[PaleoMammalogy • 2026] Paludocyon moyasolai • A New Species of Paludocyon (Carnivora: Amphicyonidae) from the early Middle Miocene of els Casots (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Barcelona, Spain)

 

Paludocyon moyasolai 

Morales, Abella, Valenciano, Gamarra, Robles, Gregori, Alba & Casanovas-Vilar, 2026  

 DOI: doi.org/10.1007/s10914-026-09814-6 

illustration by Jesús Gamarra    x.com/Gamarraptor

Abstract

The early Middle Miocene (15.9 Ma) site of els Casots (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Catalonia, Spain) has yielded a rich vertebrate assemblage, including abundant carnivoran remains that mostly remain unpublished. Here we describe a new species of the amphicyonid genus Paludocyon based on a compressed cranium with well-preserved teeth and an isolated lower molar (m2) from els Casots. Paludocyon moyasolai sp. nov., included in the subfamily Amphicyoninae, is characterized by a notably enlarged M2, which is buccolingually broader than the M1, and by a the relatively large size of the M3, both traits being absent in other species of Paludocyon. A phylogenetic analysis, conducted on European and North American species assigned to Cynelos and Paludocyon, indicates that Cynelos is paraphyletic but supports the monophyly of Paludocyon, with the new species being recovered as its basal-most member.

 

Keywords: Amphicyoninae, Europe, Iberian Peninsula, Paleobiogeography, Phylogeny

Systematic Paleontology

Order Carnivora Bowdich, 1821

Family Amphicyonidae Trouessart, 1885

Subfamily Amphicyoninae Trouessart, 1885

Tribe Amphicyonini Trouessart, 1885

Paludocyon moyasolai sp. nov. from els Casots.
 a–f. Cranium, IPS10156, holotype: a. lateral left view; b. ventral part; c. left P4–M3 (stereo pair) in occlusal view; d. right P2 in lingual view and the left P3–M2 in buccal view; e. isolated right M1 in occlusal view; f. isolated right M2 in occlusal view.
g–i. Left m2, IPS11438, paratype, stereo pairs in occlusal (g), buccal (h), and lingual (i) views.

All specimens are depicted to the same scale except scale bars in a equal 10 cm, scale bar in b-i equal 5 cm

Paludocyon moyasolai sp. nov.

Type locality: els Casots, Catalonia, Spain.

Age and distribution: Aragonian subzone Cb (MN5), earliest Middle Miocene (~ 15.9 Ma), only known from the type locality.

Diagnosis: Medium-sized species of Paludocyon; P4 with reduced protocone; robust M1 with lingual platform reduced; M2 buccolingually broader than M1, with metacone smaller than paracone; M3 large and with well-defined trigone cuspids; m2 with a robust trigonid, protoconid and metaconid almost of the same height, protoconid with a weak basal buccal widening, short talonid of similar width as the trigonid, and large hypoconid occupying the buccal area of the talonid basin.

Etymology: Species epithet dedicated to Salvador Moyà-Solà, in recognition of his wonderful contribution to the development of European paleomastology (see review in Alba 2025).

Paludocyon moyasolai sp. nov. from els Casots, Spain. Reconstructed life appearance of the head and neck (illustration by Jesús Gamarra)

 

Jorge Morales, Juan Abella, Alberto Valenciano, Jesús Gamarra, Josep M. Robles, Maria Gregori, David M. Alba and Isaac Casanovas-Vilar. 2026. A New Species of Paludocyon (Carnivora: Amphicyonidae) from the early Middle Miocene of els Casots (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Barcelona, Spain).  Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 33, 29. DOI: doi.org/10.1007/s10914-026-09814-6   [06 June 2026]

  x.com/Gamarraptor/status/2064277680023888311

[PaleoMammalogy • 2026] Archaeomeles neglecta • A New Genus of Badger from Pikermi (Greece) and A Review of the Systematics and Evolution of Miocene Melinae (Carnivora: Mustelidae)

Archaeomeles neglecta 

Kargopoulos, Valenciano, Jiangzuo, Liakopoulou, Gerakakis, Kampouridis, Paparizos, Svorligkou, Filis, Sklavounou & Roussiakis, 2026

  DOI: doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2026.2647483  

 x.com/paleo_alberto

 

Abstract

The evolution of Mustelidae has been a topic of debate, obscured by a complex system of convergences between phylogenetically distant groups. In this work, we present a new genus and species of mustelid, Archaeomeles neglecta gen. et sp. nov., from the classical Turolian locality of Pikermi (Greece, Late Miocene, MN12). The material consists of a skull with the associated mandible and shows distinct features that clearly differentiate it from all other known mustelid genera. These characteristics include a long and narrow rostrum, the absence of developed sagittal and supraorbital crest, relatively slender mandibular corpus, enamel folds on the lower canines, the wide P3 and p4, and the moderately enlarged M1 talon and m1 talonid. Morphometrical comparisons and phylogenetic analysis suggest that Archaeomeles is a stem member of the Melinae along with the other Turolian mustelids Promeles, Polgardia and Melodon from Eurasia. Ecomorphological comparisons indicate intermediate dietary habits between the plesiomorphic gulonines and the derived extant badgers, suggesting a diet that is based on small vertebrates and invertebrates as well as plant material. 

Keywords: Carnivora, Ecomorphology, Mustelidae, Phylogeny, Turolian

Systematic palaeontology

Order Carnivora Bowdich, 1821

Suborder Caniformia Kretzoi, 1943

Family Mustelidae Batsch, 1788

Subfamily Melinae Bonaparte, 1838

Genus Archaeomeles gen. nov.

Type and only species. Archaeomeles neglecta sp. nov.

Diagnosis: Mustelid of the size of the extant European otter (Lutra lutra); rostrum long and slender; P1/p1 present; P2/p2 two-rooted; P3 significantly wide; P4 moderately shortened; P4 with hypocone region moderately developed; M1 moderately expanded distolingually, with metaconule and a high protocone; mandibular corpus slender; lower canine with enamel folds; p4 slender without marked accessory cuspids, m1 with low trigonid cuspids, talonid moderately enlarged and basin-like, without entoconid and entoconulid, but with distinct hypoconid and a minute, buccally situated hypoconulid.

Derivation of name: Archaeo-, from the Greek word Ἀρχαῖος meaning ancient, and -meles meaning badger. The name Archaeomeles, ‘ancient badger’, is chosen to highlight its key position in the radiation of the Melinae in the Turolian.

Archaeomeles neglecta sp. nov.

Holotype. AMPG-P.A. 4879/91 – skull with an associated mandible.

 

Derivation of name. The specific name neglecta comes from the feminine of the Latin word neglectus meaning neglected. It refers to the holotype being overlooked in the collections of AMPG for over a century.

Type Locality. Pikermi (classical layers), Attica, Greece.

Age. 7.33–7.29Ma, Turolian, Late Miocene (MN 12).

 

Nikolaos Kargopoulos, Alberto Valenciano, Qigao Jiangzuo, Dionysia Liakopoulou, Nikolaos Gerakakis, Panagiotis Kampouridis, Nikolaos Paparizos, Georgia Svorligkou, Panagiotis Filis, Stamatina Sklavounou and Socrates Roussiakis. 2026. A New Genus of Badger from Pikermi (Greece) and A Review of the Systematics and Evolution of Miocene Melinae (Mammalia, Carnivora, Mustelidae). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 24(1); 2647483.  DOI: doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2026.2647483 [24 Apr 2026]

  x.com/paleo_alberto/status/2047713035066736997

[PaleoMammalogy • 2026] Metapterodon anari • Hyaenodonta from the Middle to Late Miocene deposits of the Siwaliks of Pakistan with a brief account of Indian subcontinent hyaenodonts

 

Metapterodon anari 

Mahmood, Abbas, Jasinski, Babar & Khan, 2026

DOI: doi.org/10.1007/s12542-025-00766-5  

 x.com/StevenJasinski

 reconstruction by Sergey Krasovskiy

Abstract

New fossil material identified as ‘creodonts,’ particularly hyaenodonts, from the Siwaliks of Pakistan provide significant new information on this important group of carnivores. Three hyaenodont taxa are identified based on these new fossils. Deciduous dental remains identified as ?Megistotherium/Hyainailouros sp. provide important new data on large hyaenodonts and their presence in the Miocene of southern Asia. Fossils identified as Hyaenodon cf. H. pervagus potentially provide important new temporal and biogeographic data on a highly speciose genus of hyaenodont. While the genus is known throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere (Asia, Europe, North America), these new fossils represent the first record of the genus from the Siwaliks, expanding its range in southern Asia. They also represent the youngest temporal occurrence of the genus (Middle Miocene). Another fossil represents a new species, Metapterodon anari sp. nov. This genus was previously tentatively identified from the Siwaliks, but this new material provides definitive evidence of its presence. Not only does this confirm its presence in the Miocene Siwalik deposits of the Indian subcontinent but also represents an important temporal occurrence for the genus. It represents the youngest occurrence of the genus worldwide but may also represent the youngest occurrence of any hyaenodont. The new material provides important new data on some of the less well-known ‘creodonts’ of the Siwaliks, and this data is important for not only our understanding of some of the youngest hyaenodonts near their eventual extinction, but the complex mammal communities preserved on the Indian subcontinent.

Keywords: Hyaenodonta, Siwaliks, Metapterodon, Hyaenodon, Miocene, Biostratigraphy

Siwalik fossil referred to Metapterodon anari sp. nov.
 (A–C), PUPC 19/99 (holotype), nearly complete left m3 in A occlusal, B buccal (labial), and C lingual views.

 bk buccal keel, n notch, pcd paraconid, popcd postparacristid, ppcd preparacristid, pprcd preprotocristid, prcd protoconid, tc talonid cuspid, wf wear facet. Scale bar is 10 mm

Metapterodon anari sp. nov.

Diagnosis. A large species of the genus Metapterodon with large distal (= posterior) lower molars; below the apex of m3, inflated paraconid and protoconid separated by extremely narrow, shallow conspicuous notch; protoconid larger and higher than paraconid; presence of large, distinct buccal keel on the base of paraconid; and extremely reduced unicuspidate talonid.

Holotype. PUPC 19/99, nearly complete left m3 (Fig. 3).

Type locality and age. Y311 (10.063 Ma), Sethi Nagri locality, Chakwal, Punjab, Pakistan.

Horizon. Nagri Formation of Middle Siwalik subgroup (early Late Miocene).

Etymology. Named after Mr. Anar Khan (late), a host and guide in Hasnot and surrounding areas, who served national and international researchers for more than 50 years.

Biogeographic distribution of Hyaenodon species.

Biogeographic distribution of Hyaenodon species.

Metapterodon anari sp. nov.

 reconstruction by Sergey Krasovskiy

  

 

Khalid Mahmood, Sayyed Ghyour Abbas, Steven E. Jasinski, Muhammad Adeeb Babar and Muhammad Akbar Khan. 2026. Hyaenodonta from the Middle to Late Miocene deposits of the Siwaliks of Pakistan with a brief account of Indian subcontinent hyaenodonts. PalZ. DOI: doi.org/10.1007/s12542-025-00766-5 [16 April 2026] 

 x.com/StevenJasinski/status/2060104303272919118

https://www.harrisburgu.edu/news/2026-05-27-new-species-carnivorous-mammals/

[PaleoMammalogy • 2026] Masripithecus moghraensis • An Early Miocene Ape from the Biogeographic Crossroads of African and Eurasian Hominoidea

Masripithecus moghraensis

Al-Ashqar, Seiffert, El-Sayed, Salem, Gohar, El-Saka, Amin & Sallam, 2026

DOI: doi.org/10.1126/science.adz4102

nhm.org

Illustration by Mauricio Antón

Abstract

The Early Miocene fossil record documenting hominoid evolution has long been restricted primarily to sites in East Africa, whereas contemporaneous North African sites have only yielded remains of cercopithecoid monkeys. Here, we describe a fossil ape from North Africa, a new genus (Masripithecus) from the Early Miocene (~17 million to 18 million years) of northern Egypt, on the basis of mandibular remains. A combined molecular-morphological Bayesian tip-dating analysis positions Masripithecus closer to crown hominoids than coeval fossil apes from East Africa, thereby filling a phylogenetic and biogeographic gap in the evolution of stem hominoids. This evidence suggests that crown Hominoidea might have originated during the Early Miocene in the underexplored northeastern part of Afro-Arabia, rather than in eastern Africa or Eurasia.

 

Masripithecus moghraensis

Illustration of Masripithecus moghraensis by Mauricio Antón

Masripithecus moghraensis and the dispersal of crown hominoids in the Miocene. The map highlights Wadi Moghra, Egypt (star), which is the discovery site of Masripithecus—the first definitive North African ape—alongside key Miocene hominoid localities (see table S1) across Afro-Arabia and Eurasia. Arrows indicate inferred dispersal routes based on the phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses presented here. The inset phylogeny places Masripithecus as the closest sampled sister taxon of crown Hominoidea. At lower left, a life reconstruction of Masripithecus based on the Masripithecus mandible combined with the facial morphology of the middle Miocene hominoid Pierolapithecus. Illustration by Mauricio Antón

 

SHOROUQ F. AL-ASHQAR, ERIK R. SEIFFERT, SANAA EL-SAYED, BELAL S. SALEM, ABDULLAH S. GOHAR, HOSSAM EL-SAKA, MOHAMED AMIN, AND HESHAM M. SALLAM. 2026. An Early Miocene Ape from the Biogeographic Crossroads of African and Eurasian Hominoidea. SCIENCE. 391(6792); 1383-1386. DOI: doi.org/10.1126/science.adz4102 [26 Mar 2026]

https://nhm.org/stories/meet-masripithecus-newly-described-ancient-ape-fills-gap-evolutionary-history-primates

 facebook.com/TheLeakeyFoundation/posts/1414457444059470

Editor’s summary: The vast majority of early hominoid fossil hunting has occurred in East Africa, where a trove of early fossils and lineages have been found. Other regions in Africa have been less explored for various reasons, inspiring the question of whether a focus on East Africa has shaped opinions about where early hominoid evolution occurred. Al-Ashqar et al. now describe a Miocene ape from Egypt with crown hominoid affinities suggesting both that this lineage diverged before entering Eurasia and that a focus on one African region may have shaped our ideas about where hominoids first emerged (see the Perspective by Alba and Arias-Martorell). —Sacha Vignieri

[PaleoEntomology • 2026] Hypoponera electrocacica • The Ant Genus Hypoponera (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Dominican Amber

 

Hypoponera electrocacica 

Fiorentino, Bouju, Sosa, Navarro & Barden, 2026

 

DOI: doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2025.10213

 

Abstract

Hypoponera Santschi, 1938 is a genus of ponerine ants, well known for its simplified morphology, lacking any clear autopomorphy, and its cosmopolitan distribution. Here, we describe the first Hypoponera in Dominican amber. The discovery of Hypoponera electrocacica new species confirms the long-expected presence of the genus in the Caribbean Miocene. The modern diversity of Hypoponera in the Greater Antilles now stands at five species and two putative subspecies.

Systematic paleontology

Order Hymenoptera Linnaeus, Reference Linnaeus1758

Family Formicidae Latreille, Reference Latreille1802

Subfamily Ponerinae Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau, Reference Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau1835

Genus Hypoponera Santschi, Reference Santschi1938

Type species: Ponera abeillei André, 1881, 

now Hypoponera abeillei (André, Reference André1881).

 Photomicrographs and illustration of Hypoponera electrocacica n. sp., holotype specimen, MNHNSD FOS 18.126.
(1) Head in front face view. (2) Illustration of forewing venation. (3) Body in dorsal view. (4) Body in lateral view.

Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

Hypoponera electrocacica new species

Etymology: The specific epithet electrocacica (from the Latin electrum, meaning ‘amber,’ and the feminine form of the Taino word cacique, meaning ‘chief’) is a feminine singular adjective in the nominative case. It refers to the alate ant or queen trapped in amber.

Gianpiero Fiorentino, Valentine Bouju, Diyael Sosa, Santo Navarro  and Phillip Barden. 2026. The Ant Genus Hypoponera (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Dominican Amber. Journal of Paleontology. First View. DOI: doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2025.10213 [05 February 2026]

[Herpetology • 2026] Zig zag • Zigzags in the White Sand Belt: A New, highly divergent lineage of Sand-swimmer Skink (Squamata: Scincidae) from Madagascar

Zig zag  

 Miralles, Schmidt, Belluardo, Rahagalala, Monvoisin, Ratsoavina, Köhler, Glaw & Vences, 2026 

 

DOI: doi.org/10.11646/megataxa.19.1.3

Abstract

The present work reports on the discovery of a new sand swimming lizard (Scincidae: Scincinae) in Madagascar. This limbless and eyeless skink was found during fieldwork in the northern part of the “great white sand belt”, a series of patchy white sand areas encircling the island’s western sedimentary basins. The new taxon shows a distinctive combination of derived morphological traits (miniaturized, limbless, elongated body, with absent or scale-covered eyes and ear openings, and a reduced head scale pattern) reminiscent of other Malagasy fossorial skinks adapted to sandy habitats (e.g. Voeltzkowia, Grandidierina and some Paracontias). Phylogenetic analyses based on two datasets (multilocus DNA from Sanger sequencing and genome-wide DNA sequences derived from double-digest Restriction Associated DNA [ddRAD]) reveal a highly divergent phylogenetic position of this taxon and, given its distinct morphology, justify its description as a new species in a new genus, Zig zag gen. nov. & sp. nov. This marks the first genuine field discovery of a new genus of Scincidae in Madagascar since the 19th century, i.e., the discovery of a formerly unknown deep clade rather than an identification (and split) from an already recognized genus. Our results also shed light on the ancient evolutionary history of this taxon and its sister clade, Paracontias. Finally, the present work explores the factors that may explain why ecosystems characterized by white sand substrates, an ecosystem often neglected in biodiversity research, but present in various regions of the globe (e.g., Florida sand scrub, South American WS savannah, Indonesian Keranga) have seemingly so frequently promoted the convergent evolution of fossorial squamates.

Taxonomy, new genus, new species, Phylogenomics, psammophily, fossoriality

Overview of the White Sand Belt: Map of Madagascar showing WS patches identified by Miralles et al. (2025) (white dots), with the distribution of sand-specialist, legless and fossorial skink genera (data from the present study; Glaw & Vences 2007; Köhler et al. 2010; Miralles et al. 2011b, 2015, 2016a, 2025).

Coloration in life of Zig zag gen. nov. et  sp. nov.:
 Holotype MNHN-RA-2025.0001 and paratype ZSM 104/2023 in dorsolateral and lateral views, both from Baie de Baly; and paratypes ZSM 105/2023, ZSM 107/2023 (close-up of the dorsal, lateral and ventral view of the head), ZSM 108/2023 and ZSM 112/2023 (juvenile), all four from Benetsy. Not to scale.

Zig gen. nov. 

Type species. Zig zag sp. nov. See the species description below. 

Etymology. The name Zig is an arbitrary combination of letters in the sense of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature Articles 30.1.4.1 and 30.2.2, and we assign it the feminine gender. We have searched all available taxonomic databases and could not find any evidence that this name has ever been used to refer to a genus of animals, and we therefore conclude that it is available. 

Diagnosis of the genus Zig. Based on molecular phylogenetic relationships, a genus in the family Scincidae, subfamily Scincinae, sister to Paracontias. The genus Zig is distinguished from all other known Malagasy scincines by the following combination of characters: (1) the complete absence of limbs (versus four well developed and pentadactyl limbs in Madascincus, Amphiglossus, Flexiseps, Brachyseps, and relictual fore- and hindlimbs in some—but not all—species of Grandidierina, Pygomeles, Pseudoacontias, Voeltzkowia), (2) a “blind” morphotype (versus presence of an eye-opening, in Amphiglossus, Flexiseps, Brachyseps, Madascincus, Pygomeles, Pseudoacontias, and all Paracontias species except P. minimus), (3) the presence of a single supraocular (versus two to four supraoculars, most often four, in ... ... with the last supralabial and the nuchal (versus presence of two secondary temporals in all the other genera), and (7) the position of the subocular scale corresponding to the second supralabial (versus the third, the fourth, or occasionally the fifth in all the other genera).

Distribution. Madagascar, Mahajanga basin, western bank of the Betsiboka River. 

Zig zag sp. nov.

Etymology. The specific epithet ‘zag’, an arbitrary combination of letters, is used here to form a pun on ‘zig zag’, in reference to the very characteristic sinusoidal tracks left by this species when moving in the white sand. It is treated as an invariable noun in apposition to the genus name.

 Diagnosis. As Zig represents a monotypic genus, the generic diagnosis of Zig above is also suitable to distinguish the species Zig zag from any other Malagasy scincine species. Additionally, Zig zag differs from the other superficially similar worm-like Malagasy species (i.e. limbless, “blind”, elongated and miniaturized morphotype such as Grandidierina spp., Voeltzkowia spp. and Paracontias minimus) by the following combination ...

White sand substrate in Zig zag gen. nov. et  sp. nov. habitats:
In situ view of sand soil surface, with sigmoidal tracks let by Zig zag in Baie de Baly (A), and detailed views (B, C) of the almost pure quartz sand present in Benetsy (identical in Baly, see Miralles et al. 2025).
(D) Diagram illustrating the physical properties of white sands when exposed to heavy rainfall or, conversely, to intense solar radiation. Photographs B and C by André Freiwald.

Habitat of Zig zag gen. nov. et  sp. nov. 
 (A) White-sand savannah with Bismarckia palm trees near the village de Baly. (B) Shrubby white-sand savannah near the village of Benetsy.
(C) Soil stratification in Zig zag microhabitat at Benetsy: (1) vegetation patches providing shade, (2) layer of dry vegetal litter, (3) dense mat of fine roots, (4) deeper layer made of almost pure white sand.

Aurélien MIRALLES, Robin SCHMIDT, Francesco BELLUARDO, Ny Ando RAHAGALALA, Evariste MONVOISIN, Fanomezana M. RATSOAVINA, Jörn KÖHLER, Frank GLAW and Miguel VENCES. 2026. Zigzags in the White Sand Belt: A New, highly divergent lineage of Sand-swimmer Skink from Madagascar (Squamata: Scincidae).  Megataxa. 19(1); 176-212. DOI: doi.org/10.11646/megataxa.19.1.3 [2026-02-23]

  

[PaleoMammalogy • 2023] Pachypanthera piriyai • A new large pantherine and a sabre-toothed cat (Carnivora: Felidae) from the late Miocene hominoid-bearing Khorat sand pits, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, northeastern Thailand

Pachypanthera piriyai   

de Bonis, Chaimanee, Grohé, Chavasseau, Mazurier, Suraprasit & Jaeger, 2023

  

DOI: 10.1007/s00114-023-01867-4

  Researchgate.net/publication/373162644

 facebook.com/ASRUChula 

 

Abstract

We describe two large predators from the hominoid-bearing Khorat sand pits, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, northeastern Thailand: a new genus of pantherine, Pachypanthera n. gen., represented by partial mandible and maxilla and an indeterminate sabre-toothed cat, represented by a fragment of upper canine. The morphological characters of Pachypanthera piriyai n. gen. n. sp., notably the large and powerful canine, the great robustness of the mandibular body, the very deep fossa for the m. masseter, the zigzag HSB enamel pattern, indicate bone-cracking capacities. The genus is unique among Felidae as it has one of the most powerful and robust mandibles ever found. Moreover, it may be the oldest known pantherine, as other Asian pantherines are dated back to the early Pliocene. The taxa we report here are the only carnivorans known from the late Miocene of Thailand. Although the material is rather scarce, it brings new insights to the evolutionary history of Neogene mammals of Southeast Asia, in a geographic place which is partly “terra incognita.”

Keywords: Asia, Felidae, New taxon, Bone cracking, Late Miocene, Sabre-toothed cat, Pantherine

Order Carnivora Bowdich, 1821

Sub-order Feliformia Kretzoi, 1945

Family Felidae Batsch, 1788

Sub-family Felinae Batsch, 1788

Pachypanthera n. gen.

Etymology: from the greek “Pachy” = thick.

 

Digital reconstruction of the mandible of Pachypanthera piriyai n. gen. n. sp. (a) in comparison with the mandible of Panthera leo (UPPal CAR-5-001) (b) in occlusal view. Scale bar = 20 mm

Right maxilla of Pachypanthera piriyai n. gen. n. sp. (CUF-KR-2).
a Occlusal view; b medial view; c lateral view (scale bar = 20 mm)

Pachypanthera piriyai n. gen. n. sp., left hemi-mandible CUF-KR-1.
a Occlusal view (stereopair); b inferior view; c lateral view; d medial view (scale bar = 20 mm)

Pachypanthera piriyai n. sp

Origin of the name: in honor of Piriya Vachajitpan, who played a critical part in recovering the fossils.

Holotype (CUF-KR-1): left hemi-mandible with the alveoli for i1–i3, canine alveolus, remains of roots of p3, p4 and partially broken off m1 crown.

 

Locality: Khorat sand pit, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, northeastern Thailand

Age: late Miocene, 9 to 6 Ma.

 

 

L. de Bonis, Y. Chaimanee, C. Grohé, O. Chavasseau, A. Mazurier, K. Suraprasit and J.J. Jaeger. 2023. A new large pantherine and a sabre-toothed cat (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae) from the late Miocene hominoid-bearing Khorat sand pits, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, northeastern Thailand. The Science of Nature. 110, 42. DOI: 10.1007/s00114-023-01867-4

 facebook.com/ASRUChula/posts/688793099932089 

 Researchgate.net/publication/373162644_A_new_large_pantherine_from_the_late_Miocene_hominoid-bearing_Khorat_sand_pits

[PaleoBotany • 2026] Simojoflorum mijangosii gen. et sp. nov. preserved in the Mexican Amber unravels the polycarpellate condition in the tribe Mimoseae (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae)

  

Simojoflorum mijangosii 

Hernández-Damián, Rubalcava-Knoth, Gómez-Acevedo, Cruz-Durán & Cevallos-Ferriz, 

in Hernández-Damián, Knoth, Gómez-Acevedo, Cruz-Durán et Cevallos-Ferriz, 2026. 

DOI: doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2025.2604147

Drawings by Aldo Domínguez de la Torre.

 

ABSTRACT

An inflorescence preserved in amber from the middle-early Miocene from southern Mexico is identified as a new extinct member of Fabaceae. We described and identified the fossil material, comparing it with extant and fossil members of the Fabaceae using light microscopy and computed microtomography. The fossil inflorescence has morphological characters that allow a near comparison with Caesalpinioideae (Fabaceae), including flowers aggregated in a capitate inflorescence. Even more, bisexual and staminate flowers, valvate aestivation, many stamens, a superior, unilocular ovary with marginal placentation are characters that allow their comparison with the tribe Mimoseae, especially the polycarpellate gynoecium is comparable to the Acacieae and Ingeae tribes in the traditional classification. However, other floral characteristics, such as anther glands, partially united filaments, a basal nectariferous disk, and a stalk ovary, are comparable to Mariosousa Seigler & Ebinger, 2006, Senegalia Raf., 1838, and Parasenegalia Seigler & Ebinger, 2017. The phylogenetic relationship between them is unresolved, and information on the floral structure is limited for further comparison. Thus, we support the identification of Simojoflorum mijangosii gen. et sp. nov. as a new extinct member of the tribe Mimoseae that suggests the diversification of the lineage during the Miocene.

KEYWORDS: Fossil inflorescence, Fabaceae, Mimoseae, Miocene, polycarpellate

Simojoflorum mijangosii gen. et sp. nov. from Simojovel de Allende, Chiapas, Mexico.
(A) Overall view showing the spherical capitate inflorescence, scale bar: 1.0 mm. (B), Lateral view of spherical inflorescence, scale: 1.0 mm. (C) Detail of staminate and bisexual flowers arranged in the spherical capitate inflorescence, inferior left arrow indicates staminate flower, superior left arrow indicates the differentiated perianth, and right arrow indicates a bisexual flower with a large style, scale: 1.0 mm. (D) Detail of sessile flowers with differentiate perianth, right arrow indicates sepal and left arrow to indicate petal, scale: 0.5 mm. (E) Detail of anthers, right arrow indicates dorsifixed anthers, and left arrow indicates glandular appendage, scale: 0.2 mm. (F) Detail of stigma and style, scale: 0.5 mm.

Family: Fabaceae Lindley, Citation1836

Subfamily Caesalpinioideae De Candolle, Citation1825

Tribe: Mimoseae sensu Queiroz et al. Citation2024

Genus: Simojoflorum Hernández-Damián, Rubalcava-Knoth, Gómez-Acevedo, Cruz-Durán et Cevallos-Ferriz gen. nov.

Etymology: The epithet Simojo refers to Simojovel de Allende, the locality from which the fossil was collected, and florum, of Latin meaning flowers.

Generic diagnosis: Inflorescence capitate and spherical with staminate and bisexual flowers. Staminate flowers sessile with pentamerous and differentiate perianth, actinomorphic; calyx and corolla with valvate aestivation, androecium with more than 30 stamens slightly fused at the base with stalked glands. Bisexual flowers with a basal nectariferous disk; central carpel stipitate, ovary superior, unilocular with ca. twenty ovules in two rows, and marginal placentation along a ventral suture. Some bisexual flowers present 4–5 peripheral carpels that surround the central carpel, these carpels are poorly differen and smaller than the central one.

 

Simojoflorum mijangosii Hernández-Damián, Rubalcava-Knoth, Gómez-Acevedo, Cruz-Durán et Cevallos-Ferriz sp. nov.

Etymology: The epithet mijangosii refers to Luis Alonso Zuñiga Mijangos who contributed to the study of Mexican amber through the Museo del ámbar, Lilia Mijangos.

 

Holotype: MALM-00111 (Museo del Ámbar, Lilia Mijangos)

 

Locality: Simojovel de Allende, Chiapas, Mexico

Stratigraphic horizon: La Quinta Formation, middle-early Miocene

Artistic reconstruction of inflorescence, flowers, and hypothetical whole plant of Simojoflorum mijangosii gen. et sp. nov. in the Mexican amber.
(A) Spherical capitate inflorescence of Simojoflorum mijangosii, scale=1.0 mm. (B) Details of staminate flower, scale = 0.25 mm. (C) Details of anther glands, scale=0.05 mm. (D) Details of monocarpellate bisexual flower, scale = 0.25 mm; (E) Details of polycarpellate bisexual flower, scale = 0.25 mm. (F) Hypothetical Simojoflorum mijangosii small tree, scale = 2.0 m.

Drawings by Aldo Domínguez de la Torre.

 Ana L. Hernández-Damián, Marco A. Rubalcava Knoth,Sandra L. Gómez- Acevedo, Ramiro Cruz-Durán and Sergio R. S. Cevallos-Ferriz. 2026. Simojoflorum mijangosii gen. et sp. nov. preserved in the Mexican Amber unravels the polycarpellate condition in the tribe Mimoseae (Caesalpinioideae, Fabaceae). Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. DOI: doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2025.2604147 [13 Jan 2026]

[PaleoEntomology • 2025] Aulacigaster alabaster, A. breviradia, ... • Aulacigaster Macquart (Diptera: Schizophora: Aulacigastridae) in Amber

 

Aulacigaster alabaster 

Grimaldi, 2025 

DOI: doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797.127.3.458

Abstract

Four new species of the nearly worldwide genus Aulacigaster are described based on specimens preserved in Late Miocene amber (15–17 million years old) from the Dominican Republic: Aulacigaster alabaster n. sp., A. breviradia n. sp., A. mathisi n. sp., and A. rungae n. sp. Details of the male terminalia of A. neoleucopeza are provided as a comparison to three of the fossil species. Commentary is provided on morphological characters pertaining to aulacigastrid relationships. All the fossil Aulacigaster belong to the A. leucopeza group, which today predominates in the Holarctic Region, Africa and Asia, with only a few of the 42 Neotropical species in the genus belonging to the group. No leucopeza-group species are known from the Caribbean, so the fossils probably represent significant extinction in the region.

KEYWORDS: acalyptrates, biogeography, fossil resin, Hispaniola, Neogene

David A. Grimaldi. 2025. Aulacigaster Macquart in Amber (Diptera: Schizophora: Aulacigastridae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 127(3):458-473. DOI: doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797.127.3.458 [28 November 2025]

[PaleoMammalogy • 2025] Salwasiren qatarensis • High Abundance of Early Miocene Sea Cows (Sirenia: Dugongidae) from Qatar shows repeated Evolution of Seagrass Ecosystem Engineers in Eastern Tethys

  

 Salwasiren qatarensis 

Pyenson​, Sakal, LeBlanc, Blundell, Klim, Marshall, Velez-Juarbe, Wolfe & Al-Naimi, 2025

 

DOI: doi.org/10.7717/peerj.20030

Artwork: Alex Boersma

Abstract 

Coastal ecosystems that include seagrasses are potential carbon sinks that require strategic conservation of top trophic consumers, such as dugongs, to maintain their function. It is unclear, however, how long seagrass ecosystems have persisted in geologic time because their fossil record is poor, although the record of their associated vertebrate consumers offers useful proxies. Here we describe an area of dense Early Miocene dugongid remains from Qatar. We documented over 172 sites in <1 km2 from one stratigraphic level, including material representing a new species of fossil dugongine dugongid. This taxon is unrelated to coeval Early Miocene dugongids from India and the Eastern Tethys and it is distantly related to extant dugongs, which occupy seagrass habitats of the Persian or Arabian Gulf (hereafter ‘Gulf’) today. The monodominant assemblage in this area likely reflects a single fossil dugongid taxon and matches the ecological diversity and geospatial distribution of modern-day live-dead assemblages in the Gulf. This fossil site from Qatar shows that the Gulf has repeatedly evolved sea cow communities with different taxa over the past 20 million years and coincides with an Early Miocene marine biodiversity hotspot in Arabia, prior to its eastward shift to the Indo-Australian Archipelago where dugongs continue to thrive today.

Keywords: Marine mammal, Paleoecology, Seagrasses, Evolution, Fossil record

Mammalia Linnaeus, 1758

Afrotheria Stanhope et al., 1998

Tethytheria McKenna, 1975

Sirenia Illiger, 1811 sensu Vélez-Juarbe & Wood, 2018

Dugongidae Gray, 1821 sensu Vélez-Juarbe & Wood, 2018

Dugonginae Gray, 1821 (Simpson, 1932) sensu Vélez-Juarbe & Wood, 2018

 Salwasiren qatarensis morphology using 3D photogrammetry of μCT of key skeletal elements.
(A–C) holotype cranium including left premaxilla, jugal, and partial braincase; (D–F) referred left incisor; (G–H) holotype left upper M2, in mesial and occlusal views, respectively; (I) holotype incomplete left mandible; (J–M) holotype lumbar, sacral, and caudal vertebrae in anterior views with left ilium (L) in lateral view; and (N–O) holotype right humerus.

Abbreviations: a, acetabulum; ac, anterior cingulum; acv, anterior cingular valley; an, angular process; co, coronoid process; cc, coronoid canal; dc, deltoid crest; f, frontal; gt, greater tubercle; h, humeral head; it, ischial tuberosity; j, jugal; lt, lesser tubercle; mcl+hy, metaconule + hypocone; me, metacone; ns, neural spine; p, parietal; pa, paracone; pmx, premaxilla; pr, protocone; ptp, posttympanic process; so, supraoccipital; sop, supraorbital process; sq, squamosal; tp, transverse process; tr, trochlea; zp, zygomatic process.

Salwasiren qatarensis gen. et sp. nov.

Type locality, horizon, and age: Al Maszhabiya bonebed, Lower Al-Kharrara Member of the Dam Formation, Aquitanian, 23.03–21.6 Ma.

Differential diagnosis: Salwasiren is a dugongine distinguished from other sirenians by the following combination of characters: nasal process of the premaxilla long, thin and tapering at posterior end (c.6[0], 7[0]) as in Crenatosiren olseni and Dugong dugon; supraorbital process of frontal dorsoventrally thick with a weakly developed posterolateral corner (c.36[1]), as in C. olseni and D. dugon; deep and narrow nasal incisure (c.37[1]) as in most dugongines; flat frontal roof (c.42[0], as in C. olseni, Italosiren bellunensis and Bharatisiren indica; supraoccipital wider ventrally than dorsally (c.23[1]) and exoccipitals not meeting along a dorsal suture (c.66[1]), as in Nanosiren spp. and D. dugon; ventral extremity of jugal under posterior edge of orbit (c.85[1]) and flat, thin preorbital process of jugal (c.88[0]), shared with C. olseni and Nanosiren spp.; short zygomatic process of the jugal (c.89[1]), as in Dioplotherium manigaulti and Xenosiren yucateca; ventral rim of orbit that does not overhang the lateral surface (c.90[0]), as in I. bellunensis and Callistosiren boriquensis; mandible with broad, subrectangular symphysis (c.121[3]); I1 alveolus small (c.140[0]) as in Nanosiren spp.; I1 with suboval cross section and enamel on all sides (c.141[0], 142[0]), as in C. olseni and N. sanchezi; pubis prong-like without symphysis (c.215[2]).

Etymology: “Salwa” after the Bay of Salwa, part of the transboundary habitat for dugongs in the Gulf combined with the Latin “siren”, referring to Sirenia. The species epithet honors its discovery in the State of Qatar.

 

Nicholas Pyenson, the curator of fossil marine mammals at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and Ferhan Sakal, an archaeologist who is the head of excavation and site management at Qatar Museums, survey Al Maszhabiya with the fossil ribs of a 21-million-year-old sea cow in the foreground.

photo by Clare Fieseler

An artistic reconstruction of a herd of Salwasiren qatarensis sea cows foraging on the seafloor. In southwest Qatar, fossils of a new species of ancient sea cow, Salwasiren qatarensis, were found in 21-million-year-old rocks along with evidence of extinct sharks, barracuda-like fish, prehistoric dolphins and sea turtles.

Artwork: Alex Boersma

Nicholas D. Pyenson​, Ferhan Sakal, Jacques LeBlanc, Jon Blundell, Katherine D. Klim, Christopher D. Marshall, Jorge Velez-Juarbe, Katherine Wolfe and Faisal Al-Naimi. 2025. High Abundance of Early Miocene Sea Cows from Qatar shows repeated Evolution of Seagrass Ecosystem Engineers in Eastern Tethys.  PeerJ. 13:e20030. DOI: doi.org/10.7717/peerj.20030 [December 10, 2025]

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-trove-of-sea-cow-fossils-in-qatar-reveals-a-new-species-that-munched-on-seagrass-21-million-years-ago-180987820/