Fossil reptile research published in 2025 includes the description of new taxa, as well as other peer-reviewed publications on discoveries related to reptile paleontology.
Lepidosauromorphs Squamates NameNoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityCountryNotesImagesBavarioboa wintershofensisSp. novValidIvanov et al.MioceneA snake belonging to the group Booidea.BolgGen. et sp. novValidWoolley et al.Late Cretaceous (Campanian)Kaiparowits Formation()A monstersaurian member of Anguimorpha. The type species is B. amondol.BreugnathairGen. et sp. novValidBenson et al.Middle Jurassic (Bathonian)Kilmaluag FormationAn early squamate belonging to the family Parviraptoridae. The type species is B. elgolensis.CadurcopanoplosGen. et sp. novValidLemierre & GeorgalisEoceneQuercy Phosphorites FormationA glyptosaurid. The type species is C. vaylatsensis.CaninosaurusGen. et sp. novValidWang et al.Late CretaceousTangbian FormationA borioteiioid. The type species is C. ganzhouensis.Cheilophis periplanetesSp. novValidGeorgalis & MennecartEocene (Ypresian)Formation of Unios and Teredinids SandsA snake belonging to the group Constrictores; a species of Cheilophis.FontisaurusGen. et sp. novValidVilla et al.MioceneAn anguine anguid. The type species is F. tarumbaire.OneirosaurusGen. et sp. novValidPáramo-Fonseca et al.Late Cretaceous (Coniacian)Galembo FormationA mosasaur belonging to the subfamily Plioplatecarpinae. The type species is O. caballeroi.ParadoxophidionGen. et sp. novValidGeorgalis & JonesEocene (Priabonian)Headon Hill FormationAn early caenophidian snake. The type species is P. richardoweni.PhosphoriguanaGen. et sp. novValidLemierre & GeorgalisEoceneQuercy Phosphorites FormationA probable member of Pleurodonta. The type species is P. peritechne.Pterosphenus rannensisSp. novValidDatta & Bajpai Eocene (Lutetian)A snake belonging to the family Palaeophiidae; a species of Pterosphenus.WautaugateguGen. et sp. novValidBourque & StanleyMiocene (Barstovian)()A member of the family Teiidae belonging to the subfamily Tupinambinae. The type species is W. formidus.WintershofiaGen. et sp. novValidIvanov et al.MioceneA snake belonging to the family Natricidae. The type species is W. robusta.ZhongyuanxiGen. et sp. novValidXu et al.Late Cretaceous (possibly Maastrichtian)Qiupa FormationA member of Anguimorpha, possibly a stem-varanid. The type species is Z. jiai.
Squamate research Review of studies on the origin and early evolution of squamates from the preceding years is published by Simões, Tollis & Burbrink (2025). A study on the biogeography of squamates throughout their evolutionary history is published by Wilenzik & Pyron (2025), who identify Europe and northeastern Asia as the most likely areas of the origin of Squamata. Lizard teeth showing adaptations to durophagy are described from the strata of the Deccan Intertrappean Beds from the Cretaceous-Paleogene transition from Kesavi (Madhya Pradesh, India) by Yadav & Verma (2025). Villa & Rummel (2025) describe a specimen of Rhodanogekko vireti from the Oligocene strata from Weißenburg (Bavaria, Germany), representing the first record of the species outside France and extending its known stratigraphic record by about 10 million years. Čerňanský, Tabuce & Vidalenc (2025) report the first fossil evidence of presence of scincoids and pleurodontan iguanians in the Cos locality (Quercy Phosphorites Formation, France) during the Ypresian. Brownstein et al. (2025) argue that the common ancestor of extant night lizards originated before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event and that members of the group survived the extinction in spite of living in the areas close to the site of the Chicxulub impact crater. Jiang et al. (2025) review the taxonomic composition, phylogenetic affinities, morphological diversity and geographical distribution of polyglyphanodontians. Santos et al. (2025) describe a new specimen of Calanguban alamoi from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation (Brazil), designated by the authors as the neotype of the species, and interpret is as a borioteiioid (polyglyphanodontian). Evidence from the study population genomic data and probable Quaternary fossils, indicative of impact changes of temperature and precipitation during the Quaternary on changes of range of Rankinia diemensis, is presented by Ramm et al. (2025). Revision of the Paleogene fossil material of glyptosaurids from Kazakhstan and Mongolia is published by Syromyatnikova (2025). Syromyatnikova & Tarasova (2025) describe fossils of the legless lizard Pseudopus apodus from the Lower Pleistocene Taurida Cave (Crimea), representing the first anguid fossil found in the region and one of the geologically oldest occurrences of the species. A maxilla representing the first cranial material of a monitor lizard from the Miocene of India reported to date is described by Čerňanský & Patnaik (2025). Fossil material of a monitor lizard which might represent the latest record of Varanus marathonensis in Europe reported to date is described from the Pliocene strata from the Megalo Emvolon locality (Greece) by Drakopoulou et al. (2025). Song & Lindgren (2025) reconstruct soft-tissue outline of the tail fin of mosasaurs on the basis of comparisons with extant sharks, infer the presence of a bilobed tail fin in all hydropedal mosasaurs, and interpret their findings as indicating that such tail fins evolved independently at least four times in mosasaurs. 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. A study on patterns of the foraging area preference of members of different mosasaur groups throughout the Late Cretaceous, as indicated by carbon isotope composition of tooth enamel, is published by Polcyn et al. (2025). A study on teeth of mosasaurs from the Campanian Bearpaw Formation (Alberta, Canada), providing evidence of dietary niche differentiation of the studied taxa, is published by Holwerda et al. (2025). 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. Evidence from the study of a tooth fragment of cf. Prognathodon sp. from the Upper Cretaceous strata in South Africa, indicating that the studied individual had a higher body temperature than closely associated Squalicorax shark, and likely higher than seawater temperature, is presented by Woolley et al. (2025). Grigoriev et al. (2025) describe fossil material of Latoplatecarpus cf. L. willistoni from the Campanian Rybushka Formation (Saratov Oblast, Russia), representing the first known record of the genus outside of North America. Longrich et al. (2025) provide new information on the teeth of Xenodens calminechari based on CT scans and a referred specimen, and support the interpretation of Xenodens as a valid, distinct taxon with unusual dental anatomy. During et al. (2025) describe a tooth of a mosasaurine mosasaur (likely a member of the tribe Prognathodontini) from the Hell Creek Formation (North Dakota, United States), and interpret the results of the analysis of isotopic composition of tooth enamel as indicating that the tooth most likely formed when the studied individual lived in a freshwater environment. Redescription of the skeletal morphology and taxonomic revision of Cadurceryx is published by Szyndlar & Georgalis (2025), who interpret the type species C. filholi as the only known species present in France during the middle and late Eocene, and consider the second species C. pearchi to be a nomen dubium. Scanferla, Babot & García Lopez (2025) describe a snake neurocranium from the Eocene Geste Formation (Argentina), preserving a combination of features otherwise known only in uropeltids, and report evidence of morphological convergences in the skeleton of burrowing and surface-dwelling miniaturized snakes, making it uncertain whether the uropeltid-like traits of the specimen from the Geste Formation are phylogenetically informative. Georgalis (2025) revises Plesiotortrix edwardsi from the Quercy Phosphorites Formation (France), and considers it to be nomen dubium. The oldest cranial remains of a member of Constrictores (the group including boas and pythons) described and figured from the Cenozoic of Europe to date are reported from the Eocene (Ypresian) strata from the Cos locality (Quercy Phosphorites Formation, France) by Čerňanský et al. (2025). A vertebra of a member of Constrictores, representing the oldest vertebra of a terrestrial snake from the Paleogene of eastern North America reported to date, is described from the Eocene Nanjemoy Formation (Virginia, United States) by Pritchard et al.(2025). Nascimento et al. (2025) describe fossil material of a member of the genus Boa from the Late Pleistocene Toca do Angico site (Brazil), interpreted on the basis of stable carbon isotope analyses as feeding on animals living in an open environment dominated by C4 vegetation. Alfonso-Rojas et al. (2025) describe new fossil material of Colombophis sp. and Eunectes sp. from the Socorro and Urumaco formations (Venezuela), providing evidence of existence of anacondas exceeding 5 metres in length in the Miocene. Fossil material of a member of the genus Acrochordus, morphologically distinct from Acrochordus dehmi and possibly representing a new species, is described from the Miocene strata from Kutch (India) by Datta & Bajpai (2025). Hunt & Lucas (2025) describe the first known fossil snake regurgitalites from the Eocene Messel Formation in Germany, and name new ichnotaxa Ophiemeticus smithi and Messelemeticus lehmanni. Venczel et al. (2025) describe new fossil material of snakes from Eocene and Oligocene localities in the Transylvanian Basin (Romania), including cf. Messelophis variatus from the Oligocene (Rupelian) strata of the Dâncu Formation which might represent the last occurrence of ungaliophiids in Europe. The first known assemblage of snake fossils from Taiwan, probably originating from the Middle Pleistocene Chiting Formation, is described by Lin et al. (2025). Petermann & Lyson (2025) compare the diversity of squamate faunas from the Cretaceous-Paleogene transition from the Denver Basin (Colorado, United States), and report evidence indicating that local squamate assemblage was severely affected by the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. Evidence from the study of lizard and snake fossils from Eocene localities in Wyoming and North Dakota (United States), interpreted as indicative of warmer and wetter climate in mid-latitude North America during the late Eocene than indicated by earlier studies, is presented by Smith & Bruch (2025). Xerri et al.(2025) report the first discovery of fossil material of a wall lizard (Podarcis cf. filfolensis) and an indeterminate colubrid snake from the Pleistocene fossil record from Malta. Woolley, Bottjer & Smith (2025) report evidence indicating that, on global scale, the completeness of the fossil record of squamates is influenced by differences in body size and form and by lithological and depositional biases to a greater degree than by human-based sampling biases.
Other lepidosauromorphs