The Family Kentriodontidae is a diverse and abundant group of odontocetes from the late Oligocene and Miocene around the globe. Despite nearly a century of research on the group, the relationships across the family have remained poorly understood. Several recent studies have suggested that the family is polyphyletic and in need of major taxonomic revision. A new fossil stem delphinidan from the early Miocene of Washington State is described as Wimahl chinookensis, gen. et sp. nov., and is assigned to a revised Kentriodontidae. Wimahl chinookensis represents one of the oldest kentriodontids and is the northernmost kentriodontid described from the Pacific Ocean, extending their range in the eastern Pacific from central California up to Washington State. Its phylogenetic position relative to other stem delphinidans suggests that it is sister to Kampholophos serrulus from the middle Miocene Monterey Formation of California. Additional phylogenetic results guide the revision of stem delphinidans and new diagnosis and delimitation of the Family Kentriodontidae.

Manouria oyamai, an extinct, endemic testudinid turtle known from the upper Pleistocene of the Ryukyu Archipelago, southwestern Japan, has been reviewed on the basis of new specimens. The new specimens consist of a skull, as well as the first records of the epiplastron and the pelvis, all of which were found in a late Pleistocene fissure-filling deposit on Okinawajima Island, the Central Ryukyus, Japan. The present material provided four new informative morphological characters for M. oyamai: the anterior epiplastral projection, the epiplastra lacking extensive overhanging lip, the wide and fan-shaped iliac blade, and the wide ischiadic plate. The results of morphological comparisons and phylogenetic analysis indicated that M. oyamai is sister to M. emys (occurring in Bangladesh, eastern India, Myanmar, Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo), and that M. impressa (in southern China, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam) is the basal-most taxon within Manouria. In addition, the extremely thin carapace observed in M. oyamai, which had been cited as one of three diagnostic characters of this species as well as a feature thought indicative of insular adaptation, is also present in M. impressa within this genus. The present observation therefore indicates that this character is not always attributable to insular adaptation. The results of this study along with the current paleogeographic hypothesis of the Ryukyu Archipelago suggest that M. oyamai had differentiated from an extinct ancestral species shared with M. emys on the eastern margin of Asian continent not later than the early Pleistocene.

New Pliocene bat records from the Meade Basin of southwestern Kansas increase our knowledge of chiropterans from the late Neogene of the central Great Plains. Examination of previously collected, unstudied material and new specimens recovered over the past 20 years resulted in 23 fossils of Pliocene bats from nine localities that add to the two Pliocene specimens previously known from the area. All are from the early Blancan North American Land Mammal Age. Two families and at least five species were identified: Molossidae, represented by a Tadarida, and Vespertilionidae by Lasiurus fossilis, Perimyotis cf. subflavus, Nycticeius cf. humeralis, Eptesicus cf. fuscus, and several vespertilionids of indeterminate genera. Lasiurus fossilis is the only extinct species and is shown to be a member of the subgenus Lasiurus, diagnosed by the unique combination of a small P3 and a two-rooted p4. Most of the Meade Basin Pliocene bats probably roosted in trees, although the Perimyotis during hibernation and the molossid may have roosted in rock crevices or possibly gypsum karst features. These results affirm that the modern bat fauna of the central Great Plains had largely been established at the generic level by the Pliocene.

We describe a new species of nanhsiungchelyid turtle, Basilemys morrinensis, based on a nearly complete shell from the Horsethief Member (lower Maastrichtian) of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta. The species is intermediate in age between the Campanian forms B. variolosa and B. gaffneyi and the upper Maastrichtian forms B. sinuosa and B. praeclara. It is also intermediate in its morphology, possessing a unique suite of both plesiomorphic (e.g., divided extragulars) and derived (e.g., square epiplastral beak, pygal wider than long) traits. It is further characterized by an autapomorphic square cervical scale. Phylogenetic analysis assuming parsimony recovers B. morrinensis in a polytomy with B. variolosa and B. gaffneyi, outside the clade formed by the upper Maastrichtian forms B. sinuosa and B. praeclara. The holotype of Basilemys morrinensis provides the first evidence that this genus reached large size (~1 m long) in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation and was not diminutive as previously thought based on less complete shell material. Although Basilemys is usually regarded as terrestrial in habit based on its skull and limb morphology, we note that the low profile of its shell is a derived feature usually indicative of an aquatic mode of life. This suggests that there is yet much to learn about the life habits of this interesting turtle.

The armored dissorophid Cacops morrisi is one of many anamniote taxa preserved at the speciose early Permian karst deposit near Richards Spur, Oklahoma. The taxon was previously known only from two isolated skulls representing a juvenile individual and an adult individual. Here we describe one partial and two complete new skulls of juvenile and subadult individuals of C. morrisi that represent intermediately sized individuals compared with previously documented skulls, as well as the first description of the postcrania of the taxon. The primary objectives of this paper are to expand upon the brief original description of the cranial material and to provide the first description of the postcrania of C. morrisi for comparison with other dissorophids. The new data improve the resolution of the ontogenetic series of the taxon through refined temporal constraints on major ontogenetic changes of the cranial region (e.g., closure of the otic notch, transition in lateral skull profile), contribute new information regarding the neurocranium, and improve our understanding of dissorophid postcrania. We also identify several new diagnostic features, such as the presence of uncinate processes on the ribs (previously unknown in the genus) and the exclusion of the lacrimal from the orbital margin (unique among dissorophids).

Physeteroidea (sperm whales) attained great diversity during the Miocene and early Pliocene, and the phosphatic sands of the U.S. Atlantic Coastal Plain have produced thousands of specimens. Although postcranial and cranial materials are rare, teeth are remarkably common and have the potential to provide valuable insight into the lives of these animals. We examine a suite of Physeteroidea indet. teeth from the Lee Creek Mine to better constrain the life history and ecology of this extinct group. Wear facets indicate that these animals, unlike modern sperm whales, had both maxillary and mandibular teeth, suggesting a raptorial feeding ecology more akin to killer whales. A relationship between tooth diameter and body size established for modern odontocetes suggests that these animals as adults were also about the size of modern killer whales. Because physeteroid teeth grow continuously over ontogeny and are not replaced, counts of accretionary growth layer groups can be used to ascertain the age of an animal at death. Tallies of growth increments from 10 teeth, including some of the largest available, reveal that life spans only rarely exceeded 20 years, significantly shorter than the 65 years typical of modern sperm whales or orcas. Despite their large size, these odontocetes experienced a ‘fast’ life history, more like beluga whales today. We suggest that the rapid growth and short life span exhibited by the Lee Creek physeteroids are, like the modern beluga, evolutionary responses to high predation pressure imposed by large co-occurring predatory taxa, particularly including Carcharocles megalodon or other large macroraptorial physeteorids.

Confuciusornis sanctus has been heralded as a bird with an ancestrally diapsid skull, although this does not match its phylogenetic position as determined by other skeletal features. Based on 13 cranial specimens in European collections, we demonstrate that the observed scaffolding in the temporal region is highly derived and comparable to some of 21–23 cases of secondary bridges across the temporal fossa that evolved in modern birds. In Confuciusornis, the temporal fossa is crossed by a secondary temporal bar (absent in Eoconfuciusornis) that is continuous with the braincase but discontinuous with the postorbital process. A small postorbital bone (if present) is covered by this secondary ossification. The postorbital process is continuous with a prominent supraorbital rim and extends to the jugal as in sally-striking birds, including some Podargidae (Podargus), Leptosomidae, Brachypteraciidae, Coraciidae, Bucconidae, and Galbulidae, which tend to have wide gapes, large jaws with deep cranial rostra (and the nasal opening in a caudal position), and require additional attachments of musculus adductor mandibulae externus for fast and powerful snatching of the prey. The best modern analogue for the secondary temporal scaffolding seen in Confuciusornis is provided by Podargus, in which the long postorbital process is propped up by the temporal bar in addition the secondary bridge across the temporal fossa. The cranial evidence identifies Confuciusornis sanctus as a sally-striking predator.

The genus Suevoleviathan is one of the rarest and most phylogenetically problematic members of the Early Jurassic Posidonienschiefer Formation ichthyosaur fauna. Two named species have been referred to this genus, both from the Toarcian of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The holotype of the first-described of the two, Suevoleviathan integer, was never properly figured and was considered lost or destroyed by all recent authors. This created uncertainty in the literature regarding the validity of the larger of the two species, Suevoleviathan disinteger. Here, I redescribe and figure the relocated holotype of Suevoleviathan integer and reevaluate characters proposed to separate the two taxa. I find little evidence for two species of Suevoleviathan in the Posidonienschiefer Formation and suggest that Suevoleviathan disinteger (Huene, 1926) is a junior synonym of S. integer (Bronn, 1844). Specimens historically referred to S. disinteger represent ontogenetically older stages of S. integer, as supported by ossification of the proximal forelimb and negative cranial allometry across the size series.

The fossil record of post-Paleozoic lungfishes in Greenland is currently restricted to a few brief reports of isolated and undetermined tooth plates coming from the uppermost Fleming Fjord Formation (late Norian) in Jameson Land, central East Greenland. Here, we describe Ceratodus tunuensis, sp. nov., a new dipnoan from a thin bed of calcareous lake mudstone from the Ørsted Dal Member of the Fleming Fjord Formation. The Ceratodus fossil record indicates that during the Late Triassic, this genus was restricted to the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. This record matches previous paleobiogeographical analyses and indicates that terrestrial biota during the Late Triassic was strongly influenced by paleolatitude.

The schizothoracines (Cyprinidae) are a type of endemic freshwater fish in and around the Tibetan Plateau. They are the only taxa among the cyprinids capable of tolerating the harsh environments of the plateau. The origin and evolution of schizothoracines are thought to be closely linked to the rise of the Tibetan Plateau; however, complete fossil schizothoracines are rare. Herein, we report a new Oligocene genus and species of the subfamily Schizothoracinae, Paleoschizothorax qaidamensis, gen. et sp. nov., from the Qaidam Basin, northeastern Tibetan Plateau, China. This is the earliest credible fossil schizothoracine by far, and the discovery demonstrates that schizothoracines originated no later than the Oligocene. We deduce that the origin of schizothoracines is closely related to the global climate shift at the Eocene-Oligocene transition. Our findings contribute to efforts to comprehend the influence of the global climatic shift on Asian environments from a biotic perspective. Additionally, the fossils reflect a warm, low-altitude environment before the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. The fossil fish records indicate that vast drainages existed in the northern Qaidam Basin during the Oligocene and that the basin has experienced significant regional uplift since the Neogene, leading to the extinction and migration of fishes.

Thalassodromeus sethi (Pterodactyloidea, Tapejaridae, Thalassodrominae) is a unique pterosaur from the Romualdo Formation, Araripe Basin (Early Cretaceous, Albian). A large sagittal cranial crest (the largest known ossified crest of any pterosaur) and unusual toothless bladed jaws constitute some of its outstanding anatomical features. Its holotype (DGM 1476-R, almost complete skull and mandible in three dimensions) represents one of the largest pterosaur skulls ever found. Here, we provide a detailed osteological redescription of the holotype, which has only been preliminarily described. We also describe and depict for the first time some skeletal regions of Th. sethi, including the occiput, the palatal openings, and a dentary fragment. Finally, in the light of new information concerning this species, we revisited the specimen NMSG SAO 251093 (an incomplete mandible), also from the Romualdo Formation and originally referred to Th. sethi but recently redescribed as a new species of dsungaripterid pterosaur named Banguela oberlii. Here, the analysis of a cast (MN 4703-V) and its inclusion in a phylogenetic analysis recovered NMSG SAO 251093 within the Thalassodrominae, as a sister taxon of Th. sethi and indeed different from it at the species level. We hereby rename it Thalassodromeus oberlii, comb. nov. These considerations provide new data for discussions concerning the morphology of the Tapejaridae, the diversity of the Araripe pterosaur fauna, and the complex evolution of the pterodactyloid palatal region, as well as data for future morphofunctional studies of Thalassodromeus.

Although lepidosaurs are by far the most diverse and widespread group of present-day nonavian reptiles, with over 10,000 formally named species, their early diversification is documented only by a handful of incomplete fossils with few diagnostic features. Recent excavations in strata of the Lower Keuper (Middle Triassic: Ladinian) of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, have yielded abundant skeletal remains of a diversity of small- to medium-sized diapsid reptiles, which include at least three taxa of lepidosauromorphs. One, here named Fraxinisaura rozynekae, is a small-bodied reptile characterized by (1) maxillary and dentary tooth crowns conical, with lingual striae near their apices; (2) maxilla with a dorsoventrally low facial process and long tooth-bearing portion anterior to this process; (3) jugal with a short anterior process and a very short, pointed posterior process; and (4) ilium with a tall, posterodorsally extending blade. Tooth implantation is pleurodont. Size variation in the sample sheds some light on ontogenetic changes, mainly affecting the shape of and ornamentation on cranial bones. Phylogenetic analysis recovered Fraxinisaura rozynekae among Lepidosauromorpha and as the sister taxon of the Middle to Late Jurassic Marmoretta oxoniensis. Unfortunately, currently existing character-taxon matrices do not allow confident resolution of the interrelationships of these and other early Mesozoic lepidosauromorph reptiles.

Madrynornis mirandus, one of the few fossil penguins known from a nearly complete articulated skeleton, represents a key taxon for understanding the stem-crown transition in penguins. Despite the wealth of morphological character data preserved in the holotype specimen, the phylogenetic placement of this early late Miocene taxon has remained controversial. Reexamination of the Madrynornis mirandus holotype provides support for placement within the penguin crown clade. However, this placement is highly sensitive to the molecular signal and Madrynornis falls just outside the crown clade when molecular data are excluded. The neuroanatomy of Madrynornis shares many derived features with extant penguins, including an airencephalic brain shape, highly reduced bulbus olfactorius, and absence of an interaural pathway. However, the brain endocast differs from all surveyed extant species in that the eminentia sagittalis (wulst) is less caudally expanded, the tectum opticus is relatively less developed, and the flocculus is stouter and more laterally disposed. The cranial osteology and reconstructed jaw myology of Madrynornis suggest a primarily piscivorous diet, which likely characterizes the clade uniting Madrynornis, Inguza, Eudyptula, and Spheniscus.