2026 in reptile paleontology

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

Lepidosauromorphs

Squamates

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country	Notes	Images

Squamate research

• Ebel, Melville & Keogh (2026) reconstruct the evolutionary history of squamate osteoderms on the basis of data from extant and extinct reptiles, reporting evidence of 13 independent acquisitions of osteoderms, the majority of which happened in the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. ^[1]
• Comans, Tobin & Totten (2026) reconstruct the thermoregulatory modes of Platecarpus and Tylosaurus from the Smoky Hill Chalk Member of the Niobrara Formation (Kansas, United States) on the basis stable oxygen isotope composition of tooth enamel, interpreted as consistent with endothermy. ^[2]
• Liaw et al. (2026) report the discovery of a vertebra of a large-bodied python from the Pleistocene strata of the Chiting Formation (Taiwan). ^[3]

Other lepidosauromorphs

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country	Notes	Images

Archosauromorphs

Archosaurs

Main article: 2026 in archosaur paleontology

Other archosauromorphs

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country	Notes	Images

Turtles

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country	Notes	Images
Sternotherus pugnatus [4]	Sp. nov	Valid	Bourque	Miocene		United States ( Florida)	A species of Sternotherus .

Turtle research

• Pérez-García et al. (2026) revise Neochelys arribasi , and support its recognition as a valid species. ^[5]
• Pochat-Cottilloux et al. (2026) report the first discovery of trionychid fossil material (including Trionyx cf. vindobonensis) from the Miocene strata of Poland, interpreted as indicative of environmental conditions suitable for animals requiring high temperatures between the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum and Late Miocene in the studied area. ^[6]
• Footprint traces interpreted as likely produced by a stampede of sea turtles panicked by an earthquake are reported from the Campanian strata from Monte Cònero (Italy) by Sandroni et al. (2026). ^[7]

Other reptiles

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

Choristoderes

Choristodere research

• Matsumoto, Manabe & Evans (2026) describe new fossil material of members of Choristodera from the Lower Cretaceous Okurodani Formation (Japan), expanding known diversity of members of the group from the studied formation. ^[8]

Ichthyosauromorphs

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country	Notes	Images

Ichthyosauromorph research

• Martinez-Motta et al. (2026) report evidence of preservation of integumentary tissues in a brachypterygiid ichthyosaur specimen from the Paja Formation (Colombia). ^[9]

Sauropterygians

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country	Notes	Images
Nothosaurus fortihumeralis [10]	Sp. nov.		Li et al.	Middle Triassic (Anisian)	Guanling Formation	China	A nothosaurid
Pahasapasaurus gillettei [11]	Sp. nov.	In press	Schmeisser McKean	Late Cretaceous (Turonian)	Tropic Shale	United States ( Utah)	A polycotylid plesiosaur; a species of Pahasapasaurus . Announced in 2025, the final article version will be published in 2026.

Sauropterygian research

• García-Guerrero et al. (2026) describe a cervical vertebra of a member of the subfamily Brachaucheninae from the Valanginian strata of the Rosablanca Formation (Colombia), representing the oldest fossil material of a large pliosaurid from the Lower Cretaceous strata in northern South America reported to date. ^[12]
• Evidence of a healing fracture and periostitis is reported in elasmosaurid specimens from the Maastrichtian Snow Hill Island Formation (Antarctica) and Jagüel Formation (Argentina) by Mitidieri et al. (2026). ^[13]

Stem group reptiles

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country	Notes	Images

Stem group reptile research

• D’Ávila Burgardt et al. (2026) report the discovery of a new procolophonid lower jaw from the Lower Triassic Sanga do Cabral Formation (Brazil), differing from known procolophonid taxa from the site in dental morphology. ^[14]

References

1. Ebel, R.; Melville, J.; Keogh, J. S. (2026). "Lizards in chain mail: reconstructing the enigmatic past of dermal armour in squamate reptiles". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 147 (1) blaf129. doi: 10.1093/biolinnean/blaf129 .
2. Comans, C. M.; Tobin, T. S.; Totten, R. L. (2026). "Evidence for endothermy from tooth enamel(oid) oxygen isotopes in marine predators of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, USA". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 113578. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2026.113578.
3. Liaw, Y.-L.; Cho, Y.-Y.; Sun, C.-H.; Biswas, D. S.; Tsai, C.-H. (2026). "An unexpected snake fossil (Pythonidae, Python) from Taiwan". Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. doi: 10.1080/08912963.2025.2610741 .
4. Bourque, J. R. (2026). "A small flat-shelled musk turtle from the Late Miocene of Florida and new Pleistocene records of Sternotherus (Kinosternidae)". Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. doi:10.1080/08912963.2025.2602686.
5. Pérez-García, A.; Guerrero, A.; Martín de Jesús, S.; Ortega, F. (2026). "Evaluation of the Validity of the Spanish Eocene Pleurodiran Turtle 'Duerochelys arribasi': The Youngest Freshwater Member of Erymnochelyinae (Podocnemididae) in Europe". Diversity. 18 (1) 51. doi: 10.3390/d18010051 .
6. Pochat-Cottilloux, Y.; López-Torres, S.; Chroust, M.; Georgalis, G. L.; Górka, M.; Tałanda, M. (2026). "First occurrences of Trionychidae (Testudines, Cryptodira) from the Miocene of Poland: Detailed cranial anatomy and biogeographic implications". Journal of Anatomy. doi:10.1111/joa.70095.
7. Sandroni, P.; Church, N. S.; Coccioni, R.; Frontalini, F.; Mainiero, M.; Montanari, A. (February 2026). "Reptile footprints on a pelagic seafloor as a vestige of a synsedimentary seismic event in the lower Campanian Scaglia Rossa Basin of the Umbria-Marche Apennines (Italy)". Cretaceous Research. 179 106268. doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106268 .
8. Matsumoto, R.; Manabe, M.; Evans, S. E. (May 2026). "Cranial elements of Shokawa ikoi, and new records of choristoderes from the Lower Cretaceous Okurodani Formation, Tetori Group, Japan". Cretaceous Research. 181 106283. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106283.
9. Martinez-Motta, M. F.; Cortés, D.; Maxwell, E. E.; Noè, L. F.; Alfonso-Rojas, A.; Parra-Ruge, F. H.; Cadena, E.-A. (2026). "Soft-tissue preservation in an ichthyosaur from the Lower Cretaceous (Barremian - Aptian) of Colombia". Cretaceous Research 106305. doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106305 .
10. Li, Qiang; Hu, Yi-Wei; Shen, Yuefeng; Sander, P Martin; Liu, Jun (2026-01-01). "A new large Nothosaurus (Reptilia: Eosauropterygia) from the Middle Triassic of South China and the phylogeny of Eosauropterygia". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 206 (1). doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf179. ISSN   0024-4082.
11. Schmeisser McKean, Rebecca L. (2026). "A new species of Pahasapasaurus (Plesiosauria: Polycotylidae) from the Upper Cretaceous Tropic Shale (lower Turonian) of southern Utah, U.S.A.". Cretaceous Research (in press) 106269. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106269.
12. García-Guerrero, J.; Parra Ruge, F.; Prieto, G. A.; Cadena, E.-A. (February 2026). "Evidence of large pliosaurids in the Late Valanginian of Colombia". Cretaceous Research. 178 106235. doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106235 .
13. Mitidieri, M.; Talevi, M.; Herrera, Y.; Rothschild, B.; Fernández, M. S. (January 2026). "From the inside: pathologies from a histological perspective of two elasmosaurids from the Upper Cretaceous of Antarctica and Argentina". Cretaceous Research. 177 106208. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106208.
14. D’Ávila Burgardt, C.; Pohlmann, K.; Machado, A. F.; Costa Santos, M. A.; Meira, J. L.; Pinheiro, F. L. (2026). "A peculiar procolophonid lower jaw from the Sanga do Cabral Formation (Lower Triassic, Brazil)". Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. doi:10.1080/08912963.2025.2608698.