This paleomammalogy list records new fossil mammal taxa that were described during the year 2018, as well as notes other significant paleomammalogy discoveries and events which occurred during that year.
Mammals in general A study on the morphological diversity of vertebral regions in non-mammalian synapsids, and on its implication for elucidating the evolution of anatomically distinct regions of the mammalian spines, is published by Jones et al. (2018). A study on the evolution of the mammalian jaw is published by Lautenschlager et al. (2018), who find no evidence for a concurrent reduction in jaw-joint stress and increase in bite force in key non-mammaliaform taxa in the cynodont–mammaliaform transition. A study on the structure and origin of the braincase sidewalls of monotremes, multituberculates and therians, based on data from extant and fossil mammals and non-mammalian cynodonts, is published by Crompton et al. (2018). Vertebrate burrows, interpreted as most likely constructed by mammals, are described from the Salt Wash Member of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation (Utah, United States) by Raisanen & Hasiotis (2018), who name new ichnotaxa Daimonelix martini and Fractisemita henrii (the latter potentially representing the burrows of a social mammal). A study on diversification dynamics of the three major mammalian clades (multituberculates, metatherians and eutherians) in North America across the Cretaceous/Palaeogene boundary is published by Pires et al. (2018). A study on changes in mammalian faunal composition and structure during the earliest Paleogene biotic recovery, based on data from four localities in the Hell Creek Formation and Tullock Member of the Fort Union Formation (Montana, United States), is published by Smith et al. (2018). A high-resolution age model for mammalian turnover between the To2 and To3 substages of the Torrejonian across the San Juan Basin is presented by Leslie et al. (2018). A study on the mammalian extinction selectivity, continental body size distributions, and taxonomic diversity over five time periods spanning the past 125,000 years is published by Smith et al. (2018), who report evidence indicating that larger species of mammals were at greater risk of extinction following the global expansion of hominins over the late Quaternary, and that the degree of size-selectivity of mammalian extinctions in this period was unprecedented in the past 65 million years of mammalian evolution. A study on the relationship between extinctions of insular endemic mammal species in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene and their body mass, the size of the island and the first human arrival to the archipelago is published by Kouvari & van der Geer (2018). A study on the relationship between diversification rates and climatic niche evolution in mammals is published by Castro-Insua et al. (2018). A study on the dietary isotopic signatures recorded in tissues of herbivorous mammals, focusing on extant and fossil sloths, and evaluating the hypothesis that a single isotope enrichment pattern holds for all herbivorous mammals, is published by Tejada-Lara et al. (2018). A study on the temporal changes in the spatial differentiation of mammal faunas in China during the Cenozoic, and on the timing of the emergence of the modern spatially structured mammal faunas in China, is published by He et al. (2018). A study on the impact of discoveries of fossil mammals that preserve the ancestral or near-ancestral morphologies on resolution of differences between morphological and molecular estimates of mammal phylogeny is published by Beck & Baillie (2018).
Metatherians A study on the changes of the global diversity of metatherians through time based on a new dataset of metatherian fossil occurrences is published by Bennett et al. (2018). Description of new dentary fossils referable to Eodelphis browni, and a study on the evolution of adaptations to durophagy in stagodontids, is published online by Brannick & Wilson (2018). A study on the morphological diversity of sparassodonts and its implications for the structure of the terrestrial carnivore guild from the middle Cenozoic of South America is published by Croft et al. (2018). Description of a partial skull of Allqokirus australis from the Paleocene Santa Lucía Formation (Bolivia) and a study on the phylogenetic relationships of this species is published by de Muizon et al. (2018), who name a new metatherian superorder Pucadelphyda. A study on the age of thylacine and Tasmanian devil fossils from the mainland Australia and their implications for estimating the time of extinction in mainland Australia for both species is published by White et al. (2018). A study on the phylogeography and demographic history of the thylacine during the late Pleistocene and Holocene is published by White, Mitchell & Austin (2018). A study on the phylogeography and demographic history of the Tasmanian devil across southern Australia over the last ≈30,000 years, based on genomes from 202 devils representing the extinct mainland and the extant Tasmanian populations, is published by Brüniche–Olsen et al. (2018). A study on the phylogenetic relationships of Palaeopotorous priscus is published by den Boer & Kear (2018), who interpret this taxon as a probable non-macropodoid macropodiform marsupial. Revision of the taxonomic status of fossil kangaroo relatives attributed to the genera Ganawamaya and Nambaroo is published by Butler et al. (2018), who also describe new fossil material of Ganawamaya couperi (formerly assigned to the genus Nambaroo), Ganawamaya acris and G. aediculis. A study on evolution of kangaroos during the last 25 million years, based on data from fossil teeth, is published by Couzens & Prideaux (2018). Description of hitherto missing elements in the skeleton of Thylacoleo carnifex and a study on the anatomy and biomechanics of the postcranial skeleton of this species is published by Wells & Camens (2018).
Name Novelty Status Authors Age Unit Location Notes ImagesAustralogaleGen. et sp. novIn pressEngelman, Anaya & CroftMiocene (Serravallian) Honda GroupA member of Sparassodonta. Genus includes new species A. leptognathus. Announced in 2018; the final version of the article naming it is scheduled to be published in 2020.AustropediomysGen. et sp. novValidCarneiro, Oliveira & GoinItaboraianItaboraí FormationA member of Marsupialiformes belonging to the order Archimetatheria and the superfamily Pediomyiodea. The type species is A. marshalli.BergqvistheriumGen. et sp. novValidCarneiroItaboraianItaboraí FormationA member of Didelphimorphia belonging to the family Protodidelphidae. The type species is B. primigenia.ChlorocyonGen. et sp. novValidEngelman et al.Late Eocene (Mustersan)Abanico FormationA member of Sparassodonta belonging to the group Borhyaenoidea. The type species is C. phantasma.ColoradolopsGen. et sp. novValidChornogubsky et al.Middle EoceneQuebrada de Los Colorados FormationA member of Polydolopimorphia belonging to the superfamily Bonapartherioidea and to the family Prepidolopidae. Genus includes new species C. cardonensis.FumodelphodonGen. et sp. novValidCohenLate Cretaceous (Turonian)Straight Cliffs Formation()A member of Stagodontidae. Genus includes new species F. pulveris.GalatiadelphysGen. et sp. novValidMétais et al.Late middle EoceneUzunçarşıdere FormationA member of the family Herpetotheriidae. The type species is G. minor.Herpetotherium tabrumiSp. novValidKorthLate Paleogene (Chadronian)()HoodootheriumGen. et sp. novValidCohenLate Cretaceous (Turonian)Straight Cliffs Formation()A member of Stagodontidae. Genus includes new species H. praeceps.MiminipossumGen. et sp. novValidArcher et al.MioceneRiversleigh World Heritage Area Wipajiri FormationA member of Phalangerida belonging to the new family Miminipossumidae. The type species is M. notioplanetes.OrhaniyeiaGen. et sp. novValidMétais et al.Late middle EoceneUzunçarşıdere FormationA relative of Anatoliadelphys. The type species is O. nauta.Perameles papillonSp. novValidTravouillon & PhillipsHolocene Nullarbor PlainA long-nosed bandicoot.PujatodonGen. et sp. novIn pressGoin et al.Eocene (Ypresian)La Meseta FormationAntarctica(Seymour Island)Probably a member of Polydolopimorphia. Genus includes new species P. ektopos. Announced in 2018; the final version of the article naming it is scheduled to be published in 2020.Rhizophascolonus ngangabaSp. novValidBrewer et al.MioceneRiversleigh siteA wombat.Varalphadon janetaeSp. novValidCarneiroLate Cretaceous (late Cenomanian to early Coniacian)Naturita Formation Straight Cliffs Formation()Possibly a member of Sparassodonta.
Eutherians A study on the causes of the increase of body size in aquatic mammals, based on data on the body masses of living and fossil mammals, is published by Gearty, McClain & Payne (2018). A study on large mammal burrows from the Upper Miocene Cerro Azul Formation (Argentina), aiming to infer their likely producers and to interpret the taphonomic processes involved in the preservation of the burrow casts, is published by Cardonatto & Melchor (2018). A study on the diet and habitat of the Hemphillian equids Calippus hondurensis, Dinohippus mexicanus and Protohippus gidleyi, the gomphothere Gomphotherium hondurensis, and the llama Hemiauchenia vera from San Gerardo de Limoncito (Costa Rica) is published by Pérez-Crespo et al. (2018). A study on the evolution and interconnectedness of the mammal faunas living in the Old World savannas in the Neogene is published by Kaya et al. (2018). A study on the changes of the species richness of mammals from the Iberian Peninsula between 15 and 2 million years ago, and on the modulating role of different factors influencing that species richness, is published by Cantalapiedra, Domingo & Domingo (2018). Systematic revision of the Miocene mammalian faunas of the Republic of Macedonia, known from fossils stored in the Macedonian Museum of Natural History, Skopje, is published by Spassov et al. (2018). A study on the paleomagnetic chronology of the fossil-bearing strata and on the age of the late Miocene mammal fossils from the Xining basin (Tibetan Plateau, China) is published by Hen et al. (2018). Faith (2018) evaluates the aridity index, a widely used technique for reconstructing local paleoclimate and water deficits from oxygen isotope composition of fossil mammal teeth, arguing that in some taxa altered drinking behavior (influencing oxygen isotope composition of teeth) might have been caused by dietary change rather than water deficits. A revision of the mammal fauna from the Miocene site of Bukwa (Uganda) and a study on the age of this fauna is published by Cote et al. (2018), who interpret their finding as indicating that a significant faunal turnover may have occurred in East Africa between 20 and 19 million years ago. A study on changes of the species- and genus-level diversity of large mammals in the Omo-Turkana Basin (eastern Africa) in the Pliocene and Pleistocene is published by Du & Alemseged (2018). The primary description and analysis of the so-called GD A faunal assemblage from the Gondolin Cave (South Africa) is published by Adams (2018). A study on the diet of large mammals from the Pleistocene sediments at Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania), as indicated by tooth wear and stable isotope data from fossil teeth, is published by Uno et al. (2018). A study on the diet of the most abundant ungulate taxa from the Oldowan site HWK EE (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania), as indicated by tooth wear and stable isotope analyses, is published by Rivals et al. (2018). Description of new mammal and fish remains from the Olduvai Gorge site, comparing the mammal assemblage from this site to the present mammal community of Serengeti, and a study on their implications for reconstructing the paleoecology of this site at ~1.7–1.4 million years ago, is published by Bibi et al. (2018).