Protorosaurus new skull described + Calanguban (Cretaceous lizard) neotype (for fire destroyed holotype) + glyptosaurids from Asia + Ariekanerpeton kuedensis, new permian discosauriscid
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Ben Creisler
Jun 12, 2025, 2:50:50 PMJun 12
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Ben Creisler
Recent reptile and tetrapod papers:
E. A. Zvonok, M. S. Arkhangelsky, Yu. A. Glazunov, V. A. Glazunov, A. S. Glushkov & I. G. Danilov (2025)
Sea Turtles from the Upper Cretaceous of the Penza Oblast (Russia)
Paleontological Journal 59: 191–201
doi: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030125600106
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1134/S0031030125600106
Free pdf:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/392322604_Sea_Turtles_from_the_Upper_Cretaceous_of_the_Penza_Oblast_Russia
This article describes remains of sea turtles (clade Pan-Chelonioidea) from three Upper Cretaceous localities of the Penza Oblast in Russia: Malaya Serdoba 1 and Malaya Serdoba 2 (Campanian) and Penza (Maastrichtian). The distal part of the humerus of Pan-Chelonioidea indet. from the Malaya Serdoba 1 locality is similar to the humerus of Terlinguachelys fischbecki (Protostegidae) from the Campanian of the United States. The turtle assemblage from the Malaya Serdoba 2 locality includes Protostega gigas (Protostegidae) and Pan-Chelonioidea indet., which are similar to T. fischbecki and representatives of the clade Ctenochelyidae, and resembles the sea turtle assemblage from the Campanian Beloe Ozero locality, Saratov Oblast (Russia) in systematic composition. The external surface of the turtle costal plates from the Penza locality has an ornamentation similar to Peritresius ornatus (Ctenochelyidae) and Glyptochelone suyckerbuycki.
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Ednalva da Silva Santos, Samuel Cardozo Ribeiro, Antônio Álamo Feitosa Saraiva, Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner & Tiago R. Simões (2025)
A neotype and reassessment of phylogenetic relationships of the fossil lizard Calanguban alamoi from the Crato Formation (Early Cretaceous, Brazil)
Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 23(1): 2496536
doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2025.2496536
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14772019.2025.2496536
Understanding the phylogenetic and biogeographical origin of squamate faunas in the Global South has remained a challenge for decades, given the paucity of their Mesozoic fossil record in Gondwana. Among the latter, many species still have ambiguous phylogenetic affinities, with notable examples including three species from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian) Crato Formation, Northeast Brazil. These lizards were, until now, known only from their holotype, which preserved only a limited number of phylogenetically informative characters. Additionally, the holotype of one of these, Calanguban alamoi (MN 7234-V), was lost in the fire that destroyed most of the collections of the Museu Nacional/UFRJ of Brazil in 2018. Here, we present the description of a new fossil lizard specimen, which we designate as a neotype for C. alamoi, that preserves more anatomical data than the lost holotype (including cranial elements; cervical, presacral, and caudal vertebrae; pelvic girdle; forelimbs; and hindlimbs). The updated information on C. alamoi was included in a phylogenetic data matrix comprising morphological and molecular data for all major groups of squamates. The results using both maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference indicate that C. alamoi is a borioteiioid lizard – a clade that, until recently, was believed to be constrained to the Mesozoic of Laurasia. Our findings, along with recent ones, support a much wider distribution of borioteiioids than previously thought, including at least three different localities in Gondwana. The Early Cretaceous age of C. alamoi and other Gondwana borioteiioids raise the possibility of a Gondwanan origin of the group with subsequent northbound migration into Laurasia. It also highlights how South American squamate faunas were well interconnected with the rest of Gondwana and Laurasia during the Early Cretaceous, in stark contrast to its highly endemic extant squamate fauna.
Ariekanerpeton kuedensis sp. nov.
V. V. Bulanov (2025)
Discovery of Discosauriscid Seymouriamorphs (Tetrapoda) in the Middle Permian of Eastern Europe
Paleontological Journal 59: 202–214
doi: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030125600118
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1134/S0031030125600118
A new species of discosauriscid seymouriamorphs, Ariekanerpeton kuedensis sp. nov., is described based on the skull of a larval individual from the Klyuchiki locality, Perm Region, Russia. The new form differs from the type species of Ariekanerpeton, A. sigalovi (Tatarinov, 1968), in the structure of the occipital and suborbital regions the skull roof, as well as in the mandible. The specimen from Klyuchiki extends the stratigraphic distribution of the family Discosauriscidae up to the Upper Ufimian–Kazanian of the middle Permian (Kungurian–Roadian interval), provides the first valid evidence of this group in the East European tetrapod associations, and records the existence of the genus Ariekanerpeton outside the Asian region for the first time.
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Rainer R. Schoch, Hans-Dieter Sues, Gabriela Sobral, Cornelia Kurz, Annalisa Gottmann-Quesada & Stephan N. F. Spiekman (2025)
New data on the skull of Protorosaurus speneri (Reptilia: Archosauromorpha) and their phylogenetic significance
Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 23(1): 2496744
doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2025.2496744
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14772019.2025.2496744
The late Permian (Lopingian) reptile Protorosaurus speneri has long been considered the earliest-diverging well-represented archosauromorph. Although it is known from extensive skeletal material from the Kupferschiefer of the Werra Formation of Germany, its skull has remained incompletely known. Extensive preparation and computed tomography scanning of a referred skull have provided much additional information on the cranial structure, especially the basicranial and palatal regions. Phylogenetic analysis integrating the new anatomical data supports the hypothesis that Protorosaurus speneri is one of the earliest-diverging archosauromorphs to date.
New data on the skull of Protorosaurus speneri (Reptilia: Archosauromorpha) and their phylogenetic significance
Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 23(1): 2496744
doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2025.2496744
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14772019.2025.2496744
The late Permian (Lopingian) reptile Protorosaurus speneri has long been considered the earliest-diverging well-represented archosauromorph. Although it is known from extensive skeletal material from the Kupferschiefer of the Werra Formation of Germany, its skull has remained incompletely known. Extensive preparation and computed tomography scanning of a referred skull have provided much additional information on the cranial structure, especially the basicranial and palatal regions. Phylogenetic analysis integrating the new anatomical data supports the hypothesis that Protorosaurus speneri is one of the earliest-diverging archosauromorphs to date.
======
Free pdf:
E. A. Zvonok, M. S. Arkhangelsky, Yu. A. Glazunov, V. A. Glazunov, A. S. Glushkov & I. G. Danilov (2025)
Sea Turtles from the Upper Cretaceous of the Penza Oblast (Russia)
Paleontological Journal 59: 191–201
doi: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030125600106
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1134/S0031030125600106
Free pdf:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/392322604_Sea_Turtles_from_the_Upper_Cretaceous_of_the_Penza_Oblast_Russia
This article describes remains of sea turtles (clade Pan-Chelonioidea) from three Upper Cretaceous localities of the Penza Oblast in Russia: Malaya Serdoba 1 and Malaya Serdoba 2 (Campanian) and Penza (Maastrichtian). The distal part of the humerus of Pan-Chelonioidea indet. from the Malaya Serdoba 1 locality is similar to the humerus of Terlinguachelys fischbecki (Protostegidae) from the Campanian of the United States. The turtle assemblage from the Malaya Serdoba 2 locality includes Protostega gigas (Protostegidae) and Pan-Chelonioidea indet., which are similar to T. fischbecki and representatives of the clade Ctenochelyidae, and resembles the sea turtle assemblage from the Campanian Beloe Ozero locality, Saratov Oblast (Russia) in systematic composition. The external surface of the turtle costal plates from the Penza locality has an ornamentation similar to Peritresius ornatus (Ctenochelyidae) and Glyptochelone suyckerbuycki.
====
Ednalva da Silva Santos, Samuel Cardozo Ribeiro, Antônio Álamo Feitosa Saraiva, Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner & Tiago R. Simões (2025)
A neotype and reassessment of phylogenetic relationships of the fossil lizard Calanguban alamoi from the Crato Formation (Early Cretaceous, Brazil)
Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 23(1): 2496536
doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2025.2496536
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14772019.2025.2496536
Understanding the phylogenetic and biogeographical origin of squamate faunas in the Global South has remained a challenge for decades, given the paucity of their Mesozoic fossil record in Gondwana. Among the latter, many species still have ambiguous phylogenetic affinities, with notable examples including three species from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian) Crato Formation, Northeast Brazil. These lizards were, until now, known only from their holotype, which preserved only a limited number of phylogenetically informative characters. Additionally, the holotype of one of these, Calanguban alamoi (MN 7234-V), was lost in the fire that destroyed most of the collections of the Museu Nacional/UFRJ of Brazil in 2018. Here, we present the description of a new fossil lizard specimen, which we designate as a neotype for C. alamoi, that preserves more anatomical data than the lost holotype (including cranial elements; cervical, presacral, and caudal vertebrae; pelvic girdle; forelimbs; and hindlimbs). The updated information on C. alamoi was included in a phylogenetic data matrix comprising morphological and molecular data for all major groups of squamates. The results using both maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference indicate that C. alamoi is a borioteiioid lizard – a clade that, until recently, was believed to be constrained to the Mesozoic of Laurasia. Our findings, along with recent ones, support a much wider distribution of borioteiioids than previously thought, including at least three different localities in Gondwana. The Early Cretaceous age of C. alamoi and other Gondwana borioteiioids raise the possibility of a Gondwanan origin of the group with subsequent northbound migration into Laurasia. It also highlights how South American squamate faunas were well interconnected with the rest of Gondwana and Laurasia during the Early Cretaceous, in stark contrast to its highly endemic extant squamate fauna.
====
Elena Syromyatnikova (2025)
Palaeogene records of Glyptosauridae (Squamata: Anguimorpha) from Kazakhstan and Mongolia
Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments (advance online publication)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-025-00660-7
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12549-025-00660-7
Glyptosauridae (Squamata, Anguimorpha), an extinct group of heavily armoured lizards, are well recorded from Europe and North America, but extremely poorly represented in Asia. Here selected Asian records of Glyptosauridae are reviewed. Records from Kazakhstan, all from the upper Eocene Aksyir Formation, are described for the first time. The occurrence of Glyptosauridae in the Oligocene of Kazakhstan is not confirmed. A maxilla and dentary of Glyptosauridae from the Khoer Dzan locality of Mongolia are described and discussed. The Kazakhstan and Mongolian glyptosaurids are more similar to Helodermoides tuberculatus from North America than they are to European species of Placosaurus. This similarity supports the North American origin for the Asian glyptosaurids, which were derived from an Eocene member of a clade closely related to Helodermoides. The presence of ‘Melanosaurinae’ in Mongolia is not confirmed. This study provides updated information on the stratigraphical and geographical distribution of Glyptosauridae in Asia.
Elena Syromyatnikova (2025)
Palaeogene records of Glyptosauridae (Squamata: Anguimorpha) from Kazakhstan and Mongolia
Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments (advance online publication)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-025-00660-7
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12549-025-00660-7
Glyptosauridae (Squamata, Anguimorpha), an extinct group of heavily armoured lizards, are well recorded from Europe and North America, but extremely poorly represented in Asia. Here selected Asian records of Glyptosauridae are reviewed. Records from Kazakhstan, all from the upper Eocene Aksyir Formation, are described for the first time. The occurrence of Glyptosauridae in the Oligocene of Kazakhstan is not confirmed. A maxilla and dentary of Glyptosauridae from the Khoer Dzan locality of Mongolia are described and discussed. The Kazakhstan and Mongolian glyptosaurids are more similar to Helodermoides tuberculatus from North America than they are to European species of Placosaurus. This similarity supports the North American origin for the Asian glyptosaurids, which were derived from an Eocene member of a clade closely related to Helodermoides. The presence of ‘Melanosaurinae’ in Mongolia is not confirmed. This study provides updated information on the stratigraphical and geographical distribution of Glyptosauridae in Asia.
====
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Ariekanerpeton kuedensis sp. nov.
V. V. Bulanov (2025)
Discovery of Discosauriscid Seymouriamorphs (Tetrapoda) in the Middle Permian of Eastern Europe
Paleontological Journal 59: 202–214
doi: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030125600118
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1134/S0031030125600118
A new species of discosauriscid seymouriamorphs, Ariekanerpeton kuedensis sp. nov., is described based on the skull of a larval individual from the Klyuchiki locality, Perm Region, Russia. The new form differs from the type species of Ariekanerpeton, A. sigalovi (Tatarinov, 1968), in the structure of the occipital and suborbital regions the skull roof, as well as in the mandible. The specimen from Klyuchiki extends the stratigraphic distribution of the family Discosauriscidae up to the Upper Ufimian–Kazanian of the middle Permian (Kungurian–Roadian interval), provides the first valid evidence of this group in the East European tetrapod associations, and records the existence of the genus Ariekanerpeton outside the Asian region for the first time.
=====
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