryNotesImages

Other archosauromorph research

  • Sarkar & Ray (2026) report evidence from the study of the bone histology of members of an assemblage of Colossosuchus techniensis from the Tiki Formation (India) indicative of an epidemic of persistent, recurrent bone disease in members of the studied community, likely resulting from a bacterial infection. [9]

Turtles

NameNoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityCountryNotesImages

Gigantochelys [10]

Gen. et sp. nov

Mousa, Tantawy & El-Kheir

Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian)

Dakhla Formation

Flag of Egypt.svg Egypt

A member of the family Dermochelyidae. The type species is G. aegyptiacus.

Sternotherus pugnatus [11]

Sp. nov

Valid

Bourque

Miocene

Flag of the United States.svg United States
(Flag of Florida.svg Florida)

A species of Sternotherus .

Turtle research

Other reptiles

This section includes reptiles of uncertain or debated placement (choristoderes and the marine reptile clades Ichthyosauromorpha and Sauropterygia) in addition to stem group reptiles.

Choristoderes

Choristodere research

  • Matsumoto, Manabe & Evans (2026) describe new fossil material of members of Choristodera from the Lower Cretaceous Okurodani Formation (Japan), expanding known diversity of members of the group from the studied formation. [15]

Ichthyosauromorphs

NameNoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityCountryNotesImages

Ichthyosauromorph research

  • Evidence indicating that the relative size of the notochordal canal on vertebral centra can be used to study developmental stage of ichthyosaur fetuses is presented by Miedema & Maxwell (2026). [16]
  • Probable ophthalmosaurid specimen representing the first partially articulated ichthyosaur skeleton reported from the insular Caribbean is described from the Tithonian strata of the Guasasa Formation (Cuba) by Iturralde-Vinent et al. (2026). [17]
  • Martinez-Motta et al. (2026) report evidence of preservation of integumentary tissues in a brachypterygiid ichthyosaur specimen from the Paja Formation (Colombia). [18]

Sauropterygians

NameNoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityCountryNotesImages
Nothosaurus fortihumeralis [19] Sp. nov.Li et al. Middle Triassic (Anisian) Guanling Formation Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China A nothosaurid

Pahasapasaurus gillettei [20]

Sp. nov.

In press

Schmeisser McKean

Late Cretaceous (Turonian)

Tropic Shale

Flag of the United States.svg United States (Flag of Utah.svg Utah)

A polycotylid plesiosaur; a species of Pahasapasaurus . Announced in 2025, the final article version will be published in 2026.

Sauropterygian research

  • Zhang et al. (2026) determine the age and duration of the Ladinian Xingyi Fauna on the basis of the study of astrochronology and cyclostratigraphy of the Nimaigu Section of the Falang Formation (China), providing evidence of brief duration of the typical species of this fauna, Keichousaurus hui . [21]
  • Redescription of the anatomy and a study on the affinities of Lusonectes sauvagei is published by Sachs & Madzia (2026). [22]
  • García-Guerrero et al. (2026) describe a cervical vertebra of a member of the subfamily Brachaucheninae from the Valanginian strata of the Rosablanca Formation (Colombia), representing the oldest fossil material of a large pliosaurid from the Lower Cretaceous strata in northern South America reported to date. [23]
  • Probable elasmosaurid vertebra, representing the first plesiosaur record from Algeria, is described from the Coniacian strata of the Essen Formation in the Tébessa Mountains by Nadir Naimi et al. (2026). [24]
  • Evidence of a healing fracture and periostitis is reported in elasmosaurid specimens from the Maastrichtian Snow Hill Island Formation (Antarctica) and Jagüel Formation (Argentina) by Mitidieri et al. (2026). [25]
  • Marx, Szasz & Lindgren (2026) determine heat transfer in elasmosaurid models reconstructed with and without a layer of insulating blubber, and argue that a peripheral blubber layer was necessary for elasmosaurids inhabiting cold water regions. [26]

Stem group reptiles

NameNoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityCountryNotesImages

Sauropia [27]

Gen. et sp. nov

Valid

Müller et al.

Middle Triassic (Ladinian)

Pinheiros-Chiniquá Sequence of the Santa Maria Supersequence

Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil

A member or relative of the family Procolophonidae. The type species is S. macrorhinus.

Sauropia macrorhinus (holotype, CAPPA UFSM 0510).png

Scyllacerta [28] Gen. et sp. novValidJenkins et al. Late Permian Teekloof Formation (Endothiodon Assemblage Zone)Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa A younginid. The type species is S. creanae. Iziko Youngina juvenile skelotons.JPG

Stem group reptile research

  • Marchetti et al. (2026) report the discovery of resting trace with a probable bolosaurian skin impression from the Permian (Asselian) Goldlauter Formation (Germany), including a probable cloacal vent impression and the oldest definite impression of epidermal scales of a reptile reported to date, and name a new ichnotaxon Cabarzichnus pulchrus . [29]
  • D'Ávila Burgardt et al. (2026) report the discovery of a new procolophonid lower jaw from the Lower Triassic Sanga do Cabral Formation (Brazil), differing from known procolophonid taxa from the site in dental morphology. [30]

Reptiles in general

References

  1. ↑ Jiang, Juan; Dong, Li-Ping; Xu, Xing; Bi, Alexander; Evans, Susan (2026-02-04). "A new polyglyphanodontian lizard from the Upper Cretaceous of southern China implies a complex evolutionary history of the clade". Royal Society Open Science . 13 (2). doi: 10.1098/rsos.252253 . ISSN   2054-5703.
  2. ↑ Ebel, R.; Melville, J.; Keogh, J. S. (2026). "Lizards in chain mail: reconstructing the enigmatic past of dermal armour in squamate reptiles". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 147 (1) blaf129. doi: 10.1093/biolinnean/blaf129 .
  3. ↑ Young, G.; Mannering, A.; Fraser, M.; Scofield, P. (2026). "Redescription of Prognathodon waiparaensis and comments on its phylogenetic position". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. doi:10.1080/03115518.2025.2607629.
  4. ↑ Comans, C. M.; Tobin, T. S.; Totten, R. L. (2026). "Evidence for endothermy from tooth enamel(oid) oxygen isotopes in marine predators of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, USA". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 113578. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2026.113578.
  5. ↑ Liaw, Y.-L.; Cho, Y.-Y.; Sun, C.-H.; Biswas, D. S.; Tsai, C.-H. (2026). "An unexpected snake fossil (Pythonidae, Python) from Taiwan". Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. doi: 10.1080/08912963.2025.2610741 .
  6. ↑ Jansen, O.; Garcia, G.; Otero, O.; Augé, M.; Gomez, B.; Valentin, X. (2026). "Freshwater amphibians and squamates from Villeveyrac (lower Campanian; Hérault, France): palaeodiversity, palaeoenvironment and implications for the Late Cretaceous palaeobiogeography of the European herpetofauna". Papers in Palaeontogy. 12 (1) e70055. doi: 10.1002/spp2.70055 .
  7. 1 2 3 Sobral, Gabriela; Schoch, Rainer R. (2026-02-19). "New stem lepidosaurs from Vellberg, Germany: implications for palaeoecology in the early diversification of Lepidosauromorpha". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 24 2603472. doi:10.1080/14772019.2025.2603472.
  8. ↑ Haridy, Y.; Frederickson, J. A.; Peterson, J.; Miller, J.; Davis, B.; Curtice, B.; Hunter, R.; Cifelli, R. (2026). "New material of the Late Jurassic sphenodontid Eilenodon robustus reveals transitionary adaptations to herbivory". New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin. 102: 171–184.
  9. ↑ Sarkar, P.; Ray, S. (2026). "Extensive radial fibrolamellar bone tissue in long bones reveals an epidemic of persistent, recurrent, and non-traumatic bone infection in a juvenile-dominated phytosaur (Archosauria; Pseudosuchia) community". The Anatomical Record. doi:10.1002/ar.70160. PMID   41708148.
  10. ↑ Mousa, M. K.; Tantawy, A. A. A.; El-Kheir, G. A. A. (2026). "First known gigantic dermochelyid turtle (Pan-Chelonioidea) from the Upper Cretaceous deposits of Dakhla Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt". Cretaceous Research 106357. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2026.106357.
  11. ↑ Bourque, J. R. (2026). "A small flat-shelled musk turtle from the Late Miocene of Florida and new Pleistocene records of Sternotherus (Kinosternidae)". Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. doi:10.1080/08912963.2025.2602686.
  12. ↑ Pérez-García, A.; Guerrero, A.; Martín de Jesús, S.; Ortega, F. (2026). "Evaluation of the Validity of the Spanish Eocene Pleurodiran Turtle 'Duerochelys arribasi': The Youngest Freshwater Member of Erymnochelyinae (Podocnemididae) in Europe". Diversity. 18 (1) 51. doi: 10.3390/d18010051 .
  13. ↑ Pochat-Cottilloux, Y.; López-Torres, S.; Chroust, M.; Georgalis, G. L.; Górka, M.; Tałanda, M. (2026). "First occurrences of Trionychidae (Testudines, Cryptodira) from the Miocene of Poland: Detailed cranial anatomy and biogeographic implications". Journal of Anatomy. doi:10.1111/joa.70095.
  14. ↑ Sandroni, P.; Church, N. S.; Coccioni, R.; Frontalini, F.; Mainiero, M.; Montanari, A. (February 2026). "Reptile footprints on a pelagic seafloor as a vestige of a synsedimentary seismic event in the lower Campanian Scaglia Rossa Basin of the Umbria-Marche Apennines (Italy)". Cretaceous Research. 179 106268. doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106268 .
  15. ↑ Matsumoto, R.; Manabe, M.; Evans, S. E. (May 2026). "Cranial elements of Shokawa ikoi, and new records of choristoderes from the Lower Cretaceous Okurodani Formation, Tetori Group, Japan". Cretaceous Research. 181 106283. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106283.
  16. ↑ Miedema, F.; Maxwell, E. E. (2026). "Use of the notochordal canal as a reliable proxy for prenatal stage, a case study in Ichthyosauria". Royal Society Open Science. 13 (2) 251986. doi: 10.1098/rsos.251986 .
  17. ↑ Iturralde-Vinent, M.; Campos, L.; Pszczółkowski, A.; Ceballos-Izquierdo, Y.; Viñola-Lopez, L. W. (2026). "A partial ichthyosaur (?Ophthalmosauridae) skeleton from the Tithonian (Upper Jurassic) of western Cuba". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology e2609717. doi:10.1080/02724634.2025.2609717.
  18. ↑ Martinez-Motta, M. F.; Cortés, D.; Maxwell, E. E.; Noè, L. F.; Alfonso-Rojas, A.; Parra-Ruge, F. H.; Cadena, E.-A. (2026). "Soft-tissue preservation in an ichthyosaur from the Lower Cretaceous (Barremian - Aptian) of Colombia". Cretaceous Research 106305. doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106305 .
  19. ↑ Li, Qiang; Hu, Yi-Wei; Shen, Yuefeng; Sander, P Martin; Liu, Jun (2026-01-01). "A new large Nothosaurus (Reptilia: Eosauropterygia) from the Middle Triassic of South China and the phylogeny of Eosauropterygia" . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 206 (1). doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf179. ISSN   0024-4082.
  20. ↑ Schmeisser McKean, Rebecca L. (2026). "A new species of Pahasapasaurus (Plesiosauria: Polycotylidae) from the Upper Cretaceous Tropic Shale (lower Turonian) of southern Utah, U.S.A.". Cretaceous Research (in press) 106269. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106269.
  21. ↑ Zhang, Y.; Jiang, D.; Motani, R.; Tintori, A.; Sun, Z.; Zhou, M.; Su, C. X.; Wang, Y.; Yao, M. (2026). "Astronomical age calibration and duration of the Ladinian (Middle Triassic) Xingyi Fauna, southwestern Guizhou Province, China". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 113652. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2026.113652.
  22. ↑ Sachs, S.; Madzia, D. (2026). "The osteology, taxonomy, and phylogenetic affinities of the Early Jurassic plesiosaur Lusonectes sauvagei". PeerJ. 14 e20611. doi: 10.7717/peerj.20611 . PMC   12875220 .
  23. ↑ García-Guerrero, J.; Parra Ruge, F.; Prieto, G. A.; Cadena, E.-A. (February 2026). "Evidence of large pliosaurids in the Late Valanginian of Colombia". Cretaceous Research. 178 106235. doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106235 .
  24. ↑ Nadir Naimi, M.; Salmi-Laouar, S.; O'Gorman, J. P.; Nemouchi, S.; Degaichia, A. (2026). "First plesiosaurian (Diapsida; Sauropterygia) remains from Algeria". Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. doi:10.1080/08912963.2026.2612987.
  25. ↑ Mitidieri, M.; Talevi, M.; Herrera, Y.; Rothschild, B.; Fernández, M. S. (January 2026). "From the inside: pathologies from a histological perspective of two elasmosaurids from the Upper Cretaceous of Antarctica and Argentina". Cretaceous Research. 177 106208. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106208.
  26. ↑ Marx, M.; Szasz, R.-Z.; Lindgren, J. (2026). "CFD modelling of the thermo- and hydrodynamic capabilities of long-necked plesiosaurs (Sauropterygia, Elasmosauridae)". Technische Mechanik - European Journal of Engineering Mechanics. 46 (1): 43–54. doi: 10.24352/UB.OVGU-2026-006 .
  27. ↑ Müller, R. T.; Roberto-da-Silva, L.; Aurélio, P. L. P.; Kerber, L. (2026). "The smallest tetrapod from the Middle Triassic of South America: a new procolophonoid parareptile from the Ladinian of Southern Brazil". Scientific Reports. 16 866. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-35114-3 . PMC   12852135 . PMID   41606015.
  28. ↑ Jenkins, Xavier A.; Buffa, Valentin; Marchant, Cy J.; Ford, David P.; Browning, Claire; Fernandez, Vincent; Dollman, Kathleen; Botha, Jennifer; Choiniere, Jonah N.; Benson, Roger B. J.; Peecook, Brandon R. (2026-01-22). "The origin of the tympanic fossa in reptiles revealed by a late Permian neodiapsid". Palaeontology . 69 (1) e70041. doi:10.1111/pala.70041. ISSN   0031-0239.
  29. ↑ Marchetti, L.; Logghe, A.; Buchwitz, M.; MacDougall, M. J.; Rebillard, A.; Martens, T.; Fröbisch, J. (2026). "The earliest reptile body impressions with scaly skin". Current Biology. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2026.01.036. PMID   41687603.
  30. ↑ D’Ávila Burgardt, C.; Pohlmann, K.; Machado, A. F.; Costa Santos, M. A.; Meira, J. L.; Pinheiro, F. L. (2026). "A peculiar procolophonid lower jaw from the Sanga do Cabral Formation (Lower Triassic, Brazil)". Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. doi:10.1080/08912963.2025.2608698.
  31. ↑ Parker, A. K.; Boisserie, J.-R.; Müller, J.; Brochu, C. A.; Head, J. J. (2026). "Body size histories of Shungura Formation reptiles in biotic and abiotic environmental context". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 25 (2): 17–42. doi: 10.5852/cr-palevol2026v25a2 .
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