This list of fossil reptiles described in 2021 is a list of new taxa of fossil reptiles that were described during the year 2021, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to reptile paleontology that occurred in 2021.
Squamates
New squamate taxa NameNoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityLocationNotesImagesAfrotortrixGen. et sp. novValidRage et al.EoceneAn anilioid-grade snake. The type species is A. draaensis.CaeruleodentatusGen. et sp. novValidScarpettaMioceneSplit Rock Formation()A member of Iguania. Genus includes new species C. lovei.Ectenosaurus everhartorumSp. novValidWillman, Konishi & CaldwellLate Cretaceous()A plioplatecarpine mosasaur.Elgaria peludoverdeSp. novValidScarpetta, Ledesma & BellPlioceneOlla Formation()A species of Elgaria.Heterodon meadiSp. novValidJurestovskyHemphillianGray Fossil Site()A species of Heterodon.Leiocephalus roquetusSp. novValidBochaton, Charles & LenobleQuaternary(La Désirade Island)A curly-tailed lizard. MorohasaurusGen. et sp. novIn pressIkeda et al.Early CretaceousOhyamashimo FormationA member or a relative of the group Monstersauria. Genus includes new species M. kamitakiens. Oculudentavis nagaSp. novValidBolet et al.Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian)Burmese amberA lizard of uncertain phylogenetic placement. Palaeopython schaaliSp. novIn pressSmith & ScanferlaEoceneMessel pitPalaeovaranus lismonimenosSp. novValidGeorgalis, Čerňanský & KlembaraProbably late EoceneQuercy Phosphorites FormationA member of Anguimorpha belonging to the family Palaeovaranidae.PaleochelcoGen. et sp. novValidMartinelli, Agnolín & EzcurraLate Cretaceous (Santonian)Bajo de la Carpa FormationPossibly a member of Polyglyphanodontia. The type species is P. occultato.ParanecrosaurusGen. et comb. novValidSmith & HabersetzerEoceneMessel FormationA palaeovaranid anguimorph. The type species is "Saniwa" feisti Stritzke (1983). PhosphoroboaGen. et comb. novValidGeorgalis, Rabi & SmithProbably middle or late EoceneQuercy Phosphorites FormationA snake belonging to the group Booidea. The type species is "Palaeopython" filholii Rochebrune (1880).Pluridens serpentisSp. novValidLongrich et al.Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian)Ouled Abdoun BasinA mosasaur. Proegernia mikebulliSp. novValidThorn et al.Late OligoceneNamba FormationAn egerniine skink. ProtodracoGen. et sp. novValidWagner et al.Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian)Burmese amberA member of the family Agamidae. Genus includes new species P. monocoli.Pseudeumeces kyrillomethodicusSp. novValidGeorgalis, Čerňanský & KlembaraProbably OligoceneQuercy Phosphorites FormationA member of the family Lacertidae belonging to the subfamily Gallotiinae.RageryxGen. et sp. novValidSmith & ScanferlaEocene (Ypresian or Lutetian)Messel FormationAn erycine boid snake. The type species is R. schmidi.ScirosepsGen. et sp. novValidSuarez et al.Early Cretaceous (Albian)Holly Creek Formation()A member of the family Paramacellodidae. The type species is S. pawhuskai. XenodensGen. et sp. novDisputedLongrich et al.Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian)Ouled Abdoun BasinA mosasaurine mosasaur. Genus includes new species X. calminechari. Sharpe, Powers & Caldwell (2024) considered X. calminechari to be nomen dubium, and interpreted its type material as subjected to a forgery.
Research A study on the evolution of tooth complexity in squamates, based on data from extant and fossil taxa, is published by Lafuma et al. (2021). A study on the diversity of jaw sizes, lower jaw shape and morphology of teeth in Cretaceous squamates is published by Herrera-Flores, Stubbs & Benton (2021), who interpret their findings as indicating that a substantial expansion of ecomorphological diversity of squamates occurred in the mid-Cretaceous, 110–90 Ma, before the first rise in taxonomic diversity of this group in the Campanian. A study on the dietary preferences of lizards from the Upper Cretaceous Iharkút vertebrate locality (Hungary) is published by Gere et al. (2021). A study on the locomotion of five Cretaceous lizards, and on its implications for the knowledge of the ancestral locomotion type in lizards, is published by Villaseñor-Amador, Suárez & Cruz (2021), who interpret their findings as indicating that Huehuecuetzpalli mixtecus was bipedal while Tijubina pontei was facultatively bipedal. Augé, Dion & Phélizon (2021) describe the lizard fauna from the Paleocene locality of Montchenot (Paris Basin, France), and evaluate the implications of this fauna for the knowledge of diversity changes of European squamate faunas across the Paleocene/Eocene boundary. Čerňanský et al. (2021) describe new fossil material of lizards from two Miocene sites in Kutch (Gujarat, India), providing new information on the composition and biogeography of South Asian lizard faunas during the Miocene. Revision of the fossil material of lizards and snakes from the Miocene of the Saint-Gérand-le-Puy area (France), including the first records of Ophisaurus holeci and the gallotiine lacertid Janosikia from France, is published by Georgalis & Scheyer (2021). A study on the fossil record of lizards and snakes from the Guadeloupe Islands, assessing their evolutionary history and diversity over the past 40,000 years, is published by Bochaton et al. (2021), who interpret their findings as indicative of a massive extinction of Guadeloupe's snakes and lizards following European colonization, preceded by thousands of years of coexistence with earlier Indigenous populations. A study on the shape and size variation in the maxillae of extant New Zealand diplodactylids, and on its implications for the knowledge of the affinities of subfossil diplodactylid remains, is published by Scarsbrook et al. (2021). A study aiming to assess the phylogenetic value of lacertid jaw elements from four Oligocene localities in France, and evaluating their implications for the knowledge of the lacertid species richness in the Oligocene, is published by Wencker et al. (2021). A study on the osteological variability in extant species of lacertid lizards, and on its implications for species delimitation in fossil lacertids, is published by Tschopp et al. (2021). Fossils of Gallotia goliath are described for the first time from the El Hierro island (Canary Islands) by Palacios-García et al. (2021), providing the first evidence of the possible coexistence of two giant fossil species of Gallotia on the same island. Fossil material of a large anguimorph lizard, possibly a member of Varaniformes and potentially one of the largest Mesozoic terrestrial lizards, is described from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Basturs-1 site (Spain) by Cabezuelo Hernández et al. (2021). A study on the anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of Tetrapodophis amplectus is published by Caldwell et al. (2021), who reinterpret this squamate as a dolichosaur. A yaguarasaurine mosasauroid is reported from the Cenomanian-Turonian beds of Coahuila (Mexico) by Jiménez-Huidobro et al. (2021), representing the earliest occurrence of a non-aigialosaur mosasauroid from North America reported to date. Redescription and a study on the geographic provenance of the fossil material of "Liodon" asiaticum is published by Bardet et al. (2021). One to seven month-long life histories of specimens of Platecarpus tympaniticus and Clidastes propython collected from chalk deposits of the Western Interior Seaway and Mississippi Embayment in Kansas and Alabama are reconstructed by Travis Taylor et al. (2021), who interpret their findings as indicative of semi-regular travels of these mosasaurs from marine to freshwater coastal environments and consumption of freshwater. Fossil material providing the first evidence of the presence of Plotosaurus-type mosasaurs in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean reported to date is described from the Campanian Hiraiso Formation and Maastrichtian Isoai Formation (Japan) by Kato et al. (2021). First confirmed non-dental mosasaur remains from the Maastrichtian Breien Member of the Hell Creek Formation (North Dakota, United States) are described by Van Vranken & Boyd (2021). A study on the evolutionary history of snakes, aiming to determine possible impact of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event on the evolution and dispersal of snakes, is published by Klein et al. (2021). An assemblage of vertebrae of Palaeophis africanus, representing the most abundant material of this snake reported to date and providing new information on its anatomy, is described from the Eocene (Lutetian) of Togo by Georgalis et al. (2021). A vertebra of Naja romani is described from the Miocene (Turolian) Solnechnodolsk locality (Northern Caucasus, Russia) by Syromyatnikova, Tesakov & Titov (2021), representimg the latest known record of this species and expanding its geographic and geological range. Biton & Bailon (2021) report the discovery of fossil material of adders belonging to the Bitis arietans complex from the early Late Pleistocene of the Qafzeh cave (Israel), representing the northernmost record of the expansion of these adders outside Africa reported to date, and evaluate the implications of this finding for the knowledge of the climatic and environmental conditions in the surroundings of the Qafzeh Cave during the Mousterian Homo sapiens occupations.
Ichthyosauromorphs
New taxa NameNoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityLocationNotesImagesAuroroborealiaGen. et sp. novIn pressZverkov et al.Late Triassic()An early ichthyosaur of uncertain phylogenetic placement, possibly with toretocnemid or parvipelvian affinities. Genus includes new species A. incognita. CatutosaurusGen. et sp. novValidFernández et al.Late Jurassic (Tithonian)An ichthyosaur belonging to the family Ophthalmosauridae. Genus includes new species C. gaspariniae.Cymbospondylus youngorumSp. novSander et al.Middle Triassic (Anisian)Favret Formation()KazakhstanosaurusGen. et sp. novBolatovna and MaksutovichLate JurassicAn ichthyosaur belonging to the family Ophthalmosauridae. Genus includes new species K. shchuchkinensis and K. efimovi.KyhytysukaGen. et comb. novCortés, Maxwell, and LarssonEarly Cretaceous (Barremian-Aptian)Paja FormationAn ichthyosaur belonging to the family Ophthalmosauridae. The type species is "Platypterygius" sachicarum Páramo (1997).JabalisaurusGen. et sp. novValidBarrientos-Lara and Alvarado-OrtegaLate Jurassic (Kimmeridgian)La Casita FormationAn ichthyosaur belonging to the family Ophthalmosauridae. The type species is J. meztliParrassaurusGen. et sp. novValidBarrientos-Lara & Alvarado-OrtegaLate Jurassic (Tithonian)La Caja FormationAn ichthyosaur belonging to the family Ophthalmosauridae. The type species is P. yacahuitztliSumpallaGen. et sp. novValidCampos et al.Late JurassicVaca MuertaAn ichthyosaur belonging to the family Ophthalmosauridae. Genus includes new species S. argentina
Research Description of anatomy of the palate of Chaohusaurus brevifemoralis is published by Yin, Ji & Zhou (2021). A study on the anatomy of the skull of the holotype specimen of Besanosaurus leptorhynchus, description of additional specimens from the Middle Triassic Besano Formation (Italy/Switzerland) and a study on the phylogenetic relationships of this species is published by Bindellini et al. (2021), who interpret Mikadocephalus gracilirostris as a junior synonym of B. leptorhynchus. New stenopterygiid ichthyosaur fossils, representing some of the best preserved Toarcian specimens from Europe (including a specimen with possible soft tissue preservation), are described from south-east France by Martin et al. (2021), who also attempt to determine the causes of the state of preservation of the studied specimens, and evaluate the implications of the study site for the knowledge of the environmental perturbations associated with the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event.