[PaleoMammalogy • 2026] Pampaluctor calibar • A New sabre-toothed thylacosmilid (Metatheria: Thylacosmilidae) from the Pliocene–Pleistocene of southern Buenos Aires Province, Argentina

 

 Pampaluctor calibar

del Campo, Agnolín, Chimento, Boh, Magnussen & De Cianni, 2026

 

DOI: doi.org/10.1080/03115518.2026.2727509 

Illustration by Sebastián Rozadilla

 

Abstract

Thylacosmilids are a clade of metatherian predators known from lower Miocene to upper Pliocene strata of South America. They had highly specialized skulls with enlarged canines. Here, we describe remains of a new thylacosmilid taxon from the Argentine Pampas. This specimen comprises a partial postcranial skeleton from the upper Pliocene–Lower Pleistocene Vorohué Formation near Miramar in Buenos Aires Province. It shares several features supporting referral to Thylacosmilidae including a strong neck, robust forelimbs, and a shortened tibia. However, it shows notable differences from more derived thylacosmilids, especially Thylacosmilus atrox, the only thylacosmilid represented by relatively complete postcranium. The Vorohué Formation taxon differs by having a robust atlas, simpler ventral crest in the fifth cervical vertebra, enlarged medial epicondyle of the humerus, less distally projected capitulum, a more developed process on top of the lateral epicondylar crest, an enlarged radial fossa, deep coronoid fossa bordered by a marked ridge, smaller medial epicondyle on the femur, and a straight tibial shaft. These character states support establishment of a new genus and species. Phylogenetic analysis places the Vorohué Formation taxon as the sister of Thylacosmilus atrox. Functional comparisons suggest powerful neck musculature and forelimbs, coupled with low cursoriality—traits typical of ambush predators. The Vorohué Formation taxon is one of the geologically youngest sparassodonts, and shows that thylacosmilids coexisted not only with early North American placental carnivores (e.g., procyonids), but also probably mustelids and foxes.

 

Keywords: Sparassodontapost, cranium, Vorohué Formation, Metatheria, systematic palaeontology, South America

Systematic palaeontology

Class MAMMALIA Linnaeus, 1758

Infraclass METATHERIA Huxley, 1880

Order SPARASSODONTA Ameghino, 1894

Superfamily BORHYAENOIDEA Simpson, 1930

Clade THYLACOSMILIFORMES Suarez, Goin, Montalvo, Acosta, Cadena & Tomassini, 2025

Family THYLACOSMILIDAE Riggs, 1933

Pampaluctor gen. nov.

Diagnosis: Large thylacosmilid differing from Anachlysictis in possessing a more robust and anteroposteriorly elongate atlas with a prominent dorsal spine, anterior articular facets not protruding beyond the anterior margin of the dorsal arch, smaller atlantal foramen groove extending anterolaterally instead of posterolaterally, concave posterior articular facets, and an anteroposteriorly extended ventral tubercle on the intercentrum. Differs from Thylacosmilus in having a more robust and compact atlas, smaller atlantal foramen groove, more robust humerus with an expanded medial epicondyle extending over more than a fourth of the total width of the distal epiphysis, transversely broad lateral epicondyle, enlarged radial fossa in contact with the coronoid fossa, femur with much smaller medial epicondyle and distal extremity, and tibia with a straight diaphysis. Differs from Dimartinia and Patagosmilus in larger size and stratigraphic age; no overlapping skeletal elements are known for these taxa.

Etymology: Refers to the Argentine Pampas, and luctor (Latin), to wrestle.

Pampaluctor calibar sp. nov.

Etymology: Refers to ‘Calibar’, a famous nineteenth-century gaucho who tracked thieves and rescued lost people in Central Argentina (described by the author and politician Domingo F. Sarmiento in 1845).

Holotype: MPH P0730, incomplete postcranial skeleton including atlas, axis, third, fourth, fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae, scapula, humerus, radius, femur, tibia, two caudal vertebrae and unidentified bone fragments.

Type locality, unit and age: Locality ..., near Miramar city, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina; Vorohué Formation, upper Pliocene–lower Pleistocene.

Artistic construction of Pampaluctor calibar. 

Illustration by Sebastián Rozadilla, courtesy of E. del Campo

Eric N. del Campo, Federico L. Agnolín, Nicolás R. Chimento, Daniel Boh, Mariano Magnussen and Francisco De Cianni. 2026. A New sabre-toothed thylacosmilid (Thylacosmilidae, Metatheria) from the Pliocene–Pleistocene of southern Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. DOI: doi.org/10.1080/03115518.2026.2727509  [22 Sep 2026]

[Paleontology • 2026] Spea labreae • A New extinct Pleistocene Species of Spadefoot Toad (Anura: Scaphiopodidae) and comments on the Paleoecology and Paleobiogeography of Anurans from Rancho La Brea, California

Reconstruction of Spea labreae, (dark spadefoots, center) in La Brea Tar Pits compared with Spea hammondii (light spadefoot, left), the species currently present in the area, and the presence of the Mexican burrowing toad (Rhinophrynidae, bottom). 

 Cruz & Lindsey, 2026

 DOI: doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2026.2689465 

Artwork by Arturo Dávalos

ABSTRACT

Fossil amphibians hold great promise for paleoecological, paleoclimatological, and biogeographic studies because of their extreme sensitivity to environmental conditions. However, the study of fossil amphibians to date has been limited, because the fragility of frog, toad, and salamander skeletons means that diagnostic elements are rarely preserved in the fossil record. One unique locality that preserves a robust record of Quaternary amphibians is Rancho La Brea in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. Here, we describe the amphibian fauna from the Hancock Collection of Rancho La Brea, which contains fossils from ∼45,000 years before present through the Holocene. We document previously unrecognized taxa from this locality, including the Mexican burrowing toad Rhinophrynus sp. and a new species of spadefoot toad, Spea labreae, sp. nov. Using osteological comparison material, we calculate the size of this new species of Spea, which is larger than the extant species in this genus. We analyze the current distribution and fossil record of the genus Spea and the family Rhinophrynidae, documenting changes in geographic ranges of these taxa during the Quaternary. These changes likely resulted from the interplay of deglacial climate changes and topographic complexity in the American Southwest, and may help to predict amphibian responses to climate changes impacting the region today.

Class AMPHIBIA, Linnaeus, 1767

Order ANURA Rafinesque, 1815

Family SCAPHIOPODIDAE Cope, 1865

Genus SPEA Cope, 1866

SPEA LABREAE, sp. nov.

Etymology—The specific epithet refers to La Brea, Spanish for ‘the tar’ which gave rise to the name of Rancho La Brea, the locality where this species is found.

 

Locality, Horizon, and Age—Pit A, Rancho La Brea, Los Angeles, California, Late Pleistocene–Holocene.

 

Reconstruction of Spea labreae, (dark spadefoots, center and right) in La Brea Tar Pits compared with Spea hammondii (light spadefoot, left), the species currently present in the area, and the presence of the Mexican burrowing toad (Rhinophrynidae, bottom).

 Artwork by Arturo Dávalos.

 

J. Alberto Cruz and Emily L. Lindsey. 2026. A New extinct Pleistocene Species of Spadefoot Toad and comments on the Paleoecology and Paleobiogeography of Anurans from Rancho La Brea, California. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. e2689465. DOI: doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2026.2689465 [04 Aug 2026]

[Paleontology • 2026] Eschatornis aterradora • A New terror bird (Cariamiformes: Phorusrhacidae) from the Late Pleistocene of Brazil: insights into the last representatives of the family

Eschatornis aterradora 

Machado, Vasconcelos, Santos, Dutra, Cartelle, Câmara, Dantas & Degrange, 2026

DOI: doi.org/10.1002/spp2.70080  

 x.com/ThePalAss

Abstract

Terror birds comprise an iconic group of apex predator birds from America, with a rich fossil record that is one of the longest among birds for a Neoaves family, ranging from the middle Eocene to the latest Pleistocene. Here, we report the discovery of a new genus and species of Phorusrhacidae, based on an incomplete tibiotarsus recovered from an Upper Pleistocene (25 326–25 733 cal yr BP) cave deposit in Bahia, northeastern Brazil, and previously interpreted as a New World vulture. The preserved morphology exhibits unique diagnostic features that support the recognition of a new species belonging to the small-size phorusrhacids, the Psilopterinae, a clade that probably had poor flying abilities. In addition to the systematic assignment, we discuss aspects of its palaeoecology (isotopic habitat and body mass estimate), providing new insights into the diversity and evolutionary history of the last known terror birds.

Keywords: Aves, Cariamiformes, Psilopterinae, Quaternary, Toca dos Ossos, Brazil

Eschatornis aterradora 

Victor Hugo M. Machado, Marcelo F. de Vasconcelos, Luciano Vilaboim Santos, Rodrigo Parisi Dutra, Cástor Cartelle, Bruno G. O. Câmara, Mário A. T. Dantas and Federico J. Degrange. 2026. A New terror bird (Cariamiformes, Phorusrhacidae) from the Late Pleistocene of Brazil: insights into the last representatives of the family. Papers in Palaeontology. 12(2); e70080. DOI: doi.org/10.1002/spp2.70080 [26 March 2026] 

 x.com/ThePalAss/status/2037584625766117793

 instagram.com/zeinner.paula 

[PaleoMammalogy • 2026] The Japanese Archipelago sheltered Cave Lions, not Tigers, during the Late Pleistocene

 a Late Pleistocene cave lion Panthera spelaea overlooking Mount Fuji, Japan. 

in Sun, Peng, Tsutaya, Jiangzuo, ... et Luo, 2026. 

DOI: doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2523901123 

Artistic reconstruction by Velizar Simeonovski

 

Abstract

Lions and tigers, as dominant apex predators, likely became competitors when lions expanded from Africa into Eurasia approximately one million years ago (Ma), forming a lion–tiger transition belt from the Middle East through Central Asia to the Russian Far East. At the easternmost edge of this zone, the Japanese Archipelago has long been considered a Late Pleistocene tiger refugium, supported by large felid subfossils traditionally attributed to tigers (Panthera tigris), though their taxonomic identity remained unresolved. To clarify the origin, evolutionary history, and biogeography of Japan’s Pleistocene felids, we analyzed 26 ancient specimens previously assumed to be tigers. Using mitochondrial and nuclear genome hybridization capture and sequencing, paleoproteomics, Bayesian molecular dating, and radiocarbon dating, we found that all ancient Japanese “tiger” remains yielding molecular data were, unexpectedly, cave lions (Panthera spelaea). One specimen from Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, was radiocarbon dated to 36,000-34,891 cal. BP. These cave lions likely dispersed to the Japanese Archipelago between ~72.7 and 37.5 thousand years ago (ka), when a land bridge connected northern Japan to the mainland during the Last Glacial Period. Our findings challenge the long-held view that tigers once took refuge in Japan, showing instead that cave lions were widespread in northeast Asia during this period and were the Panthera lineage that colonized Japan, reaching even its southwestern regions despite habitats previously thought to favor tigers.

Maps showing the possible distributions of lions and tigers in eastern Eurasia and Alaska during different Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) of the Late Pleistocene. ...

Artistic reconstruction of a Late Pleistocene cave lion overlooking Mount Fuji, Japan.

Artwork by Velizar Simeonovski

Significance: Lions and tigers were widespread apex predators during the Late Pleistocene and integral components of East Asian megafauna. Cave lions predominantly inhabited northern Eurasia, whereas tigers were distributed farther south. The boundary between their ranges extended across Eurasia and shifted with climatic fluctuations, such as glacial–interglacial oscillations. Our findings challenge the prevailing view that tigers once took refuge in Japan and that cave lion distribution was limited to the Russian Far East and northeast China. These findings provide evidence that lions, rather than tigers, colonized the Japanese Archipelago during the Late Pleistocene. This finding extends the known range of cave lions in East Asia and refines our understanding of how far south the lion–tiger transition belt shifted during this period.

 

Xin Sun, Lanhui Peng, Takumi Tsutaya, Qigao Jiangzuo, Yoshikazu Hasegawa, Yuxin Hou, Yu Han, Yan Zhuang, Nuno Filipe Gomes Martins, Jazmin Ramos Madrigal, Alberto J. Taurozzi, Meaghan Mackie, Gaudry Trochė, Jesper V. Olsen, Enrico Cappellini, Stephen J. O’Brien, M. Thomas P. Gilbert, Nobuyuki Yamaguchi, and Shu-Jin Luo. 2026. The Japanese Archipelago sheltered Cave Lions, not Tigers, during the Late Pleistocene. PNAS. 123(6); e2523901123. DOI: doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2523901123 [January 26, 2026]

[PaleoEntomology • 2025] Apis aibai • A honey bee fossil (Hymenoptera: Apidae) from the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene Teragi Group, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan: Bridging a Gap in Apis Evolutionary History

 

Apis (Apis) aibai 

Takahashi & Takahashi, 2025

 

DOI: doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1255.162389

Abstract

A new fossil honey bee Apis (Apis) aibai sp. nov. was discovered in the Late Pliocene–Early Pleistocene lacustrine deposit in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Fossil species are identified based on their distinct forewing venation, thick, lighter-colored abdomens, and hind legs. Honeybee fossils exhibit a highly uneven distribution across time. Fossil species are primarily derived from older Oligocene–Miocene deposits, mostly in Europe and China, while fossils of a few modern species have been recovered from younger Pleistocene and Holocene deposits. Apis (Apis) aibai sp. nov. bridges the gap between older and younger fossil records. Additionally, this species represents the most recent extinct honey bee and the oldest known record of the subgenus Apis.

Key words: Apini, Apoidea, Cenozoic, fossil record, insect fossil, lacustrine deposit

Photographs of Apis (Apis) aibai sp. nov. (SOU-002).
A. Fossil-bearing piece (38.3 mm × 67.1 mm × 9.8 mm); B. Studied fossil reflecting dorsal view of SOU-002.

 Apis (Apis) aibai sp. nov.

 [New Japanese name: Tajima-mitsubachi]

Diagnosis. Medium-sized honey bee (body length approximately 10.0 mm). Wings hyaline. Forewing length approximately 8.4 mm. Vein 1Rs strongly slanted posterobasally, as long as vein 1Rs+M, subparallel to vein 2Rs, forming a slender subparallelogram-shaped 1st submarginal cell. Cross vein 1cu-a 0.7–0.8 times its length distant to vein 1M (basal vein). Cubital index 4.5. Hind tibia 2.3 times longer than wide, as long as basitarsus. Abdomen 1.4 times wider than thorax.

 Yui Takahashi and Jun-ichi Takahashi. 2025. A honey bee fossil (Hymenoptera, Apidae) from the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene Teragi Group, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan: Bridging a Gap in Apis Evolutionary History. ZooKeys. 1255: 291-301. DOI: doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1255.162389

[PaleoMammalogy • 2025] Speleotherium logani • Logan's Austral Scrubox, A New ovibovine (Artiodactyla: Bovidae) from Muskox Cave, Eddy County, New Mexico

Speleotherium logani

White, Mead & Morgan, 2025

 Logan's Austral Scrubox  ||  Researchgate.net/publication/396444548

Artwork by Lloyd E. Logan

Abstract 

We here describe a new genus and species of ovibovine artiodactyl, Speleotherium logani, (Logan’s austral scrubox) from Muskox Cave in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, southeastern New Mexico, which has languished unrecognized since its collection in 1976. Speleotherium is one of the few new genera of Rancholabrean age (late Pleistocene) large mammals from temperate North America to be described in nearly a century. S. logani is characterized by having the skull with the horn cores nearly circular in cross section and projecting laterally from the frontal, directed slightly posteriorly, and curved slightly dorsally at their tips. The bases of the horn cores are enlarged dorsally and project medially to form a boss which does not extend to the midline of the skull. Among living and extinct bovids, the horn cores of Speleotherium are most similar to those of the muskox, Ovibos moschatus, and are very different from the horn cores of Euceratherium, an extinct genus of ovibovine from the late Pleistocene of North America to which the Muskox Cave bovid has been previously referred. The new species has the smallest tooth row length and metapodial size of the known North American ovibovines. S. logani has the most southern distribution of Pleistocene ovibovines in North America, with records from southern New Mexico, the states of Nuevo León and San Luis Potosí in Mexico, and Belize.

SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY 

Artiodactyla Owen, 1848 

 Bovidae Gray, 1821 

Caprinae Gray, 1821 

Ovibovini Gill, 1872 

Speleotherium new genus 

Speleotherium logani new species

Etymology: Speleotherium from the Greek speos for ‘cave’ and therion for ‘beast’. Specific epithet in honor of Lloyd E. Logan who led the work in Muskox Cave in 1976 and 1977. Our preferred common name for this taxon is Logan’s austral scrubox. We prefer the term “scrub”, as it refers to a vegetation community, while “shrub” references a single individual plant. 

Richard S. White, Jim I. Mead and Gary S. Morgan. 2025. Logan's Austral Scrubox, A New ovibovine (Mammalia: Artiodactyla: Bovidae) from Muskox Cave, Eddy County, New Mexico. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin. 101: 473–494. [October 2025]

 Researchgate.net/publication/396444548_a_new_ovibovine_Bovidae_from_Muskox_Cave_Eddy_County_New_Mexico_New_Mexico

 

[Paleontology • 2025] Latonia dimenticata • Why extant, Why not Extinct? A New extinct Latonia Species (Anura: Discoglossidae) from the Early Pleistocene of the Apennine Peninsula provides clues on the survival of the genus in Eurasia

 

 Latonia dimenticata 

 Sorbelli, Azzarà, Cherin, Delfino, Roček & Villa, 2025

 

DOI: doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2025.2554727 

artwork: Leonardo Sorbelli

 

Abstract

Pietrafitta is one of the richest Early Pleistocene localities in the Italian Peninsula and it hosts one of the latest occurrences of the discoglossid frog Latonia in Europe. This occurrence is here described as a new species of Latonia, a large-bodied frog, potentially feeding on hard invertebrates in the Pietrafitta palaeoswamp. Our first attempt at the phylogenetic reconstruction of Latonia, based on a matrix consisting of 20 taxa and 39 characters, placed the new Italian species within a poorly understood clade that also includes Latonia caucasica from the Late Miocene of northern Caucasus. Almost all other extinct Latonia species make up a second clade, represented in the fossil record from the Oligocene and including the youngest occurrence of the genus in Europe, from the Middle Pleistocene of Hungary. The only extant species, Latonia nigriventer, was the earliest branching taxon in our topology, which could be due to its unique unsculptured morphology, a trait that may represent a secondary loss during the Quaternary. The exostosis on cranial bones, which is considered a diagnostic feature of the genus, might have developed in the earliest Latonia in response to pronounced warming and drought. Later, starting after the Middle Miocene, this exostosis underwent a reduction process, possibly triggered by cooling, that led to Plio–Pleistocene forms sharing a narrower frontoparietal with a less pustular sculpturing. Latonia dimenticata is a clear example of this frontoparietal morphology. Latonia nigriventer may have further evolved a completely unsculptured morphology to face rapid environmental changes in the last Quaternary glacial phases and ultimately facilitating its survival into the present day.  

Keywords: Quaternary, Italian Peninsula, Europe, Middle East, Latonia nigriventer, exostosis

Latonia dimenticata sp. nov. 

Leonardo Sorbelli, Beatrice Azzarà, Marco Cherin, Massimo Delfino, Zbyněk Roček and Andrea Villa. 2025. Why extant, Why not Extinct? A New extinct Latonia Species (Anura: Discoglossidae) from the Early Pleistocene of the Apennine Peninsula provides clues on the survival of the genus in Eurasia. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 23(1); 2554727. DOI: doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2025.2554727 [10 Oct 2025]

  facebook.com/acinonyxpardinensis/posts/2889113174614421

[Paleontology • 2023] Tiliqua frangens • A Giant Armoured Skink from Australia expands Lizard Morphospace and the Scope of the Pleistocene Extinctions

Tiliqua frangens Hutchinson & Scanlon, 2009
Life reconstruction of T. frangens (greater than 2000 g) alongside a typical living skink Lampropholis guichenoti (approx. 2 g).

in Thorn, Fusco, Hutchinson, Gardner, ... et Lee, 2023. 

DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0704 

Artwork by Katrina Kenny.

 twitter.com/Kailah_Thorn

Abstract

There are more species of lizards and snakes (squamates) alive today than any other order of land vertebrates, yet their fossil record has been poorly documented compared with other groups. Here, we describe a gigantic Pleistocene skink from Australia based on extensive material that includes much of the skull and postcranial skeleton, and spans ontogenetic stages from neonate to adult. Tiliqua frangens substantially expands the known ecomorphological diversity of squamates. At approximately 2.4 kg, it was more than double the mass of any living skink, with an exceptionally broad, deep skull, squat limbs and heavy, ornamented body armour. It probably filled the armoured herbivore niche that land tortoises (testudinids), absent from Australia, occupy on other continents. Tiliqua frangens and other giant Plio-Pleistocene skinks suggest that small-bodied groups that dominate vertebrate biodiversity might have lost their largest and often most morphologically extreme representatives in the Late Pleistocene, expanding the scope of these extinctions.

Keywords: megafauna, Tiliqua, Australia, Pleistocene, reptile, extinction

Selected skeletal elements of Tiliqua frangens. All skull elements are left lateral views except for neonate dentary (in right medial). Some elements are mirrored right elements,

 (a) Life reconstruction of T. frangens (greater than 2000 g) alongside a typical living skink Lampropholis guichenoti (approx. 2 g). 

Kailah M. Thorn, Diana A. Fusco, Mark N. Hutchinson, Michael G. Gardner, Jessica L. Clayton, Gavin J. Prideaux and Michael S. Y. Lee. 2023. A Giant Armoured Skink from Australia expands Lizard Morphospace and the Scope of the Pleistocene Extinctions. Proc. R. Soc. B. 20230704. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0704

  twitter.com/Kailah_Thorn/status/1668777253147394048

[PaleoOrnithology • 2025] Tadorna rekohu • Ancient DNA and Morphometrics reveal A New Species of extinct insular Shelduck (Anatidae: Tadorninae) from Rēkohu Chatham Islands, Aotearoa New Zealand

  Tadorna rekohu 

Rawlence, Lubbe, Adams, Shepherd, Cole, Knapp, Llamas, Wood, Mitchell & Tennyson, 2025

 Rēkohu shelduck  ||  DOI: doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf069

 facebook.com/novataxa 

Artwork by Sasha Votyakova

 

Abstract

The Rēkohu Chatham Islands, 785 km east of mainland Aotearoa New Zealand, exhibit high levels of species endemism. Prior to human settlement, the islands supported a rich waterfowl fauna comprising at least eight anatid species. Here we describe a new extinct duck from Holocene fossil bone deposits on the Chatham Islands. Geometric morphometric analyses and phylogenetic analysis of complete mitogenomes confirm that the Rēkohu shelduck (Tadorna rekohu sp. nov.) was the sister-taxon to the pūtangitangi paradise shelduck Tadorna variegata (Gmelin, 1789) from mainland New Zealand. The ancestors of the Rēkohu shelduck colonized the Chatham Islands around 390 000 years ago during the Late Pleistocene. Comparatively short, robust wing bones and long leg bones indicate that the species was flight-reduced relative to their mainland congener. The presence of Rēkohu shelduck bones in early Moriori midden deposits suggests its extinction was due to over-hunting prior to the later European and Māori settlement of the islands in the 19th century.

dispersal, island evolution, New Zealand, palaeogenetics, Pleistocene, Tadorna

Artistic reconstruction of a female Rēkohu shelduck (Tadorna rekohu) showing the darker plumage common in birds isolated on islands.

Artwork by Sasha Votyakova, © Te Papa CC BY 4.0

Systematic palaeontology

Anseriformes Wagler, 1831

Anatidae Leach, 1819

Tadorninae Reichenbach, 1849

Tadornini Reichenbach, 1849

Tadorna Boie, 1822

Tadorna rekohu Rawlence, Lubbe, Adams, Shepherd, Cole, Knapp, Llamas, Wood, Mitchell, Tennyson sp. nov.

Common name: Rēkohu shelduck

Type locality: Maunganui, Chatham Island.

Etymology: After the Moriori name for the Chatham Islands, New Zealand, where T. rekohu formerly occurred. The name was gifted by the Hokotehi Moriori Trust, who represent the Indigenous people of Rēkohu Chatham Islands.

Diagnosis: A species of Tadorna with different proportions to T. variegata and differing from T. variegata in the following osteological features and allometries:

Cranium: The skull of T. rekohu is longer and has a smaller interorbital width.

Humerus, ulna, radius, and carpometacarpus: The humeri of T. rekohu are on average shorter, with more robust proximal and distal ends. The ulnae and carpometacarpi are on average shorter in T. rekohu, and the proximal radius width is on average larger in T. rekohu.

Humerus to femur ratio: The femur of T. rekohu is longer relative to the humerus total length. The ratio of mean humerus to femur length in T. rekohu ranges from 1.92 to 1.96 (associated skeletons) compared to 2.00–2.11 and 2.02–2.18 in female and male T. variegata, respectively.

Femur and tarsometatarsus: The femora and tarsometatarsi of T. rekohu are longer on average.

Nicolas J Rawlence, Pascale Lubbe, Amy L Adams, Lara D Shepherd, Theresa L Cole , Michael Knapp, Bastien Llamas, Jamie R Wood, Kieren J Mitchell and Alan J D Tennyson. 2025. Ancient DNA and Morphometrics reveal A New Species of extinct insular Shelduck from Rēkohu Chatham Islands. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 204(3); zlaf069. DOI: doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf069 [25 July 2025]

https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroom/use-it-or-lose-it-how-an-island-changed-a-bird-species

https://www.facebook.com/novataxa/posts/1212144760944449

[Paleontology • 2025] Crocodylus sudani • A new late Pleistocene fossil crocodile from Sudan reveals Hidden Diversity of Crocodylus in Africa

 

Crocodylus sudani

Salih, Müller, Eisawi & Bibi, 2025

   

DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08980-6

Abstract

While Crocodylus fossils are common in late Cenozoic deposits of Africa, there is a lack of knowledge about species diversity within the genus, especially after the Early Pleistocene. Here we report on a complete skull of a new fossil Crocodylus from the Late Pleistocene of the Middle Atbara River, eastern Sudan. Cranial morphology resembles Plio-Pleistocene species of Crocodylus from Africa in having upturned squamosals, though not as prominently developed as in these species, whereas the skull differs from fossil and extant Crocodylus in having a vaulted sagittal boss on the dorsal surface of the rostrum, and in the absence of a supraoccipital exposure on the dorsal skull table. Phylogenetic analyses indicate the Atbara Crocodylus represents a separate species and is more closely related to the fossil African crocodiles than the extant forms. The new species represents the first fossil Crocodylus to be described from the Late Pleistocene of Africa, providing new information on the occurrences and diversification of the genus Crocodylus during the Late Pleistocene.

Crocodylus sudani holotype cranium, Atbara 22–172, in dorsal (a) and ventral (b) views.

Scale bar: 10 cm. 

Crocodylus sudani holotype cranium, Atbara 22–172, in occipital (c) and left lateral (d) views.

Scale bar: 10 cm.  

Eusuchia Huxley 1875 

Crocodylia Gmelin 1789, sensu Benton and Clark 1988 

Crocodylidae Gray 1825 

Crocodylus Laurenti, 176921.

Crocodylus sudani, sp. nov.  

 

Khalafallah Salih, Johannes Müller, Ali Eisawi and Faysal Bibi. 2025. A new late Pleistocene fossil crocodile from Sudan reveals Hidden Diversity of Crocodylus in Africa. Scientific Reports. 15, 27433. DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08980-6 [01 August 2025]

[PaleoOrnithology • 2024] Chloephaga dabbenei • Pleistocene Record of Chloephaga Eyton, 1838 (Anseriformes: Anatidae) in the Argentine Pampas, with the Description of A New Species

Chloephaga dabbenei 

Agnolín, Álvarez Herrera & Tomassini, 2024

sciencepress.MNHN.fr

 Researchgate.net/publication/381626235

The genus Chloephaga Eyton, 1838, consisting of four species that breed in Patagonia, encompasses anatids endemic to South America. Despite their prominence in the present-day avifauna, these species have left behind a limited fossil record. The aim of the present contribution is to describe Chloephaga fossils coming from Middle Pleistocene levels (San José Sequence) cropping out at Bajo San José site, southwestern Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The specimens are referred to three different taxa, including a new species, Chloephaga dabbenei n. sp., a smaller but indeterminate taxon, which is also probably a new species, and the extant species C. picta (J.F.Gmelin, 1789). The newly described species is notably large, falling within the upper size range observed in males of C. picta. The tarsometatarsus is straight-shafted with poorly divergent distal trochleae, features that are correlated with cursorial habits, that are absent in other members of Chloephaga. The co-occurrence of three species of the genus Chloephaga is registered nowadays in the Argentine Patagonia and in the southeast of Buenos Aires Province, when they migrate during the winter season.

Keywords: Sheldgoose, Tadorninae, fossil diversity, Buenos Aires Province, Quaternary, new species

Chloephaga dabbenei sp. nov.

Federico Lisandro AGNOLÍN, Gerardo P. ÁLVAREZ HERRERA and Rodrigo TOMASSINI. 2024. Pleistocene Record of Chloephaga Eyton, 1838 (Anseriformes: Anatidae) in the Argentine Pampas, with the Description of A New Species. Comptes Rendus Palevol. 23(18); 241-255. DOI: 10.5852/cr-palevol2024v23a18 [21 June 2024]

https://sciencepress.MNHN.fr/en/periodiques/comptes-rendus-palevol/23/18

 Researchgate.net/publication/381626235_Pleistocene_record_of_Chloephaga_in_the_Argentine_Pampas

[PaleoEntomology • 2025] Tacola kamitanii • A New Species of fossil Butterfly (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Limenitidinae) from the Upper Pliocene to Lower Pleistocene Teragi Group, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

 

Tacola kamitanii 

Aiba, Takahashi & Saito, 2025 

 

DOI: doi.org/10.2517/prpsj.240023 

Abstract

This study describes a new fossil butterfly species, Tacola kamitanii sp. nov., from the Upper Pliocene to the Lower Pleistocene Teragi Group in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. The new fossil is characterized by remarkably large wings, with an estimated forewing length of 48 mm and a wingspan of 84 mm. This new fossil species belongs to the genus Tacola based on the following characteristics: both discal cells open, smoothly curved humeral veins, and a thick thorax and abdomen. However, it does not identify with any modern relatives of Tacola with a small discal cell, straight 1A+2A anal vein of the forewing, or long hindwing median vein. Therefore, the fossil was identified as a new species of the genus Tacola and one of the largest species in the subfamily Limenitidinae. The modern relatives of Tacola are distributed in the subtropics and tropics, while this fossil species may have survived in the temperate zone. This is the first named Limenitidini fossil and the youngest example of an extinct butterfly.

Keywords: butterfly fossil, fossil insect, Haruki Mudstone, Limenitidini, Tacola, Teragi Group

Photographs of Tacola kamitanii sp. nov., holotype, SOU-001. A, ventral side, SOU-001-A; B, dorsal side, SOU-001-B.

Reconstruction of Tacola kamitanii sp. nov. and comparison with extant species.
A, habitus of Neptis alwina (Nagano Pref., Koumi machi, Japan. VII. 1992). B, forewing of N. alwina. C, hindwing of N. alwina.
D, habitus of Athyma perius (Da Nang. City, Vietnam, VIII, 2014). E, forewing of A. perius. F, hindwing of A. perius.
G, habitus of Tacola larymna (Ho Chi Minh, south Vietnam, IX, 2003). H, forewing of T. larymna. I, hindwing of T. larymna.
J, habitus of Tacola kamitanii sp. nov. The dotted line area was estimated with reference to the forewing morphology of T. larymna (type species of the genus Tacola). K, forewing of T. kamitanii sp. nov. L, hindwing of T. kamitanii sp. nov. The blue arrows indicate contact point of vein M3 and vein CuA1. The green arrows indicate anal vein 1A+2A. The red arrows indicate humeral vein. Fossil wing length and general shape were estimated based on the wing proportions of T. larymna. Scale bar: 1.0 cm. 

G, habitus of Tacola larymna (Ho Chi Minh, south Vietnam, IX, 2003). H, forewing of T. larymna. I, hindwing of T. larymna. 
J, habitus of Tacola kamitanii sp. nov. The dotted line area was estimated with reference to the forewing morphology of T. larymna (type species of the genus Tacola). K, forewing of T. kamitanii sp. nov. L, hindwing of T. kamitanii sp. nov. The blue arrows indicate contact point of vein M3 and vein CuA1. The green arrows indicate anal vein 1A+2A. The red arrows indicate humeral vein. Fossil wing length and general shape were estimated based on the wing proportions of T. larymna. Scale bar: 1.0 cm. 

Order Lepidoptera Linnaeus, 1758

Superfamily Papilionoidea Latreille, 1802

Family Nymphalidae Rafinesque, 1815

Subfamily Limenitidinae Behr, 1864

Tribe Limenitidini Behr, 1864

Genus Tacola Moore, 1898

Tacola kamitanii sp. nov.

 [New Japanese name: Kamitani-onimisuji]

Diagnosis.—Large nymphalid butterfly (estimated forewing length 48 mm, estimated wingspan 84 mm). Both wings with completely open discal cells. Forewing discal cell relatively small. The forewing has cell streaks and an upper postdiscal band with a straight anal vein 1A+2A. Vein R2 arises from the cell. Hindwing has smoothly curved humeral vein and longer vein M. Thorax and abdomen thick.

Type locality and horizon.—The Umigami, Shin’onsen Town, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan (Figure 1). However, exact locality remains unknown. Based on the lithofacies of tuffaceous siltstone, the stratigraphic horizon is correlated with the Upper Pliocene to Lower Pleistocene, Haruki Mudstone of the Teragi Group (Kinugasa, 1981; Kamitani, 1990).

Etymology.—After Kiyoshi Kamitani, a fossil collector.

Hiroaki Aiba, Yui Takahashi and Kotaro Saito. 2025. New Species of fossil Butterfly (Nymphalidae: Limenitidinae) from the Upper Pliocene to Lower Pleistocene Teragi Group, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Paleontological Research. 29; 76-86. DOI: doi.org/10.2517/prpsj.240023