This list of fossil reptiles described in 2022 is a list of new taxa of fossil reptiles that were described during the year 2022, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to reptile paleontology that occurred in 2022.
Squamates
New taxa Name NoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityCountryNotesImagesAbronia cuyamaSp. novValidScarpetta & LedesmaMioceneCaliente Formation()A species of Abronia.ArchaeovaranusGen. et sp. novUnavailableDong et al.Early EoceneYuhuangding FormationA stem-varanid. The type species is A. lii. The electronic publication lacks registration information.BlutwurstiaGen. et sp. novValidSmith, Bhullar & BlochEarly EoceneWillwood Formation()A member of Pan-Xenosaurus. The type species is B. oliviae.DollogekkoGen. et sp. novValidČerňanský et al.Early EoceneTienen FormationA member of Gekkota. The type species is D. dormaalensis.EoscincusGen. et sp. novValidBrownstein et al.Late Jurassic (Tithonian)Morrison Formation()A member of Pan-Scincoidea. The type species is E. ornatus.GeiseleptesGen. et sp. novValidVilla, Wings & RabiEoceneA member of the family Sphaerodactylidae. The type species is G. delfinoi.KatarianaNom. novValidDeshmukh et al.Early Paleocene (Danian)Santa Lucía FormationA macrostomatan snake related to caenophidians; a replacement name for Kataria Scanferla et al. (2013).MicroterasGen. et sp. novValidBrownstein et al.Late Jurassic (Tithonian)Morrison Formation()A member of Pan-Scincoidea. The type species is M. borealis.MoqisaurusGen. et sp. novIn pressDong, Wang, & EvansEarly Cretaceous (Aptian)A basal squamate possibly related to Liushusaurus. The type species is M. pulchrum.PowellophisGen. et sp. novGarberoglio, Triviño & AlbinoPaleoceneMealla FormationA madtsoiid snake. Genus includes new species P. andina.Psammophis odysseusSp. novValidSzyndlar & GeorgalisLate MioceneA species of Psammophis.RetinosaurusGen. et sp. novValidČerňanský et al.Early Cretaceous (Albian)Hkamti amberA scincomorph lizard, possibly a member of Pan-Xantusiidae. The type species is R. hkamtiensis. SmithosaurusGen. et sp. novValidVasilyan et al.MioceneA member of the family Anguidae belonging to the subfamily Anguinae. The type species is S. echzellensis.ThalassotitanGen. et sp. novIn pressLongrich et al.Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian)Ouled Abdoun BasinA mosasaurid in the tribe Prognathodontini. The type species is T. atrox.
Research A study aiming to determine whether the squamate fossil record contains reliable phylogenetic information in spite of its incompleteness is published by Woolley et al. (2022). The first fossil material of scincomorph lizards from the Campanian Nenjiang Formation (Jilin, China) is described by Yang et al. (2022). Vullo et al. (2022) reinterpret the fossil material of Jeddaherdan aleadonta as Quaternary in age, and consider it to be a fossil material of a member of the genus Uromastyx. First fossil material of galliwasp from Cuba reported to date is described from the Late Pleistocene of El Abrón Cave by Syromyatnikova & Aranda (2022), providing the first data on tooth and jaw morphology of Pleistocene galliwasps from Cuba. Fossil material of Ophisaurus fejfari and Ophisaurus spinari is described from the early Pliocene of Moldova by Syromyatnikova, Klembara & Redkozubov (2022), representing the first Pliocene records of the genus Ophisaurus in Eastern Europe, and the first record of O. fejfari from the Pliocene reported to date. Redescription of known fossil material of Saniwa orsmaelensis, as well as description of new fossil material from the Eocene of Belgium and France, is published by Augé et al. (2022). A vertebra of a monitor lizard, representing the first published record of a non-snake squamate from the Neogene of Pakistan (probably Miocene Chinji Formation), is described by Villa & Delfino (2022), who evaluate the implications of this finding for the palaeoenvironmental reconstructions of the Siwaliks during the Miocene. A study on the diversification of feeding and locomotory strategies of mosasauroids is published by Cross et al. (2022). A study on the evolution of morphofunctional diversity of mosasaurids prior to the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event is published by MacLaren et al. (2022), who interpret their findings as indicating that taxonomic turnover in mosasaurid community composition from Campanian to Maastrichtian was reflected by a notable global increase in morphofunctional diversity, and that mosasaurid morphofunctional diversity was in decline in multiple provincial communities in the Late Maastrichtian before the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction. A study on the evolution of the skull in mosasaurids and early cetaceans during the first 20 million years of their evolutionary histories, testing for possible instances of ecomorphological convergence in the skulls and teeth between the groups, is published by Bennion et al. (2022). Revision of the known mosasaur material from South Africa is published by Woolley, Chinsamy & Caldwell (2022), who recognize the presence of at least three mosasaur taxa in the Late Cretaceous deposits of South Africa, tentatively referred to cf. Prognathodon, cf. Taniwhasaurus and cf. Plioplatecarpinae. A study on the individual age and life history of a halisaurine mosasaur known from a cervical vertebra from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) Beloe Ozero locality (Saratov Oblast, Russia) is published by Grigoriev et al. (2022). The first occurrences of Mosasaurus hoffmannii are reported from the Ouled Abdoun Basin (Morocco) by Rempert et al. (2022), extending the known range of this species. Two isolated tooth crowns of a member of the genus Mosasaurus are described from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian–Maastrichtian) of Cuba by Viñola-López et al. (2022), representing the first record of mosasaurs from West Indies reported to date. A study on the anatomy of the skull of Sanajeh indicus and on its implications for the knowledge of the evolution of features associated with wide-gaped feeding (macrostomy) in snakes, based on data from a new specimen, is published by Zaher et al. (2022). Wazir et al. (2022) describe an isolated dorsal vertebra of a madtsoiid snake from the Oligocene Kargil Formation of the Ladakh Molasse Group (Ladakh Himalaya), providing evidence of the survival of madtsoiids in the Indian subcontinent at least to the end of the Paleogene. Revision and a study on the phylogenetic affinities of Boavus is published by Onary et al. (2022). Chuliver, Scanferla & Smith (2022) describe a gravid female of Messelophis variatus from the Messel pit (Germany preserved with at least two embryos, documenting the first known occurrence of viviparity in a fossil snake. El-Hares et al. (2022) describe new fossil material of colubroidean snakes from the Eocene Birket Qarun Locality 2 (Egypt), including a vertebra of a member or a relative of the genus Procerophis (otherwise known from the early Eocene of India) and the first known caudal vertebrae of Renenutet enmerwer, as well as a vertebra representing the first record of an amphisbaenian from the Paleogene of Egypt reported to date.
Ichthyosauromorphs
New Taxa +NameNoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType LocalityLocationNotesImagesBaisesaurusGen. et sp. novValidRen et al.Early Triassic (Olenekian)Luolou FormationAn early member of Ichthyosauromorpha . The type species is B. robustusEurhinosaurus quenstedtiSp. novMaischEarly JurassicPosidonia ShaleMagnipterygiusGen. et sp. novDisputedMaisch & MatzkeEarly JurassicPosidonia ShaleA stenopterygiid ichthyosaur. The type species is M. huenei. Considered to be a junior synonym of Stenopterygius quadriscissus by Biot et al. (2026).Nannopterygius mikhailoviSp. novValidYakupova & AkhmedenovLate JurassicNannopterygius yakimenkaeSp. novValidYakupova & AkhmedenovLate Jurassic
Research Qiao et al. (2022) describe a new specimen of Sclerocormus from the Lower Triassic (Olenekian) Nanlinghu Formation (China), recover the clade Omphalosauridae containing Omphalosaurus, Sclerocormus and Cartorhynchus, and describe the anatomy of the feeding apparatus of omphalosaurids as indicated by data from the new specimen. Fossil material of ichthyopterygians, including a limb bone (probably a humerus) representing one of the largest specimens of early Spathian marine reptiles known to date, is described from the Lower Triassic Zhitkov Formation (Russky Island, Primorsky Krai, Russia) by Nakajima et al. (2022). Fossil material of giant ichthyosaurs is described from the Upper Triassic Kössen Formation (Switzerland) by Sander et al. (2022), who evaluate the implications of the studied fossils for the knowledge of the global distribution and ecological diversity of giant Norian and Rhaetian ichthyosaurs. A study on ichthyosaur vertebral centra from the Upper Jurassic Bernbjerg Formation (Greenland), aiming to determine whether vertebral ratios can be used to assign disarticulated and possibly weathered centra to a region in the vertebral column of ichthyosaurs, is published by Holm, Delsett & Alsen (2022). Fossil material of ichthyosaurs is described from the Valanginian and Hauterivian of Austria by Lukeneder et al. (2022), who interpret the studied fossils as representing two distinct taxa, probably with different feeding ecologies, and evaluate the implications of these fossils for the knowledge of the diversity of ichthyosaurs in the Early Cretaceous. Roberts, Engelschiøn & Hurum (2022) describe a new specimen of Phalarodon fraasi from the Ladinian Blanknuten Member of the Botneheia Formation (Svalbard, Norway), representing the first three-dimensional mixosaurid skull recovered from this formation. Kelley et al. (2022) interpret an assemblage of skeletons of Shonisaurus from the Triassic Luning Formation (Nevada, United States) as evidence of grouping behavior. A study on the dietary adaptations of juvenile specimens of Hauffiopteryx typicus and Stenopterygius triscissus from the Toarcian Strawberry Bank Lagerstätte (United Kingdom) is published by Jamison-Todd et al. (2022), who interpret their findings as indicating that S. triscissus had more robust rostrum and scavenged and hunting large fish or squid, while H. typicus relied more on bite speed than on bite force while hunting, and likely fished for smaller and softer prey. A study on the anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of "Ichthyosaurus" zetlandicus is published by Laboury et al. (2022), who transfer this species to the genus Temnodontosaurus. Lomax & Massare (2022) report the discovery of two casts of the first complete ichthyosaur skeleton introduced to the scientific community in 1819 by Everard Home, and assign this specimen to the genus Ichthyosaurus. Lomax, Sachs & Hall (2022) describe a composite ichthyosaur specimen from the collection of the Reutlingen Natural History Museum, including bones of at least three individuals recovered from the Sinemurian of Charmouth-Lyme Regis area (Dorset, United Kingdom) and from the Toarcian Posidonia Shale (Germany) as well as forged elements, and identify the hindfins and pelvic bones as fossil material of a rare species Ichthyosaurus conybeari. A study on the pre- and postnatal ontogenetic changes in the skull of Stenopterygius quadriscissus is published by Miedema & Maxwell (2022). Two ichthyosaur specimens (a nearly complete skeleton of a member of the genus Aegirosaurus and an isolated tail of an indeterminate ichthyosaur) preserved with soft tissue are described from the Upper Jurassic (Tithonian) Eichstätt Plattenkalk (Germany) by Delsett et al. (2022). Description of two specimens of Baptanodon natans from the Upper Jurassic (Oxfordian) Redwater Shale of the Sundance Formation (Wyoming, United States), providing new information on the morphology of the braincase of this ichthyosaur, is published by Massare & Connely (2022). Revision of the nomenclature of the families of Late Jurassic and Cretaceous ichthyosaurs is published by Zverkov (2022).