This catalog of fossilreptile research published in 2025 includes a list of new taxa that were described during the year 2025, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to reptile paleontology that occurred in 2025.
López-Rueda et al. (2025) describe new mosasaur material from the Upper Cretaceous Labor-Tierna and Plaeners formations (Colombia), including the first record of a member of the genus Globidens from northern South America reported to date.[1]
A study on diversity of tooth shapes and likely dietary preferences of Maastrichtian mosasaurs from the Phosphates of Morocco is published by Bardet et al. (2025), who also transfer Platecarpus (?) ptychodon Arambourg (1952) to the genus Gavialimimus, and interpret it as a probable senior synonym of Gavialimimus almaghribensis.[2]
Su et al. (2025) describe two new specimens of Glyphoderma kangi, providing new information on the anatomy of the studied placodont.[4]
Marx et al. (2025) report evidence of preservation of skin traces, including smooth skin on the tail and scaly skin on the flippers, as well as evidence of preservation of melanosomes and keratinocytes in a plesiosaur specimen from the Lower Jurassic Posidonia Shale (Germany).[5]
Neto et al. (2025) describe new fossil material of Chelus colombiana from the Miocene Solimões Formation (Brazil), and interpret its morphology as supporting the presence of a single species of Chelus in the Miocene of South America.[6]
Pérez-García (2025) revises the fossil material of "Podocnemis" parva and "P." judaea, interprets the latter species as a junior synonym of the former one, and confirms assignment of "P." parva to the bothremydid genus Algorachelus.[7]
A study on the neuroanatomy of Azzabaremys moragjonesi, providing evidence of convergences of its neuroanatomical structures with those of other turtles adapted to marine environments, is published by Martín-Jiménez & Pérez-García (2025).[8]
Jannello et al. (2025) study shell histology of marine turtles from the Eocene La Meseta and Submeseta formations (Antarctica), and report that histological variation of the studied sample of fossils exceeds its macromorphological variation.[9]
Piñeiro et al. (2025) reevaluate purported evidence for the presence of tail autotomy in mesosaurs, and consider it more likely that purported evidence of autotomy actually shows that mesosaurs may display a previously undocumented vertebral type in their caudal vertebrae.[12]
Redescription of the skull anatomy of Milleropsis pricei is published by Jenkins et al. (2025)[13]
Colombi et al. (2025) report the discovery of an aggregation of four juvenile specimens of Hyperodapedon sanjuanensis from the Ischigualasto Formation (Argentina), interpreted as probable evidence of social and burrowing behavior of the studied rhynchosaur.[14]
Marquina-Blasco et al. (2025) describe the assemblage of reptile fossils from the Miocene strata from the Crevillente 2 and Crevillente 15 sites (Spain), possibly including the oldest fossil material of a member of the genus Timon reported to date, and interpret the studied fossils as indicating that the Vallesian Crisis did not have a major impact on the herpetofaunal communities of the Iberian Peninsula.[15]
Evidence from the study of extant reptiles, indicative of utility of studies of calcium and strontium isotope composition of hard tissues for reconstructions of diets of fossil reptiles, is presented by Weber et al. (2025).[16]
^López-Rueda, J. S.; Polcyn, M. J.; Lindgren, J.; Cruz-Guevara, L. E.; Rodríguez-Sañudo, A. S. (2025). "Mosasaur (Reptilia, Mosasauridae) remains from the Upper Cretaceous of Colombia, including the first occurrence of the genus Globidens". Cretaceous Research. 166. 105997. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2024.105997.
^Su, C. X.; Gu, S.-L.; Jiang, D.-Y.; Motani, R.; Rieppel, O.; Tintori, A.; Zhou, M.; Sun, Z.-Y. (2025). "Two new specimens of Glyphoderma kangi (Placodontia, Sauropterygia, Reptilia) from the Middle Triassic of South China". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. e2439530. doi:10.1080/02724634.2024.2439530.
^Neto, D. J. M.; Hsiou, A. S.; Guilherme, E.; Costa, L. A. T.; Ferreira, G. S. (2025). "Concealed morphological diversity revealed by new fossils of Chelus (Testudines, Chelidae) from the Upper Miocene of the Acre Basin, Brazil". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 105408. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2025.105408.
^Jannello, J. M.; Bona, P.; Santillana, S. N.; Reguero, M. A. (2025). "First comparative paleohistological study of Eocene Antarctic turtle shell bones". Ameghiniana. doi:10.5710/AMGH.22.01.2025.3614.
^Colombi, C. E.; Martinez, R. N.; Alcober, O. A.; Díaz, M.; Drovandi, J. M.; Alarcón, C. M. (2025). "First evidence of aggregational behaviour by the archosauromorph Hyperodapedon sanjuanensis from the Upper Triassic Ischigualasto Formation, Argentina: Evidence for burrow habitats?". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 112742. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2025.112742.
