2016 in paleontology

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Paleontology, palaeontology or palæontology (from Greek: paleo, "ancient"; ontos, "being"; and logos, "knowledge") is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because mankind has 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 2016.

Plants

Main article: 2016 in paleobotany

Cnidarians

Research

• Yunnanoascus haikouensis, previously thought to be a member of Ctenophora, is reinterpreted as a crown-group medusozoan by Han et al. (2016).

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Calceola collini	Sp. nov	In press	Wright, Plusquellec & Gourvennec	Devonian (Eifelian)	Saint-Fiacre Formation	France	An operculate coral belonging to the family Calceolidae; a species of Calceola.
Caninophyllum charli	Sp. nov	Valid	Denayer	Carboniferous (Tournaisian)	Yılanlı Formation	Turkey	A rugose coral belonging to the family Bothrophyllidae; a species of Caninophyllum.
Eoaequorea	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Tang et al.	Ediacaran	Doushantuo Formation	China	A member of Hydrozoa of uncertain phylogenetic placement. The type species is Eoaequorea xingi.
Eosiderastrea	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Löser	Cretaceous (late Valanginian to Santonian)		Austria France Germany Italy Japan Mexico Spain United States	A stony coral belonging to the family Siderastreidae. The type species is "Siderastrea" cuyleri Wells (1932); genus also includes "Phyllocoenia" cotteaui Orbigny (1850), "Diploastrea" crassa Kuzmicheva (1980), "Diploastrea" crassicostata Morycowa & Masse (1998), "Phyllocoenia" cyclops Felix (1891), "Confusastrea" dollfusi Prever (1909), "Confusastrea" felixi Prever (1909); "Stephanocoenia" grandipora Orbigny (1849), "Diploastrea" harrisi Wells (1932), "Diploastrea" hilli Wells (1933), "Montastraea" nagaoi Eguchi (1951), "Placocoenia" orbitoides Eguchi (1951), "Pleurocora" reussi Milne Edwards (1857), "Diplocoenia" splendida Prever (1909), "Placocoenia" tanohataensis Eguchi (1951), "Diploastrea" vaughani Wells (1933) and "Plesiofavia" villaltai Reig Oriol (1991).
Famastraea	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Berkowski, Zapalski & Wrzołek	Devonian (Famennian)		Poland	A coral belonging to the group Rugosa and the family Campophyllidae. The type species is Famastraea catenata.
Fungiaphyllia	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	Melnikova & Roniewicz	Early Jurassic		Afghanistan	A stony coral. The type species is Fungiaphyllia communis.
Gerviphyllum	Gen. et comb. nov	In press	Wright, Plusquellec & Gourvennec	Early Devonian (likely late Lochkovian to early Pragian)		France	An operculate coral belonging to the family Calceolidae; a new genus for "Calceola" gervillei Bayle (1878).
Guembelastraea dronovi	Sp. nov	In press	Melnikova & Roniewicz	Early Jurassic		Afghanistan	A stony coral, a species of Guembelastraea.
Kullingia rotadiscopsis	Sp. nov	Valid	Tang et al.	Ediacaran	Doushantuo Formation	China	A member of Hydrozoa of uncertain phylogenetic placement; a species of Kullingia.
?Michelinia vinni	Sp. nov	Valid	Zapalski, Berkowski & Wrzołek	Devonian (late Famennian)		Poland	A tabulate coral belonging to the family Micheliniidae; possibly a species of Michelinia.
Oppelismilia spectabilis	Sp. nov	In press	Melnikova & Roniewicz	Early Jurassic		Afghanistan	A stony coral, a species of Oppelismilia.
Palaeosiderofungia	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Löser	Cretaceous (Aptian to Santonian)		Austria Czech Republic France Germany Greece Serbia	A stony coral belonging to the family Siderastreidae; a new genus for "Thamnasteria" exigua Reuss (1854).
Parepismilia dolichostoma	Sp. nov	In press	Melnikova & Roniewicz	Early Jurassic		Afghanistan	A stony coral, a species of Parepismilia.
Parepismilia dronovi	Sp. nov	In press	Melnikova & Roniewicz	Early Jurassic		Afghanistan	A stony coral, a species of Parepismilia.
Potyphyllum	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Coen-Aubert	Devonian (late Frasnian)		Belgium Czech Republic France Germany Poland Russia United Kingdom	A rugose coral belonging to the family Phillipsastreidae. The type species is "Cyathophyllum" ananas Goldfuss (1826); genus also includes "Pseudoacervularia" dybowskii Różkowska (1953), "Pseudoacervularia" intercellulosa (Phillips, 1841) sensu Pickett (1967), "Schlüteria" lyskovensis Ermakova (1957), "Acervularia" macrommata Roemer (1855), "Phillipsastrea" plantana Różkowska (1979), "Cyathophyllum" profundum Michelin (1845), "Phillipsastrea" rozkowskae Scrutton (1968), "Pseudoacervularia" cf. smithi (Różkowska, 1953) sensu Pickett (1967), "Phillipsastrea" ananas veserensis Coen-Aubert (1974) and "Phillipsastrea" zerda Galle, 1992 in Hladil et al. (1992).
Sokolovia	Gen. et sp. nov	Junior homonym	Tsyganko	Late Devonian (Famennian)		Russia (Komi Republic)	A tabulate coral belonging to the family Pachyporidae. The type species is Sokolovia pershinae. The generic name is preoccupied by Sokolovia Ilovaisky (1934) and Sokolovia Shishkinskaya (1964).
Spinaxon	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Weyer	Devonian (late Frasnian)		France Germany	A member of Rugosa belonging to the family Petraiidae. The type species is Spinaxon potyi.
Syringopora hilarowiczi	Sp. nov	Valid	Zapalski, Berkowski & Wrzołek	Devonian (late Famennian)		Poland	A tabulate coral belonging to the family Syringoporidae; a species of Syringopora.
Syringopora kowalensis	Sp. nov	Valid	Zapalski, Berkowski & Wrzołek	Devonian (late Famennian)		Poland	A tabulate coral belonging to the family Syringoporidae; a species of Syringopora.
Talfania	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Peel & McDermott	Ordovician (Katian)	Sholeshook Limestone Formation	United Kingdom	A solitary coral. The type species is Talfania calicula.
Thamnoptychia mistiaeni	Sp. nov	Valid	Zapalski, Berkowski & Wrzołek	Devonian (late Famennian)		Poland	A tabulate coral belonging to the family Pachyporidae; a species of Thamnoptychia.
Vassiljukia	Gen. et comb. nov	In press	Denayer & Ogar	Carboniferous (Viséan)		Turkey Ukraine	A colonial rugose coral; a new genus for "Lithostrotion" columnariformis Vassiljuk (1960).

Arthropods

Main article: 2016 in arthropod paleontology

Brachiopods

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Cerasinella	Nom. nov	Valid	Copper	Silurian (Llandovery)	Merrimack Formation	Canada (Quebec)	An atrypoid brachiopod; a replacement name for Cerasina Copper (1995) (preoccupied).
Globiella kamiyassensis	Sp. nov	Valid	Tazawa	Permian (Wordian)		Japan
Gondwanorthis	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Benedetto & Muñoz	Early Ordovician		Argentina Iran	A plectorthoid brachiopod. A new genus for "Nanorthis" calderensis Benedetto (2007); genus also includes "Nanorthis" bastamensis Ghobadi Pour, Kebriaee-Zadeh & Popov (2011).
Gundaria	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	Angiolini et al.	Permian		Tajikistan	The type species is G. insolita.
Harperoides	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Baranov & Blodgett	Devonian (Pragian)	Soda Creek Limestone	United States (Alaska)	A member of Strophomenida belonging to the subfamily Mesodouvillininae. The type species is Harperoides alaskensis.
Hemileurus politus	Sp. nov	In press	Angiolini et al.	Permian		Tajikistan
Iridistrophia (Flabellistrophia)	Subgen. et sp. nov	In press	Jansen	Devonian		Germany	A subgenus of Iridistrophia. The subgenus includes new species Iridistrophia (Flabellistrophia) musculosa.
Isogramma nakamurai	Sp. nov	Valid	Tazawa	Permian (Wordian)		Japan
Kjaerina (Kjaerina) gondwanensis	Sp. nov	Valid	Colmenar	Ordovician (late Sandbian–Katian)	Gabian Formation Glauzy Formation Louredo Formation Portixeddu Formation	France Italy Portugal	A rafinesquinid strophomenid brachiopod, a species of Kjaerina.
Kjaerina (Villasina)	Subgen. et 3 sp. et comb. nov	Valid	Colmenar	Ordovician (Katian)	Cavá Formation Gabian Formation Portilla de Luna Limestones Portixeddu Formation Porto de Santa Anna Formation Punta Serpeddi Formation Rosan Formation	France Italy Portugal Spain	A rafinesquinid strophomenid brachiopod, a subgenus of Kjaerina. The type species of the subgenus is Kjaerina (Villasina) pedronaensis; the subgenus also contains "Hedstroemina" almadenensis Villas (1995), as well as new species Kjaerina (Villasina) meloui and Kjaerina (Villasina) pyrenaica.
Lampazarorthis	Gen. et comb. et sp. nov	Valid	Benedetto & Muñoz	Early Ordovician		Argentina	A plectorthoid brachiopod. A new genus for "Eoorthis" bifurcata Harrington (1937); genus also includes "Nanorthis" brachymyaria Benedetto in Benedetto & Carrasco (2002), as well as new species Lampazarorthis alata.
Liaous	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	He & Chen in He et al.	Middle Triassic (early Anisian)	Xinyuan Formation	China	A relative of Mentzelia and Paramentzelia. The type species is Liaous shaiwensis.
Lyonia rochacamposi	Sp. nov	Valid	Taboada et al.	Early Permian (latest Asselian-earliest Sakmarian)	Taciba Formation	Brazil	A member of Productida belonging to the family Auriculispinidae, a species of Lyonia.
Mesoleptostrophia belli	Sp. nov	In press	Earp	Early Devonian	Montys Hut Formation	Australia
Minutella bulgarica	Sp. nov	Valid	Bitner & Motchurova-Dekova	Miocene (Badenian)		Bulgaria
Nasakia	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Streng et al.	Cambrian	Henson Gletscher Formation	Greenland	A member of Rhynchonelliformea belonging to the class Obolellata and the order Naukatida. The type species is Nasakia thulensis.
Nisusia guizhouensis	Sp. nov	In press	Mao et al.	Cambrian	Kaili Formation	China
Paraspirifer (Laurentispirifer)	Subgen. nov	In press	Jansen	Devonian		Germany	A subgenus of Paraspirifer.
Paraspirifer (Mosellospirifer)	Subgen. nov	In press	Jansen	Devonian		Germany	A subgenus of Paraspirifer.
Pedderia	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Baranov & Blodgett	Devonian (Pragian)	Soda Creek Limestone	United States (Alaska)	A member of Rhynchonellida belonging to the family Pygmaellidae. The type species is Pedderia fragosa.
Rafinesquina (Mesogeina)	Subgen. et comb. et 2 sp. nov	Valid	Colmenar	Ordovician (Katian)	Bohdalec Formation Fombuena Formation Gabian Formation Lower Ktaoua Formation Porto de Santa Anna Formation Upper Tiouririne Formation Zahorany Formation	Czech Republic France Germany Morocco Portugal Spain	A rafinesquinid strophomenid brachiopod, a subgenus of Rafinesquina. The type species of the subgenus is "Leptaena" pseudoloricata Barrande (1848); the subgenus also includes Rafinesquina pomoides Havlíček (1971), as well as new species Rafinesquina (Mesogeina) gabianensis and Rafinesquina (Mesogeina) loredensis.
Rhipidomella magna	Sp. nov	Valid	Tazawa	Permian (Wordian)		Japan
Sartenaerirhynchus	Gen. nov	In press	Jansen	Devonian		Germany
Spinobolus	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	Zhang et al.	Cambrian	Shuijingtuo Formation	China	A linguloid brachiopod. The type species is Spinobolus popovi.
Tapongaspirifer	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	Earp	Early Devonian	Montys Hut Formation	Australia	A member of Spiriferida belonging to the family Filispiriferidae. The type species is Tapongaspirifer melodiae.
Taungurungetes	Gen. et comb. nov	In press	Earp	Early Devonian	Montys Hut Formation Norton Gully Sandstone	Australia	A possible member of Devonochonetinae. The type species is "Chonetes" taggertyensis Gill (1945) from the Montys Hut Formation; genus also contains second, unnamed species from the Norton Gully Sandstone.
Thulatrypa	Gen. et sp. et comb. nov	Valid	Huang et al.	Silurian		China Norway	An atrypoid brachiopod. The type species is Thulatrypa gregaria; genus also contains "Meifodia" orientalis Rong, Xu & Yang (1974).
Tomteluva	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Streng et al.	Cambrian	Stephen Formation	Canada (British Columbia)	A member of Rhynchonelliformea belonging to the class Obolellata and the order Naukatida. The type species is Tomteluva perturbata.

Molluscs

Main article: 2016 in molluscan paleontology

Echinoderms

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Apsidocrinus doreckae	Sp. nov	Valid	Konieczyński, Pisera & Fózy	Early Cretaceous		Hungary	A cyrtocrinid crinoid, a species of Apsidocrinus.
Arabicodiadema	Gen. et comb. et sp. nov	Valid	Abdelhamid, El Qot & Abdelghany	Cretaceous (Albian to Cenomanian)		Oman United Arab Emirates	A heterodiadematid sea urchin. The type species is "Trochodiadema" dhofarense Roman (1991); genus also includes new species Arabicodiadema alii.
Ateleocystites? lansae	Sp. nov	In press	McDermott & Paul	Ordovician (Katian)	Slade and Redhill Beds	United Kingdom	A mitrate belonging to the family Anomalocystitidae, possibly a species of Ateleocystites.
Glyptocrinus nodosus	Sp. nov	Valid	Kallmeyer & Ausich	Ordovician (Katian)	Kope Formation	United States (Kentucky Ohio)	A camerate crinoid, a species of Glyptocrinus.
Loriolidiadema	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Abdelhamid, El Qot & Abdelghany	Cretaceous (Aptian-Cenomanian)		Egypt Portugal Border region between Syria and Lebanon	A heterodiadematid sea urchin. The type species is "Pseudodiadema" libanoticum de Loriol (1887); genus also includes Loriolidiadema sculptile (de Loriol, 1887).
Mariania comaschicariae	Sp. nov	Valid	Stara, Borghi & Kroh	Miocene (Aquitanian to early Burdigalian)	Nurallao Formation	Italy	A heart urchin belonging to the superfamily Spatangoidea, a species of Mariania.
Mariania stefaninii	Sp. nov	Valid	Stara, Borghi & Kroh	Miocene (late Burdigalian to early Langhian)	Pantano Formation	Italy	A heart urchin belonging to the superfamily Spatangoidea, a species of Mariania.
Osteocrinus sinensis	Sp. nov	In press	Hess, Etter & Hagdorn	Late Triassic (early Carnian)	Xiaowa Formation	China	A crinoid belonging to the group Roveacrinida, a species of Osteocrinus.
Pentamerocrinus kosovi	Sp. nov	Valid	Rozhnov	Ordovician		Russia (Leningrad Oblast)	A crinoid belonging to the group Inadunata, a species of Pentamerocrinus.
Phyllocrinus bersekensis	Sp. nov	Valid	Konieczyński, Pisera & Fózy	Early Cretaceous		Hungary	A cyrtocrinid crinoid, a species of Phyllocrinus.
Sanducystis	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	Zamora et al.	Cambrian (Furongian)	Sandu Formation	China	A stemmed echinoderm. The type species is Sanducystis sinensis.

Conodonts

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Acodus zeballus	Sp. nov	In press	Voldman & Albanesi in Voldman et al.	Early Ordovician		Argentina
Gladigondolella okayi	Sp. nov	In press	Kiliç	Triassic	Kayabaşı Limestone	Turkey
Gothodus vetus	Sp. nov	In press	Voldman & Albanesi in Voldman et al.	Early Ordovician		Argentina
Icriodus praealternatus ferus	Subsp. nov	Valid	Wang et al.	Late Devonian (Frasnian/Famennian boundary)	Hongguleleng Formation	China	A subspecies of Icriodus praealternatus.
Icriodus plurinodosus	Sp. nov	Valid	Wang et al.	Late Devonian (early Famennian)	Hongguleleng Formation	China	A species of Icriodus.
Icriodus stenoancylus junggarensis	Subsp. nov	Valid	Wang et al.	Late Devonian (early Famennian)	Hongguleleng Formation	China	A subspecies of Icriodus stenoancylus.
Idiognathodus lateralis	Sp. nov	In press	Hogancamp, Barrick & Strauss	Carboniferous (early Gzhelian)		China Russia Ukraine United States	A member of Ozarkodinida belonging to the family Idiognathodontidae, a species of Idiognathodus.
Neopolygnathus huijunae	Sp. nov	Valid	Wang et al.	Late Devonian (early Famennian)	Hongguleleng Formation	China	A species of Neopolygnathus.
Neospathodus planus	Sp. nov	Valid	Chen et al.	Early Triassic		Slovenia
Platyvillosus corniger	Sp. nov	Valid	Chen et al.	Early Triassic		Slovenia
“Polygnathus” pseudocommunis	Sp. nov	Valid	Wang et al.	Late Devonian (early Famennian)	Hongguleleng Formation	China	Possibly a species of Polygnathus.
Zentagnathus	Gen. et comb. nov	In press	Voldman & Albanesi in Voldman et al.	Early Ordovician		Argentina	A new genus for "Trapezognathus" primitivus Voldman, Albanesi & Zeballo in Voldman et al. (2013); genus also includes "Trapezognathus" argentinensis Rao et al. (1994)

Fishes

Main article: 2016 in fish paleontology

Amphibians

Research

• A study on the locomotor capabilities of Triadobatrachus massinoti is published by Lires, Soto & Gómez (2016).
• The first unambiguous frog fossil from the Jurassic of Asia (an atlantal centrum of a possible member of the genus Eodiscoglossus) is described from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) Itat Formation (Russia) by Skutschas, Martin & Krasnolutskii (2016).

New taxa

Temnospondyls

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Cyclotosaurus buechneri	Sp. nov	Valid	Witzmann, Sachs & Nyhuis	Late Triassic (middle Carnian)	Stuttgart Formation	Germany	A mastodonsauroid temnospondyl, a species of Cyclotosaurus.
Konzhukovia sangabrielensis	Sp. nov	Valid	Pacheco et al.	Permian (early Guadalupian)	Rio do Rasto Formation	Brazil
Samarabatrachus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Novikov	Early Triassic		Russia	The type species is S. bjerringi.
Selenocara rossica	Sp. nov	Valid	Novikov	Early Triassic		Russia
Stanocephalosaurus amenasensis	Sp. nov	In press	Dahoumane et al.	Early-Middle Triassic	Zarzaïtine Series, Illizi Basin	Algeria	A mastodonsauroid temnospondyl, a species of Stanocephalosaurus.
Syrtosuchus	Gen. et comb. et sp. nov	Valid	Novikov	Early Triassic		Russia	Genus includes "Wetlugasaurus" samarensis Sennikov (1981), as well as new species S. morkovini.
Yuanansuchus maopingchangensis	Sp. nov	Valid	Liu	Middle Triassic (Anisian)	Badong Formation	China	A mastodonsauroid temnospondyl, a species of Yuanansuchus.

Lissamphibians

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Hyogobatrachus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Ikeda, Ota & Matsui	Early Cretaceous	Sasayama Group	Japan	A frog. The type species is Hyogobatrachus wadai.
Kiyatriton krasnolutskii	Sp. nov	Valid	Skutschas	Middle Jurassic (Bathonian)	Itat Formation	Russia (Krasnoyarsk Krai)	A salamander, a species of Kiyatriton.
Kuruleufenia	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Gómez	Late Cretaceous (late Campanian–early Maastrichtian)	Allen Formation	Argentina	A member of Pipidae. The type species is Kuruleufenia xenopoides.
Phosphotriton	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Tissier, Rage, Boistel, Fernandez, Pollet, Garcia and Laurin	Eocene		France	A salamander. The type species is Phosphotriton sigei.
Prospea	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Chen et al.	Paleocene	Naranbulak Formation	Mongolia	A member of Scaphiopodidae. The type species is Prospea holoserisca.
Qinglongtriton	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Jia & Gao	Late Jurassic (Oxfordian)	Tiaojishan Formation	China	A basal member of Salamandroidea. The type species is Qinglongtriton gangouensis.
Tambabatrachus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Ikeda, Ota & Matsui	Early Cretaceous	Sasayama Group	Japan	A frog. The type species is Tambabatrachus kawazu.

Lepidosaurs

Lizards

Research

• Twelve specimens of lizards (including stem-gekkotans, crown-agamids, a lacertoid, a stem-chamaeleonid and squamates of uncertain phylogenetic placement, probably stem-squamates) are described from the Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian boundary) amber from Myanmar by Daza et al. (2016).
• A study of almost 30 specimens of Polyglyphanodon sternbergi, including almost complete skeletons, is published by Simões et al. (2016), who report the discovery of previously unrecognized ontogenetic series, sexual dimorphism and a complete lower temporal bar in the skull of members of this species.
• New anatomical data on the Late Cretaceous lizard Slavoia darevskii is published by Tałanda (2016), who interprets it as a stem-amphisbaenian.
• A redescription of the mosasaur Hainosaurus bernardi Dollo (1885) is published by Jimenez-Huidobro & Caldwell (2016), who transfer this species to the genus Tylosaurus and synonymize genera Tylosaurus and Hainosaurus.
• A revision of the species assigned to the mosasaur genus Tylosaurus is published by Jiménez-Huidobro, Simões & Caldwell (2016).
• A redescription of Mosasaurus hoffmannii based on examination of many specimens is published by Street & Caldwell (2016), who also provide emended diagnoses for both the genus Mosasaurus and its type species M. hoffmannii.

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Janosikia	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Čerňanský, Klembara & Smith	Early Miocene		Germany	A member of Lacertidae; a new genus for "Ophisaurus" ulmensis Gerhardt (1903).
Ophisauromimus	Gen. et comb. nov	In press	Čerňanský, Klembara & Műller	Oligocene		France Germany	A member of Anguidae. A new genus for "Dopasia" coderetensis Augé (2005); genus also includes "Dopasia" frayssensis Augé (2005).
Pluridens calabaria	Sp. nov	Valid	Longrich	Late Cretaceous (late Campanian)	Nkporo Shale	Nigeria	A mosasaur, a species of Pluridens.
Solastella	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Stocker & Kirk	Eocene	Devil's Graveyard Formation	United States (Texas)	A rhineurid amphisbaenian. The type species is Solastella cookei.

Snakes

Research

• A redescription of the Cenomanian snake Simoliophis rochebrunei on the basis of new fossil material from France is published by Rage, Vullo & Néraudeau (2016).
• McNamara et al. (2016) describe pigment cells responsible for coloration and patterning preserved in a fossil skin of a colubrid snake from the Late Miocene Libros Lagerstätte (Teruel, Spain).
• New fossil material of the viperid Laophis crotaloides is described from Greece by Georgalis et al. (2016).

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Lunaophis	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Albino, Carrillo-Briceño & Neenan	Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian)	La Luna Formation	Venezuela	A snake of uncertain phylogenetic placement. The type species is L. aquaticus.
Rieppelophis	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Scanferla, Smith & Schaal	Eocene	Messel pit	Germany	A member of Boidae. A new genus for "Messelophis" ermannorum Schaal & Baszio (2004).

Ichthyosauromorphs

Research

• A study of taxonomic richness, disparity and evolutionary rates of ichthyosaurs throughout the Cretaceous period is published by Fischer et al. (2016).

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Sclerocormus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Jiang et al.	Early Triassic (Olenekian)	Nanlinghu Formation	China	A basal member of Ichthyosauriformes. The type species is S. parviceps.

Sauropterygians

Research

• A reassessment of fossils attributed to the genus Polyptychodon is published by Madzia (2016), who considers the type species of this genus, P. interruptus, to be nomen dubium, and the genus Polyptychodon to be a wastebasket taxon.

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Alexandronectes	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Otero et al.	Late Cretaceous (early Maastrichtian)	Conway Formation	New Zealand	An aristonectine elasmosaurid plesiosaur. The type species is Alexandronectes zealandiensis.
Dawazisaurus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Cheng et al.	Middle Triassic (Anisian)	Guanling Formation	China	A non-pistosauroid eosauropterygian of uncertain phylogenetic placement. The type species is Dawazisaurus brevis.
Kawanectes	Gen. et comb. nov	In press	O'Gorman	Late Cretaceous (late Campanian–early Maastrichtian)	Allen Formation	Argentina	An elasmosaurid plesiosaur. The type species is "Trinacromerum" lafquenianum Gasparini & Goñi (1985).
Lariosaurus vosseveldensis	Sp. nov	Valid	Klein et al.	Middle Triassic (Anisian)		Netherlands
Stenorhynchosaurus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Páramo et al.	Early Cretaceous (late Barremian)	Paja Formation	Colombia	A pliosaurid plesiosaur. The type species is Stenorhynchosaurus munozi.

Turtles

Research

• A study of the bone histology of shell elements of the Late Cretaceous—Paleocene chelid Yaminuechelys is published by Jannello, Cerda & de la Fuente (2016).
• A review of the fossil record, taxonomy and diagnostic features of the fossil species belonging to the genus Chelus is published by Ferreira et al. (2016).
• Fossils of Plesiochelys etalloni and Tropidemys langii, otherwise known from the Kimmeridgian of the Swiss and French Jura Mountains, are described from the British Kimmeridge Clay by Anquetin & Chapman (2016).
• New fossil material of Jiangxichelys ganzhouensis is described by Tong et al. (2016), who also transfer the species "Zangerlia" neimongolensis to the genus Jiangxichelys.
• An emended diagnosis of Testudo catalaunica and a study of phylogeny of extinct members of the genus Testudo is published by Luján et al. (2016).

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Anhuichelys doumuensis	Sp. nov	Valid	Tong et al.	Middle Paleocene	Doumu Formation	China	A stem-tortoise, a species of Anhuichelys.
Keuperotesta	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Szczygielski & Sulej	Late Triassic		Germany	A member of Proterochersidae. The type species is Keuperotesta limendorsa.
Kinosternon notolophus	Sp. nov	Valid	Bourque	Miocene (Clarendonian)	Alachua Formation Statenville Formation	United States (Florida)	A mud turtle.
Kinosternon pannekollops	Sp. nov	Valid	Bourque	Miocene (Clarendonian)	Ogallala Formation	United States (Texas)	A mud turtle.
Kinosternon rincon	Sp. nov	Valid	Bourque	Miocene (late Barstovian)	Cerro Conejo Formation	United States (New Mexico)	A mud turtle.
Kinosternon wakeeniense	Sp. nov	Valid	Bourque	Miocene (Clarendonian)	Ash Hollow Formation Ogallala Formation	United States (Kansas, Nebraska)	A mud turtle.
Proterochersis porebensis	Sp. nov	Valid	Szczygielski & Sulej	Late Triassic		Poland	A member of Proterochersidae.
Yelmochelys	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Brinkman et al.	Late Cretaceous (late Campanian and early Maastrichtian)	Cañon del Tule Formation Cerro del Pueblo Formation	Mexico	A stem-kinosternid. The type species is Yelmochelys rosarioae.

Archosauriformes

Basal archosauriforms

Research

• A study of the phylogenetic relationships of the archosauriforms traditionally assigned to the family Euparkeriidae is published by Sookias (2016).
• A study of the phylogenetic relationships of archosauromorph reptiles, with an emphasis on the phylogenetic relationships of proterosuchids and erythrosuchids, is published by Ezcurra (2016).

Pseudosuchians

Research

• A study of the skull anatomy of the ornithosuchid Riojasuchus tenuisceps is published by von Baczko & Desojo (2016).
• New fossil material from the Triassic (Ladinian or earliest Carnian) Pinheiros-Chiniquá Sequence of the Santa Maria Supersequence in Brazil attributed to the rauisuchian species Prestosuchus chiniquensis is described by Lacerda et al. (2016).
• Description of postcranial skeletons of three specimens of the sphagesaurid Caipirasuchus (representing Caipirasuchus montealtensis, Caipirasuchus paulistanus and Caipirasuchus sp.) is published by Iori, Carvalho & Marinho (2016).
• Fossils of the dyrosaurid crocodylomorph Hyposaurus are described from the Late Cretaceous Shendi Formation of Sudan by Salih et al. (2016).
• The first unambiguous Middle Jurassic atoposaurid fossil (a dentary from the Isle of Skye, Scotland, United Kingdom, referred to Theriosuchus sp.) is described by Young et al. (2016).
• A histological study of a specimen of Susisuchus anatoceps is published by Sayão et al. (2016).
• New fossil material of Allodaposuchus precedens is described from the Late Cretaceous of France by Martin et al. (2016).
• Fossil mekosuchine vertebrae, tentatively assigned to Mekosuchus whitehunterensis, are described from Riversleigh (Australia) by Stein, Archer & Hand (2016), who interpret them as confirming that even adult specimens of this species were smaller in snout-vent length than adults of extant small crocodilian species belonging to the genera Paleosuchus and Osteolaemus, and indicating that this species employed feeding behaviours that were unusual for crocodilians.
• Partial skeleton of the Chinese alligator is described from the late Pliocene of western Japan by Iijima, Takahashi & Kobayashi (2016).
• A study on the osteology of alligator fossils from the late Miocene Moss Acres Racetrack locality in Marion County, Florida and the phylogenetic placement of the alligators these fossils belonged to within the genus Alligator is published by Whiting, Steadman & Vliet (2016).

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Agaresuchus	Gen. et sp. et comb. nov	In press	Narváez et al.	Late Cretaceous (late Campanian–Maastrichtian)		Spain	A member of Allodaposuchidae. Genus includes new species Agaresuchus fontisensis, as well as “Allodaposuchus” subjuniperus.
Bayomesasuchus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Barrios, Paulina-Carabajal & Bona	Late Cretaceous	Cerro Lisandro Formation	Argentina	A peirosaurid crocodyliform. The type species is Bayomesasuchus hernandezi.
Gryposuchus pachakamue	Sp. nov	Valid	Salas-Gismondi et al.	Miocene	Pebas Formation	Peru	A member of Gryposuchinae, a species of Gryposuchus.
Kentisuchus astrei	Sp. nov	Valid	Jouve	Eocene (late Lutetian)		France	A member of Tomistominae, a species of Kentisuchus.
Llanosuchus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Fiorelli et al.	Late Cretaceous (Campanian?)	Los Llanos Formation	Argentina	A notosuchian crocodyliform. The type species is Llanosuchus tamaensis.
Machimosaurus rex	Sp. nov	Valid	Fanti et al.	Early Cretaceous		Tunisia	A teleosaurid crocodylomorph, a species of Machimosaurus.
Patagosuchus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Lio et al.	Late Cretaceous (Turonian–Coniacian)	Portezuelo Formation	Argentina	A peirosaurid crocodylomorph. The type species is Patagosuchus anielensis.
Scutarx	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Parker	Late Triassic (middle Norian)	Chinle Formation Cooper Canyon Formation	United States (Arizona, Texas)	An aetosaur. The type species is Scutarx deltatylus.
Ultrastenos	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	Stein, Hand & Archer	Late Oligocene	Riversleigh World Heritage Area	Australia	A member of Mekosuchinae. The type species is U. willisi.

Basal dinosauromorphs

Research

• Marsicano et al. (2016) date the Chañares Formation, containing fossils of non-dinosaurian dinosauromorphs Lagerpeton, Lewisuchus, Marasuchus and Pseudolagosuchus, to early Carnian (236–234 Ma), 5–10 million years younger than previously thought. On this basis the authors postulate that the origin of dinosaurs was a relatively rapid event, as the transition from vertebrate communities containing only non-dinosaurian dinosauromorphs to communities containing the first dinosaurs occurred in less than a 5-million year interval.

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Dromomeron gigas	Sp. nov	Valid	Martínez et al.	Late Triassic (Norian)	Quebrada del Barro Formation	Argentina	A lagerpetid dinosauromorph, a species of Dromomeron.

Non-avian dinosaurs

Research

• An assessment of methods used to the determine the ontogenetic status of non-avian dinosaur specimens is published by Hone, Farke & Wedel (2016).
• A study of the evolutionary dynamics of speciation and extinction through time in Mesozoic dinosaurs is published by Sakamoto, Benton & Venditti (2016).
• A study of osteology and phylogenetic relationships of Elaphrosaurus bambergi is published by Rauhut & Carrano (2016).
• A new specimen of Velocisaurus unicus is described by Brissón Egli, Agnolín & Novas (2016).
• A study on the validity of the theropod genus Altispinax is published by Maisch (2016).
• Six isolated spinosaurid quadrates, most likely coming from the Kem Kem Beds, are described by Hendrickx, Mateus & Buffetaut (2016), who interpret the differences in their anatomy as confirming the presence of two spinosaurine taxa in the Cenomanian of North Africa, rather than only one (Spinosaurus aegyptiacus).
• A study of the phylogenetic relationships of tyrannosauroid theropods is published by Brusatte and Carr (2016).
• Medullary bone homologous with one present in living birds is identified in a specimen of Tyrannosaurus rex by Schweitzer et al. (2016).
• New specimens of Elmisaurus rarus are described from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia by Currie, Funston & Osmólska (2016).
• New specimens of Leptorhynchos elegans and Leptorhynchos sp. are described from the Late Cretaceous of Canada by Funston, Currie & Burns (2016).
• A study of the morphological disparity of teeth of maniraptoran theropods living during the last 18 million years of the Cretaceous is published by Larson, Brown and Evans (2016).
• A study of the evolution of whole-body shape and body segment properties of sauropod dinosaurs is published by Bates et al. (2016).
• Gallina (2016) argues that Amargatitanis macni, initially considered to be a titanosaur, is actually a dicraeosaurid.
• A study on divergence dates and ancestral ranges of Titanosauria is published by Gorscak & O‘Connor (2016).
• Osteoma and hemangioma are documented for the first time in a vertebra of a titanosaur sauropod from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil by de Souza Barbosa et al. (2016).
• A study of the skull anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of Tapuiasaurus macedoi is published by Wilson et al. (2016).
• A juvenile specimen of Rapetosaurus krausei is described by Curry Rogers et al. (2016).
• Well-vascularised endosteally formed bone tissue is reported in the saltasaurine titanosaurs by Chinsamy, Cerda & Powell (2016), who argue that additional evidence is required to determine whether vascularised endosteal bone tissues reported in extinct archosaurs are medullary bone or just a pathological bone.
• New specimens of Lesothosaurus diagnosticus are described by Barrett et al. (2016).
• A redescription of the postcranial material of Lesothosaurus diagnosticus is published by Baron, Norman & Barrett (2016), who argue that Stormbergia dangershoeki is most likely a junior synonym of L. diagnosticus.
• A description of the braincase anatomy of Pawpawsaurus campbelli based on CT scans is published by Paulina-Carabajal, Lee & Jacobs (2016).
• A new specimen of Haya griva is described from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia by Norell & Barta (2016).
• Isolated teeth of large-bodied iguanodontians are described from the Early Cretaceous (Albian) of Tunisia by Fanti et al. (2016).
• A revision of the original diagnosis of Willinakaqe salitralensis and of fossil material attributed to this species is published by Cruzado Caballero and Coria (2016), who argue that the fossils attributed to Willinakaqe salitralensis might represent more than a single taxon of hadrosaurid and that all characters of the original diagnosis are invalid.
• Large ornithopod (probably hadrosaurid) tracks, assigned to the ichnogenus Hadrosauropodus, are described from the Maastrichtian-Danian Yacoraite Formation of Argentina by Díaz-Martínez, de Valais & Cónsole-Gonella (2016).
• A restudy of the fossil material attributed to Stegoceras novomexicanum is published by Williamson & Brusatte (2016).
• A study of the frill bones of Protoceratops andrewsi, indicating that its frill increased in length and width during the ontogeny of the animal and that the growth of the frill was greater than the overall growth of the animal, is published by Hone, Wood & Knell (2016), who interpret these findings as indicating that Protoceratops most likely used its frill for sexual and social dominance signaling.
• A revision of the species assigned to the genus Chasmosaurus is published by Campbell et al. (2016).
• Forelimb studies show Oryctodromeus was extremely adapted for an underground lifestyle (2016).
• A group of paleontologists discovered the remains of what is the smallest specimen of Pachycephalosaurus to date. The specimen also casts doubt on the validity of Dracorex and Stygimoloch (2016).
• A study was done on the skulls of Majungasaurus and revealed changes throughout the life cycle of this dinosaur (2016).
• A study was conducted on the skeleton of Nasutoceratops and revealed that it and Avaceratops belonged to a completely new group of centrosaurines (2016).

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Alcovasaurus	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Galton & Carpenter	Late Jurassic	Morrison Formation	United States (Wyoming)	A stegosaur; a new genus for "Stegosaurus" longispinus Gilmore (1914). This species was previously made the type species of the new genus Natronasaurus by Ulansky (2014); however, Galton & Carpenter (2016) claim it did not meet the requirements of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.
Apatoraptor	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Funston & Currie	Late Cretaceous	Horseshoe Canyon Formation	Canada (Alberta)	A caenagnathid theropod. The type species is Apatoraptor pennatus.
Datonglong	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Xu et al.	Late Cretaceous	Huiquanpu Formation	China	A non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroid ornithopod. The type species is Datonglong tianzhenensis.
Dracoraptor	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Martill et al.	Early Jurassic (Hettangian)	Blue Lias Formation	United Kingdom	A basal member of Neotheropoda. The type species is Dracoraptor hanigani.
Eotrachodon	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Prieto-Marquez, Erickson & Ebersole	Late Cretaceous (latest Santonian)	Mooreville Chalk	United States (Alabama)	A hadrosaurid ornithopod. The type species is Eotrachodon orientalis.
Fukuivenator	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Azuma et al.	Early Cretaceous (Barremian or Aptian)	Kitadani Formation	Japan	A member of Maniraptora of uncertain phylogenetic placement. The type species is Fukuivenator paradoxus.
Machairoceratops	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Lund et al.	Late Cretaceous (Campanian)	Wahweap Formation	United States (Utah)	A centrosaurine ceratopsian. The type species is Machairoceratops cronusi.
Meroktenos	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Peyre de Fabrègues & Allain	Late Triassic	Lower Elliot Formation	Lesotho	A non-sauropod sauropodomorph. The type species is "Melanorosaurus" thabanensis Gauffre (1993).
Morrosaurus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Rozadilla et al.	Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian)	López de Bertodano Formation	Antarctica	An iguanodontian ornithopod. The type species is Morrosaurus antarcticus.
Notocolossus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	González Riga et al.	Late Cretaceous (late Coniacian–early Santonian)	Plottier Formation	Argentina	A titanosaur sauropod. The type species is Notocolossus gonzalezparejasi.
Sarmientosaurus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Martínez et al.	Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian)	Bajo Barreal Formation	Argentina	A titanosaur sauropod, a basal member of Lithostrotia. The type species is Sarmientosaurus musacchioi.
Spiclypeus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Mallon et al.	Late Cretaceous (late Campanian)	Judith River Formation	United States (Montana)	A chasmosaurine ceratopsian. The type species is Spiclypeus shipporum.
Timurlengia	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Brusatte et al.	Late Cretaceous (Turonian)	Bissekty Formation	Uzbekistan	A non-tyrannosaurid tyrannosauroid. The type species is Timurlengia euotica.
Tototlmimus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Serrano-Brañas et al.	Late Cretaceous	Packard Shale Formation	Mexico	An ornithomimid theropod. The type species is Tototlmimus packardensis.
Viavenator	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Filippi et al.	Late Cretaceous (Santonian)	Bajo de la Carpa Formation	Argentina	A brachyrostran abelisaurid theropod. The type species is Viavenator exxoni.
Zuoyunlong	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	Wang et al.	Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian)	Zhumapu Formation	China	A basal member of Hadrosauroidea. The type species is Zuoyunlong huangi.

Birds

Research

• A study on the rates of morphological evolution in Early Cretaceous birds is published by Wang and Lloyd (2016).
• A skeleton of an enantiornithine bird preserving a gastric pellet that includes fish bones is described from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota of China by Wang, Zhou & Sullivan (2016).
• A new specimen of the Early Cretaceous species Archaeorhynchus spathula is described by Wang and Zhou (2016).
• A phylogenetic analysis of Hesperornithiformes is published by Bell & Chiappe (2016).
• A specimen of Hesperornis with a healed wound is described from the Late Cretaceous Pierre Shale (South Dakota, United States) by Martin, Rothschild & Burnham (2016), who interpret the wound as caused by an unsuccessful attack of a polycotylid plesiosaur.
• A study on the species richness, taxonomic diversity and presumed ecological characteristics of the Eocene avifauna of the Messel fossil site is published by Mayr (2016).
• Worthy et al. (2016) argue that Sylviornis neocaledoniae is a stem-galliform related to Megavitiornis altirostris and both are placed in the Sylviornithidae Mourer-Chauviré et Balouet, 2005.
• A revision of the systematics of the early Eocene North American members of Geranoididae is published by Mayr (2016), who argues that geranoidids might be stem group representatives of the Gruoidea (the clade including trumpeters, cranes and related birds).
• Zelenkov, Boev & Lazaridis (2016) reinterpret Otis hellenica from the Miocene of Greece, originally thought to be a bustard, as a member of Gruiformes belonging to the family Eogruidae and the subfamily Ergilornithinae; the authors classify it as a possible member of the genus Amphipelargus of uncertain specific assignment ("?Amphipelargus sp.").
• Zelenkov, Volkova and Gorobets (2016) describe buttonquail fossils from the late Miocene of Hungary, southern Ukraine and northern Kazakhstan, and transfer the species Calidris janossyi Kessler (2009) to the genus Ortyxelos.
• Agnolin, Tomassini and Contreras (2016) describe a distal end of tarsometatarsus from the late Miocene levels of the Loma de Las Tapias Formation (San Juan Province, Argentina), identified as the oldest seedsnipe fossil discovered so far.
• Body mass estimates for 25 extinct pan-alcids and a study of body mass evolution in Pan-Alcidae are published by Smith (2016).
• Park et al., 2016 The description of recently collected penguin fossils from the re-dated upper Miocene Port Campbell Limestone of Portland (Victoria), in addition to reanalysis of previously described material, has allowed the Cenozoic history of penguins in Australia to be placed into a global context for the first time. Australian pre-Quaternary fossil penguins represent stem taxa phylogenetically disparate from each other and Eudyptula minor, implying multiple dispersals and extinctions.
• A new skeleton of the Eocene penguin Palaeeudyptes klekowskii is described from the Submeseta Formation (Seymour Island, Antarctica) by Acosta Hospitaleche (2016).
• A study of eggshell fragments from the Pleistocene of Australia putatively referred to Genyornis newtoni is published by Grellet-Tinner, Spooner & Worthy (2016), who argue that these fossils are more likely to be remains of eggs laid by megapodes. Based on the similarities in the structure of eggshells of megapodes and dromornithids, the authors also hypothezise that dromornithids might be a sister group to galliforms rather than to or within anseriforms.
• A study of burnt putative Genyornis eggshell fragments from the Pleistocene of Australia is published by Miller et al. (2016), who interpret them as confirming that eggs of Genyornis newtoni were harvested by humans.
• Gastornithid and presbyornithid fossils are described from the early Eocene of Ellesmere Island (Canada) by Stidham & Eberle (2016).
• The genus Wilaru, initially considered to be of a stone-curlew, is reinterpreted as a member of Presbyornithidae by De Pietri et al. (2016); the authors also reassess the Cretaceous species Teviornis gobiensis and confirm it as a member of Presbyornithidae.
• New fossil remains of the Eocene cuckoo Chambicuculus pusillus are described from Tunisia by Mourer-Chauviré et al. (2016).
• Virtual cranial endocast of the dodo is described by Gold, Bourdon & Norell (2016).
• A new tracksite with bird footprints (attributed to the ichnospecies Uvaichnites riojana), preserved in the early Miocene Lerín Formation (Bardenas Reales de Navarra Natural Park, Navarre, Spain), is described by Díaz-Martínez et al. (2016).
• An avian egg from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Liangtoutang Formation is described by Lawver et al. (2016) and named Pachycorioolithus jinyunensis oogen. et oosp. nov. within Pachycorioolithidae oofam. nov.

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Antarctoboenus	Gen. et sp. nov.	In press	Cenizo, Noriega & Reguero	Early Eocene	La Meseta Formation	Antarctica (Seymour Island)	A stem-falconid. The type species is A. carlinii.
Bellulia	Gen. et sp. nov.	Junior homonym	Wang, Zhou & Zhou	Early Cretaceous	Jiufotang Formation	China	A basal member of Ornithuromorpha. The type species is B. rectusunguis. The generic name is preoccupied by Bellulia Fibiger (2008).
Changzuiornis	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Huang et al.	Early Cretaceous (Aptian)	Jiufotang Formation	China	An early member of Euornithes. The type species is C. ahgmi.
Chiappeavis	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	O’Connor et al.	Early Cretaceous	Jiufotang Formation	China	A member of Enantiornithes, probably belonging to the family Pengornithidae. The type species is C. magnapremaxillo.
Chongmingia	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Wang et al.	Early Cretaceous (Aptian)	Jiufotang Formation	China	A member of Avialae of uncertain phylogenetic placement. The type species is C. zhengi.
Cypseloramphus	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Mayr	Early Eocene	Messel pit	Germany	Possibly a basal member of Apodiformes. The type species is C. dimidius.
Daphoenositta trevorworthyi	Sp. nov.	Valid	Nguyen	Miocene	Riversleigh World Heritage Area	Australia	A sittella
Dingavis	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	O'Connor, Wang & Hu	Early Cretaceous	Yixian Formation	China	A basal member of Ornithuromorpha. The type species is D. longimaxilla.
Dromornis murrayi	Sp. nov.	Valid	Worthy et al.	Late Oligocene–Early Miocene	Riversleigh	Australia	A member of Dromornithidae
Galligeranoides	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Bourdon, Mourer-Chauviré, & Laurent	middle Ypresian		France	A member of the family Geranoididae. The type species is G. boriensis.
Gallinago kakuki	Sp. nov.	Valid	Steadman & Takano	Late Quaternary		The Bahamas Cayman Islands Cuba	A member of Scolopacidae, a species of Gallinago.
Hesperornis lumgairi	Sp. nov.	Valid	Aotsuka & Sato	Campanian	Pierre Shale	Canada	A species of Hesperornis.
Klallamornis	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Mayr & Goedert	Latest Eocene or Early Oligocene		United States	A member of Plotopteridae. The type species is K. abyssa
?Klallamornis clarki	Sp. nov.	Valid	Mayr & Goedert	Latest Eocene or Early Oligocene		United States (Washington)	A member of Plotopteridae. possibly a species of Klallamornis.
Lapillavis	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Mayr	Early Eocene	Messel pit	Germany	A bird of uncertain phylogenetic placement, showing similarities to Foshanornis songi. The type species is L. incubarens.
Linyiornis	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Wang et al.	Early Cretaceous	Jiufotang Formation	China	A member of Enantiornithes. The type species is L. amoena.
Olympidytes	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Mayr & Goedert	Latest Eocene or Early Oligocene		United States	A member of Plotopteridae. The type species is O. thieli.
Pseudoseisuropsis wintu	Sp. nov.	Valid	Stefanini, Gómez & Tambussi	Early Pleistocene	Miramar Formation	Argentina	An ovenbird
Rallus nanus	Nom. nov.	Valid	Alcover et al.	Holocene		Azores	A member of Rallidae, a species of Rallus; a replacement name for Rallus minutus Alcover et al. (2015) (preoccupied).
Wilaru prideauxi	Sp. nov.	Valid	De Pietri et al.	Early Miocene	Etadunna Formation Wipajiri Formation	Australia	A species of Wilaru.

Pterosaurs

Research

• New information on the braincase anatomy of Pterodaustro guinazui is published by Codorniú, Paulina-Carabajal & Gianechini (2016).

Other reptiles

Research

• A revision of the systematics of the Chinese pareiasaurs is published by Benton (2016).
• A study of evolution of body size of the carnivorous and herbivorous members of Captorhinidae is published by Brocklehurst (2016).
• Surmik et al. (2016) describe nothosaurid and tanystropheid bones from the Triassic of Poland preserving blood-vessel-like structures enclosing organic molecules.
• Two new specimens of Atopodentatus unicus are described by Chun et al. (2016), providing new information on the skull anatomy of this species and indicating that its rostrum, rather than being downturned as originally assumed, developed a hammerhead-like shape.

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Brasinorhynchus	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	Schultz, Langer & Montefeltro	Middle Triassic (Ladinian)	Santa Maria Formation	Brazil	A rhynchosaur belonging to the group Stenaulorhynchinae. The type species is Brasinorhynchus mariantensis.
Langeronyx	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Ezcurra, Montefeltro & Butler	Middle Triassic (Anisian)	Bromsgrove Sandstone Formation	United Kingdom	A rhynchosaur; a new genus for "Rhynchosaurus" brodiei Benton (1990).
Teyujagua	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Pinheiro et al.	Early Triassic (Induan to early Olenekian)	Sanga do Cabral Formation	Brazil	A member of Archosauromorpha closely related to Archosauriformes. The type species is Teyujagua paradoxa.

Synapsids

Non-mammalian synapsids

Research

• A study of life histories and growth patterns as indicated by bone tissue microstructure and body size in members of three synapsid groups that survived Permian–Triassic extinction event (dicynodonts, therocephalians and cynodonts) and one that didn't (gorgonopsians) is published by Botha-Brink et al. (2016).
• A revision of the systematics of the gorgonopsian subfamily Rubidgeinae is published by Kammerer (2016).

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Abdalodon	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Kammerer	Late Permian	Beaufort Group (Tropidostoma Assemblage Zone)	South Africa	An early cynodont related to Charassognathus gracilis. The type species is Abdalodon diastematicus.
Montirictus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Matsuoka, Kusuhashi & Korfe	Early Cretaceous (probably Barremian or Aptian)	Kuwajima Formation	Japan	A member of Tritylodontidae. The type species is Montirictus kuwajimaensis.
Mupashi	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Huttenlocker & Sidor	Late Permian	Madumabisa Mudstone Formation	Zambia	A therocephalian related to Karenites. The type species is Mupashi migrator.
Rastodon	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Boos et al.	Permian (Guadalupian/Lopingian)	Rio do Rasto Formation	Brazil	A dicynodont belonging to the group Bidentalia. The type species is R. procurvidens.
Wantulignathus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Whitney & Sidor	Permian (Guadalupian)	Madumabisa Mudstone Formation	Zambia	A biarmosuchian. The type species is Wantulignathus gwembensis.

Non-eutherian mammals

Research

• A partial mandible of the amphitheriid Palaeoxonodon ooliticus, previously known only from isolated teeth, is described from the Middle Jurassic (late Bathonian) Kilmaluag Formation (Isle of Skye, Scotland, United Kingdom) by Close et al. (2016).

New taxa

Metatherians

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Cookeroo	Gen. et 2 sp. nov	Valid	Butler et al.	Oligocene-Miocene	Riversleigh World Heritage Area	Australia	A member of Macropodidae. Genus includes Cookeroo bulwidarri and Cookeroo hortusensis.
Kutjamarcoot	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	Chamberlain et al.	Early Miocene	Wipajiri Formation	Australia	A bandicoot. The type species is Kutjamarcoot brevirostrum.
Minusculodelphis modicum	Sp. nov	Valid	Oliveira, Zimicz & Goin	Itaboraian	Itaboraí Quarry	Brazil	A member of Jaskhadelphyidae, a species of Minusculodelphis.

Other non-eutherian mammals

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Anebodon	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Bi et al.	Early Cretaceous	Yixian Formation	China	A symmetrodont belonging to the family Zhangheotheriidae. The type species is A. luoi.
Fluctuodon	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	Debuysschere	Late Triassic (Rhaetian)		France	A member of Kuehneotheriidae. The type species is F. necmergor.
Kuehneotherium stanislavi	Sp. nov	In press	Debuysschere	Late Triassic (Rhaetian)		France	A member of Kuehneotheriidae.

Eutherian mammals

Research

• A study of the phylogenetic relationships of the Paleocene placental mammals is published by Halliday, Upchurch and Goswami (2016).
• A study of the phylogenetic relationships of the glyptodonts within Xenarthra, indicating that the glyptodonts were nested within the armadillo crown group, is published by Delsuc et al. (2016).
• New fossil material of the Pleistocene wildebeest-like bovid Rusingoryx atopocranion is described from the Rusinga Island (Kenya) by O’Brien et al. (2016), who note the presence of large, hollow, bony nasal crests in this mammal, similar to crests present in hadrosaurid dinosaurs.
• A revision of the systematics of the North American members of Nimravidae is published by Barrett (2016).
• A skull of Hyaenictis aff. almerai, representing the most complete European specimen of the genus, is described from the Miocene of Spain by Vinuesa et al. (2016).
• A description of new fossil material of Megalictis ferox and a study of phylogenetic relationships of the oligobunine mustelids is published by Valenciano et al. (2016).
• A study on the feeding strategy of the arctoid Kolponomos is published by Tseng, Grohe & Flynn (2016).
• A study of phylogenetic relationships of bears belonging to the genus Arctotherium, incidating that they were more closely related to the spectacled bear than to short-faced bears, is published by Mitchell et al. (2016).
• Virtual cranial endocasts of the Eocene rodents Paramys copei and Paramys delicatus are described by Bertrand, Amador-Mughal and Silcox (2016).
• Fossils of the probable relative of the gorillas, Chororapithecus abyssinicus, are dated to ~8.0 Myr by Katoh et al. (2016).
• Fossils of Homo floresiensis and the deposits containing them are dated to between about 100 000 and 60 000 years ago by Sutikna et al. (2016).

New taxa

Xenarthrans

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Aymaratherium	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	Pujos et al.	Montehermosan		Bolivia	A member of Nothrotheriidae. The type species is Aymaratherium jeani.
Baraguatherium	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	Rincón et al.	Early Miocene		Venezuela	A mylodontoid sloth. The type species is Baraguatherium takumara.
Parutaetus punaensis	Sp. nov	In press	Ciancio et al.	Middle–late Eocene	Geste Formation	Argentina	An armadillo belonging to the subfamily Euphractinae; a species of Parutaetus.
Punatherium	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	Ciancio et al.	Middle–late Eocene	Geste Formation	Argentina	An armadillo of uncertain phylogenetic placement. The type species is Punatherium catamarquensis.

Afrotherians

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Eurybelodon	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Lambert	Miocene (late Clarendonian)	Juntura Formation	United States (Oregon)	A gomphothere. The type species is Eurybelodon shoshanii.
Konobelodon robustus	Sp. nov	Valid	Wang et al.	Late Miocene	Liushu Formation	China	A gomphothere, a species of Konobelodon.
Prototherium ausetanum	Sp. nov	Valid	Balaguer & Alba	Eocene		Spain	A member of Dugongidae, a species of Prototherium.
Sinomammut	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Mothé et al.	Late Miocene	Xihe-Lixian Basin	China	A member of Mammutidae. The type species is Sinomammut tobieni.
Sinomastodon praeintermedius	Sp. nov	Valid	Wang et al.	Late Miocene	Zhaotong Formation	China	A gomphothere, a species of Sinomastodon.

Bats

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Aegyptonycteris	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Simmons, Seiffert & Gunnell	Eocene (Priabonian)	Birket Qarun Formation	Egypt	An omnivorous bat belonging to the family Aegyptonycteridae. The type species is Aegyptonycteris knightae.
Hipposideros (Pseudorhinolophus) amenhotepos	Sp. nov	Valid	Gunnell et al.	Miocene		Egypt	A roundleaf bat.
Synemporion	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Ziegler, Howarth & Simmons	Middle Pleistocene to late Holocene		United States (Hawaii)	A vesper bat. The type species is Synemporion keana.

Odd-toed ungulates

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Hipparion philippus	Sp. nov	Valid	Koufos & Vlachou	Miocene (early Turolian)		Greece	A member of Equidae, a species of Hipparion.
Hipparion sithonis	Sp. nov	Valid	Koufos & Vlachou	Miocene (early Turolian)		Greece	A member of Equidae, a species of Hipparion.
Propalaeotherium sudrei	Sp. nov	In press	Remy, Krasovec & Marandat	Eocene		France	A member of Palaeotheriidae.
Victoriaceros hooijeri	Sp. nov	Valid	Geraads et al.	Early Miocene		Kenya	A rhinoceros, tentatively assigned to the genus Victoriaceros.

Even-toed ungulates

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Diplobunops kardoula	Sp. nov	Valid	Emery, Davis & Hopkins	Eocene (Duchesnean)		United States (Oregon)	An agriochoerid oreodont, a species of Diplobunops.
Honanotherium bernori	Sp. nov	In press	Solounias & Danowitz	Late Miocene		Iran	A member of Giraffidae, a species of Honanotherium.
Magwetherium	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	Ducrocq et al.	Eocene	Pondaung Formation	Myanmar	A diacodexeid dichobunoid. The type species is Magwetherium burmense.
Megaloceros stavropolensis	Sp. nov	Valid	Titov & Shvyreva	Early Pleistocene (late Villafranchian)		Russia (Stavropol Krai)	A species of Megaloceros.
Prolibytherium fusus	Sp. nov	Valid	Danowitz, Domalski & Solounias	Early Miocene		Pakistan	A member of Ruminantia, a species of Prolibytherium.
Protovis	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Wang, Li & Takeuchi	Pliocene	Zanda Basin	China	A relative of the sheep. The type species is Protovis himalayensis.

Cetaceans

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Fragilicetus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Bisconti & Bosselaers	Early Pliocene		Belgium	A baleen whale showing a mix of morphological characters that is intermediate between those of Eschrichtiidae and those of Balaenopteridae. The type species is Fragilicetus velponi.
Goedertius	Gen. et. sp. nov	Valid	Kimura & Barnes	Miocene (late Aquitanian)	Nye Formation	United States (Oregon)	A member of Allodelphinidae. The type species is Goedertius oregonensis.
Mesoplodon posti	Sp. nov	Valid	Lambert & Louwye	Pliocene (Zanclean)		Belgium	A mesoplodont whale.
Metopocetus hunteri	Sp. nov	Valid	Marx, Bosselaers & Louwye	Miocene (late Tortonian)	Breda Formation	Netherlands	A member of Cetotheriidae, a species of Metopocetus.
Ninjadelphis	Gen. et. sp. nov	Valid	Kimura & Barnes	Miocene (late Burdigalian)	Hiramatsu Formation	Japan	A member of Allodelphinidae. The type species is Ninjadelphis ujiharai.
Rayanistes	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Bebej et al.	Eocene (Lutetian)	Midawara Formation	Egypt	A member of Remingtonocetidae. The type species is Rayanistes afer.
Whakakai	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Tsai & Fordyce	Oligocene (Chattian)	Kokoamu Greensand	New Zealand	A baleen whale. The type species is Whakakai waipata.
Zarhinocetus donnamatsonae	Sp. nov	Valid	Kimura & Barnes	Miocene (late Burdigalian-early Langhian)	Astoria Formation	United States (Washington)	A member of Allodelphinidae.

Carnivorans

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Actiocyon parverratis	Sp. nov	Valid	Smith, Czaplewski & Cifelli	Miocene (Barstovian)	Monarch Mill Formation	United States (Nevada)	A simocyonine ailurid (a relative of the red panda), a species of Actiocyon.
Alagtsavbaatar	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Egi et al.	Late Eocene	Ergilin Dzo Formation	Mongolia	A member of Feliformia. The type species is "Stenoplesictis" indigenus Dashzeveg (1996).
Brevimalictis	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Smith, Czaplewski & Cifelli	Miocene (Barstovian)	Monarch Mill Formation	United States (Nevada)	A member of Mustelidae of uncertain phylogenetic placement. The type species is Brevimalictis chikasha.
Cynarctus wangi	Sp. nov	Valid	Jasinski & Wallace	Middle Miocene	Choptank Formation	United States (Maryland)	A member of Canidae belonging to the subfamily Borophaginae, a species of Cynarctus.
Lontra weiri	Sp. nov	Valid	Prassack	Pliocene	Hagerman Fossil Beds	United States (Idaho)	An otter, a species of Lontra.
Lutraeximia	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Cherin et al.	Early Pleistocene (late Villafranchian)		Italy	An otter. The type species is Lutraeximia umbra.
Maofelis	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Averianov et al.	Middle-late Eocene	Youganwo Formation	China	A member of Nimravidae. The type species is Maofelis cantonensis.
Megantereon microta	Sp. nov	In press	Zhu et al.	Early Pleistocene		China	A machairodontine felid, a species of Megantereon.
Negodiaetictis	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Smith, Czaplewski & Cifelli	Miocene (Barstovian)	Monarch Mill Formation	United States (Nevada)	A member of Mustelidae of uncertain phylogenetic placement. The type species is Negodiaetictis rugatrulleum.

Rodents

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Acarechimys pascuali	Sp. nov	In press	Verzi, Olivares & Morgan	Early Miocene			A stem-abrocomid, a species of Acarechimys.
Ameghinomys	Gen. et comb. nov	In press	Verzi, Olivares & Morgan	Early Miocene		Argentina	A stem-abrocomid; a new genus for "Acarechimys" constans (Ameghino, 1887).
Birkamys	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Sallam & Seiffert	Eocene (late Priabonian)	Jebel Qatrani Formation	Egypt	A member of Phiomorpha of uncertain phylogenetic placement. The type species is Birkamys korai.
Brachyscirtetes tomidai	Sp. nov	Valid	Li	Late Miocene		China	A member of Dipodidae, a species of Brachyscirtetes.
Elfomys catalaunicus	Sp. nov	Valid	Bonilla-Salomón et al.	Eocene		Spain	A member of Theridomyidae, a species of Elfomys.
Eucricetodon wangae	Sp. nov	Valid	Li, Meng & Wang	Late Eocene		China	A member of Cricetidae, a species of Eucricetodon.
Geomys tyrioni	Sp. nov	In press	Martin	Early Pleistocene	Meade Basin	United States (Kansas)	A pocket gopher, a species of Geomys.
Gliruloides	Gen. et sp. et comb. nov	Valid	Wu et al.	Late Oligocene to early Miocene	Junggar Basin	China Turkey	A dormouse related to the forest dormouse. The type species is Gliruloides zhoui; genus also includes "Vasseuromys" duplex Ünay (1994).
Megacricetodon hellenicus	Sp. nov	Valid	Oliver & Peláez-Campomanes	Early Miocene		Greece	A cricetid rodent, a species of Megacricetodon.
Mioheteromys subterior	Sp. nov	Valid	Korth & Evander	Miocene (early Barstovian)		United States (Nebraska)	A heteromyid rodent, a species of Mioheteromys.
Mimomys chandolensis	Sp. nov	Valid	Tiunov, Golenishchev & Voyta	Late Pleistocene		Russia (Primorsky Krai)	An arvicoline cricetid, a species of Mimomys.
Minocastor	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Mörs, Tomida & Kalthoff	Early Miocene	Nakamura Formation	Japan	A member of Castoridae. The type species is Minocastor godai.
Mubhammys	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Sallam & Seiffert	Eocene (late Priabonian)	Jebel Qatrani Formation	Egypt	A member of Phiomorpha of uncertain phylogenetic placement. The type species is Mubhammys vadumensis.
Myocricetodon tomidai	Sp. nov	Valid	Lindsay & Flynn	Early Miocene	Chitarwata Formation Vihowa Formation	Pakistan	A member of Cricetidae, a species of Myocricetodon.
Paciculus walshi	Sp. nov	Valid	Lindsay et al.	Oligocene	Otay Formation	United States (California)	A member of Cricetidae, a species of Paciculus.
Palaeocavia? mawka	Sp. nov	In press	Madozzo-Jaén & Pérez	Late Miocene	Chiquimil Formation	Argentina	A member of Caviinae, possibly a species of Palaeocavia.
Pappocricetodon siziwangqiensis	Sp. nov	Valid	Li, Meng & Wang	Late Eocene		China	A member of Cricetidae, a species of Pappocricetodon.
Paradelomys santjaumensis	Sp. nov	Valid	Bonilla-Salomón et al.	Eocene		Spain	A member of Theridomyidae, a species of Paradelomys.
Potamarchus adamiae	Sp. nov	Valid	Kerber et al.	Late Miocene	Solimões Formation	Brazil	A potamarchine dinomyid, a species of Potamarchus.
Potwarmus mahmoodi	Sp. nov	Valid	Lindsay & Flynn	Early Miocene	Vihowa Formation	Pakistan	A member of Cricetidae, a species of Potwarmus.
Primus cheemai	Sp. nov	Valid	Lindsay & Flynn	Late Oligocene to Early Miocene	Chitarwata Formation Vihowa Formation	Pakistan	A member of Cricetidae, a species of Primus.
Pseudopotamarchus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Kerber et al.	Late Miocene	Solimões Formation	Brazil	A potamarchine dinomyid. The type species is Pseudopotamarchus villanuevai.
Sayimys negevensis	Sp. nov	Valid	López-Antoñanzas et al.	Early Miocene	Middle Hatzeva Formation	Israel	A gundi, a species of Sayimys.

Primates

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Apidium zuetina	Sp. nov	Valid	Beard et al.	Early Oligocene		Libya	A species of Apidium.
Bahinia banyueae	Sp. nov	Valid	Ni et al.	Early Oligocene	Caijiachong Formation	China	A member of Eosimiidae, a species of Bahinia.
Gatanthropus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Ni et al.	Early Oligocene	Caijiachong Formation	China	A relative of Ekgmowechashala. The type species is Gatanthropus micros.
Laomaki	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Ni et al.	Early Oligocene	Caijiachong Formation	China	A member of Adapiformes belonging to the family Sivaladapidae. The type species is Laomaki yunnanensis.
Oligotarsius	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Ni et al.	Early Oligocene	Caijiachong Formation	China	A tarsier-like primate. The type species is Oligotarsius rarus.
Panamacebus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Bloch et al.	Early Miocene	Las Cascadas Formation	Panama	A New World monkey, probably a member of Cebidae. The type species is Panamacebus transitus.
Semnopithecus gwebinensis	Sp. nov	Valid	Takai et al.	Late Pliocene		Myanmar	A gray langur.
Yunnanadapis	Gen. et 2 sp. nov	Valid	Ni et al.	Early Oligocene	Caijiachong Formation	China	A member of Adapiformes belonging to the family Sivaladapidae. The type species is Yunnanadapis folivorus; genus also includes Yunnanadapis imperator.

Other eutherians

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Amphilagus tomidai	Sp. nov	Valid	Erbajeva, Angelone & Alexeeva	Miocene		Russia (Irkutsk Oblast)	A lagomorph, a species of Amphilagus.
Antesorex wilsoni	Sp. nov	Valid	Korth & Evander	Miocene (early Barstovian)		United States (Nebraska)	A shrew, a species of Antesorex.
Hegetotherium cerdasensis	Sp. nov	In press	Croft et al.	Miocene (Langhian)		Bolivia	A notoungulate, a species of Hegetotherium.
Lanthanotherium observatum	Sp. nov	Valid	Korth & Evander	Miocene (early Barstovian)		United States (Nebraska)	A member of Erinaceidae, a species of Lanthanotherium.
Mina	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Li et al.	Middle Paleocene	Wanghudun Formation	China	A basal member of Glires. The type species is Mina hui.
Ounalashkastylus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Chiba et al.	Miocene		United States (Alaska)	A desmostylian. The type species is Ounalashkastylus tomidai.
Ptilocercus kylin	Sp. nov	Valid	Li & Ni	Earliest Oligocene	Lijiawa Mammalian Fossil locality	China	A treeshrew related to the pen-tailed treeshrew.
Purgatorius pinecreeensis	Sp. nov	Valid	Scott, Fox & Redman	Paleocene (Puercan)	Ravenscrag Formation	Canada (Saskatchewan)
Rzebikia	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Sansalone, Kotsakis & Piras	Pliocene to Pleistocene (Villanyian)		Bulgaria Poland	A relative of the American shrew mole. A new genus for "Neurotrichus" polonicus Skoczeń (1980) and "Neurotrichus" skoczeni Zijlstra (2010).
Sanshuilophus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Mao et al.	Early Eocene	Huayong Formation	China	A member of Phenacolophidae (a group of archaic ungulate mammals of uncertain phylogenetic placement). The type species is Sanshuilophus zhaoi.
Scalopoides hutchisoni	Sp. nov	Valid	Korth & Evander	Miocene (early Barstovian)		United States (Nebraska)	A member of Talpidae, a species of Scalopoides.
Trachytherus ramirezi	Sp. nov	Valid	Shockey, Billet & Salas-Gismondi	Oligocene (Deseadan)		Peru	A mesotheriid notoungulate, a species of Trachytherus.
Vassacyon prieuri	Sp. nov	Valid	Solé et al.	Latest Paleocene		France	A basal member of Carnivoraformes, a species of Vassacyon.

Other animals

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Annulitubus	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	Vinn et al.	Devonian (late Emsian)	Ponta Grossa Formation	Brazil	An annelid, possibly a polychaete. The type species is Annulitubus mutveii.
Beisselina skyscanica	Sp. nov	Valid	Koromyslova & Pakhnevich	Late Cretaceous (Campanian)		Belarus	A bryozoan belonging to the group Ascophora and the family Tessaradomidae; a species of Beisselina.
Bolidium bertii	Sp. nov	Valid	Frisone, Pisera & Preto	Eocene (early Lutetian)		Italy	A sponge, a species of Bolidium.
Burejospermum punctatum	Sp. nov	Valid	McLoughlin et al.	Early Eocene	La Meseta Formation	Antarctica (Seymour Island)	A member of Clitellata of uncertain phylogenetic placement, described on the basis of fossilized cocoons; a species of Burejospermum.
Burejospermum seymourense	Sp. nov	Valid	McLoughlin et al.	Early Eocene	La Meseta Formation	Antarctica (Seymour Island)	A member of Clitellata of uncertain phylogenetic placement, described on the basis of fossilized cocoons; a species of Burejospermum.
Camerospongia tuberculata	Sp. nov	Valid	Frisone, Pisera & Preto	Eocene (early Lutetian)		Italy	A sponge, a species of Camerospongia.
Camerospongia visentinae	Sp. nov	Valid	Frisone, Pisera & Preto	Eocene (early Lutetian)		Italy	A sponge, a species of Camerospongia.
Cavispongia scarpai	Sp. nov	Valid	Frisone, Pisera & Preto	Eocene (early Lutetian)		Italy	A sponge, a species of Cavispongia.
Corallistes multiosculata	Sp. nov	Valid	Frisone, Pisera & Preto	Eocene (early Lutetian)		Italy	A sponge, a species of Corallistes.
Cornulites vilcae	Sp. nov	Valid	Vinn & Gutiérez-Marco	Late Ordovician (probably late Sandbian)	Probably Calapuja Formation	Peru	A member of Cornulitida (a group of animals of uncertain phylogenetic placement, possibly molluscs), a species of Cornulites.
Cornulites zatoni	Sp. nov	Valid	Vinn & Gutiérez-Marco	Late Ordovician (Sandbian)	Calapuja Formation	Peru	A member of Cornulitida (a group of animals of uncertain phylogenetic placement, possibly molluscs), a species of Cornulites.
Coronispongia	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Frisone, Pisera & Preto	Eocene (early Lutetian)		Italy	A sponge. The type species is Coronispongia confossa.
Ehrhardina	Gen. et 2 sp. nov	Valid	Martha & Taylor	Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian)		France Germany United Kingdom	A bryozoan belonging to the group Flustrina and the family Onychocellidae. The type species is Ehrhardina voigti; genus also includes Ehrhardina pikeae.
Hexactinella clampensis	Sp. nov	Valid	Frisone, Pisera & Preto	Eocene (early Lutetian)		Italy	A sponge, a species of Hexactinella.
Metastenodiscus	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Ernst, Schäfer & Grant-Mackie	Late Triassic		New Caledonia New Zealand	A trepostome bryozoan. A new genus for "Stenodiscus" zealandicus Schäfer & Grant-Mackie (1994) and "Stenodiscus" kawhiae Schäfer & Grant-Mackie (1994).
Nganki namak	Sp. nov	Valid	Kruse & Hughes	Cambrian	Khussak Formation	Pakistan	A member of Hyolitha (a group of animals of uncertain phylogenetic placement, possibly molluscs), a species of Nganki.
Ottoia guizhouensis	Sp. nov	Valid	Yang, Zhao & Zhang	Cambrian	Kaili Formation	China	A stem-group priapulid, a species of Ottoia.
Pachydermopora grodnoensis	Sp. nov	Valid	Koromyslova & Pakhnevich	Late Cretaceous (Campanian)		Belarus	A bryozoan belonging to the group Ascophora and the family Tessaradomidae; a species of Pachydermopora.
Pegmatothylakos	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	McLoughlin et al.	Early Eocene	La Meseta Formation	Antarctica (Seymour Island)	A member of Clitellata of uncertain phylogenetic placement, described on the basis of fossilized cocoons. The type species is Pegmatothylakos manumii.
Rigonia	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Frisone, Pisera & Preto	Eocene (early Lutetian)		Italy	A sponge. The type species is Rigonia plicata.
Saccoglossus testa	Sp. nov	Valid	Cameron	Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian)	Mazon Creek fossil beds	United States (Illinois)	An acorn worm belonging to the family Harrimaniidae, a species of Saccoglossus.
Sarmentofascis zamparelliae	Sp. nov	Valid	Schlagintweit, Frijia & Parente	Late Cretaceous (early Campanian)		Italy	A sponge, a species of Sarmentofascis.
Stauractinella eocenica	Sp. nov	Valid	Frisone, Pisera & Preto	Eocene (early Lutetian)		Italy	A sponge, a species of Stauractinella.
Talacastospongia	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Carrera & Rustán	Devonian (Lochkovian)	Talacasto Formation	Argentina	A hexactinellid sponge. The type species is Talacastospongia minima.
Toulminia italica	Sp. nov	Valid	Frisone, Pisera & Preto	Eocene (early Lutetian)		Italy	A sponge, a species of Toulminia.
Wronascolex geyiensis	Sp. nov	Valid	Peng et al.	Cambrian		China	A palaeoscolecid worm, a species of Wronascolex.

Other organisms

Research

• Macroscopic fossils up to 30 cm long and nearly 8 cm wide are described from the 1,56-billion-year-old Gaoyuzhuang Formation (Yanshan area, North China) by Zhu et al. (2016), who interpret them as probable fossils of benthic multicellular eukaryotes of size that is unprecedentedly large for eukaryotes older than the Ediacaran Period.
• Organic-walled microfossils (at least some of which are eukaryote fossils) with holes in the walls similar to those formed by predatory protists in the walls of their prey to consume the contents inside are described from the 780–740 million-year-old Chuar Group (Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA) by Porter (2016).

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Acuasiphonoria	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Liu et al.	Ordovician	Tarim Basin	China	A member of Cyanobacteria. The type species is Acuasiphonoria ordovica.
Annelaurea	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	Harper et al.	Carboniferous (late Viséan)		France	An oomycete. The type species is Annelaurea excornis.
Berkutaphycus	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Schopf, Sergeev & Kudryavtsev	Early Cambrian		Kazakhstan	The type species is Berkutaphycus elongatus.
Bianchina	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	Schiøler	Cretaceous (late Aptian–middle Cenomanian)	East Coast Basin	New Zealand	A dinoflagellate. The type species is Bianchina hieroglyphica.
Chinggiskhaania	Gen. et sp. nov		Dornbos et al.	Ediacaran	Zuun-Arts Formation	Mongolia	A multicellular benthic alga of uncertain phylogenetic placement. The type species is Chinggiskhaania bifurcata.
Cobios	Gen. et sp. nov	In press	Du et al.	Ediacaran	Doushantuo Formation	China	A red alga. The type species is Cobios rubo.
Cribrionella	Gen. nov	Valid	Jovanovska et al.	Quaternary		Lake Ohrid	A diatom. The type species is Cribrionella ohridana
Elianella brasiliana	Sp. nov	Valid	Granier & Dias-Brito	Early Cretaceous (Albian)	Riachuelo Formation	Brazil	A red alga belonging to the group Corallinophycidae, possibly a member of Rhodogorgonales; a species of Elianella.
Eohalothece	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Strother & Wellman	Precambrian	Cailleach Head Formation Diabaig Formation Kinloch Formation Nonesuch Formation	United Kingdom United States (Michigan)	A member of Cyanobacteria belonging to the family Chroococcaceae. The type species is Eohalothece lacustrina.
Gomphosiphon	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Liu et al.	Ordovician	Tarim Basin	China	A possible member of Cyanobacteria. The type species is Gomphosiphon xinjiangensis.
Hyalolithus tumescens	Sp. nov	In press	Abe, Tsutsui & Jordan	Eocene		Barbados United States (California)	A haptophyte belonging to the group Prymnesiales.
Lantianella	Gen. et 2 sp. nov	Valid	Wan et al.	Early Ediacaran	Lantian Formation	China	An organism of uncertain phylogenetic placement; might be a cnidarian (the possibility considered to be most likely by the authors of its description), or a macroalga. The type species is Lantianella laevis; genus also includes L. annularis.
Mallomonas elephantus	Sp. nov	In press	Siver & Wolfe	Eocene		Canada	A synurophyte, a species of Mallomonas.
Perissothallus dekovensis	Sp. nov	Valid	Pšenička & Krings	Carboniferous (Gzhelian)	Slaný Formation	Czech Republic	An alga of uncertain phylogenetic placement, a species of Perissothallus.
Piyuania	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Wan et al.	Early Ediacaran	Lantian Formation	China	An organism of uncertain phylogenetic placement, possibly a cnidarian-grade animal. The type species is P. cyathiformis.
Proaulopora pachydermatica	Sp. nov	Valid	Liu et al.	Ordovician	Tarim Basin	China	A possible member of Cyanobacteria, a species of Proaulopora.
Qianchuania	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Wan et al.	Early Ediacaran	Lantian Formation	China	An organism of uncertain phylogenetic placement, possibly a cnidarian-grade animal. The type species is Q. fusiformis.
Rothpletzella longita	Sp. nov	Valid	Liu et al.	Ordovician	Tarim Basin	China	A microorganism of uncertain phylogenetic placement, a species of Rothpletzella.
Trewinomyces	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Krings, Taylor & Martin	Early Devonian	Rhynie chert	United Kingdom	A fungus of uncertain phylogenetic placement, showing similarities to members of the genera Macrochytrium (Chytridiomycota) and Blastocladiella (Blastocladiomycota). The type species is Trewinomyces annulifer.
Xiuningella	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Wan et al.	Early Ediacaran	Lantian Formation	China	An organism of uncertain phylogenetic placement; might be a worm-like animal or an alga. The type species is X. rara.
Zuunartsphyton	Gen. et sp. nov		Dornbos et al.	Ediacaran	Zuun-Arts Formation	Mongolia	A multicellular benthic alga of uncertain phylogenetic placement. The type species is Zuunartsphyton delicatum.