This article records new taxa of fossil mammals of every kind that have been described during the year 2025, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleontology of mammals that have occurred in 2025.
Afrotherians Proboscideans NameNoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityLocationNotesImageSaegusaiaGen. et comb. novValidWang et al.MioceneHujiagou A member of the Amebelodontidae. The type species is "Protanancus" brevirostris; genus also contains "P." wimani.
Proboscidean research Ahmed & Khan (2025) describe new proboscidean fossil material from the Miocene Chinji Formation (Pakistan), including fossils of members of the genera Prodeinotherium, Gomphotherium and Protanancus (the first record of the lower tusk of an adult individual belonging to this genus reported from the Siwalik Group). Saarinen et al. (2025) identify proboscidean fossil material from the Miocene strata from the Hayranlı-Haliminhanı locality (Turkey) as remains of a mastodon belonging or related to the species "Mammut" obliquelophus, and interpret it as supporting the affinities of late Miocene Eurasian mammutids with the genus Mammut. The first fossil material of "Mammut" borsoni from Turkey is reported from the Pliocene Ahmetçik Formation by Albayrak, Antoine & Çörekçioğlu (2025), found in association with remains of the rhinocerotid Pliorhinus megarhinus. Dooley et al. (2025) reevaluate the affinities of mastodon fossil material from Oregon and Washington (United States), Alberta (Canada) and Hidalgo and Jalisco (Mexico), extending known geographical range of Mammut pacificus, and providing probable evidence of presence of both M. pacificus and M. americanum in close geographical proximity. Karpinski et al. (2025) sequence mitochondrial genomes of the Pacific mastodon from Tualatin (Oregon, United States) and six American mastodons from eastern North America, and report evidence of deep divergence of the Tualatin mastodon (and likely other Pacific mastodons) relative to other mastodons, evidence that the range of Pacific mastodons extended beyond the contiguous United States and into Alberta (Canada), and evidence of at least three different episodes of expansion of American mastodons into northeastern coastal areas of North America during the Middle and Late Pleistocene. Jukar, Millhouse & Carrano (2025) revise the fossil material attributed to Amebelodon floridanus, assign a neotype specimen of this species and support its placement in the genus Amebelodon; their arguments are contested by Lambert (2025), who reaffirms the validity of the separate genus established for A. floridanus, Stenobelodon. Luna et al. (2025) study mandibular lesions in two specimens of Notiomastodon platensis from the Pleistocene strata from Argentina, and diagnose both individuals as affected by secondary chronic osteomyelitis of the mandible. Mothé et al. (2025) determine the age of remains of Notiomastodon platensis from Córdoba Province (Argentina), providing evidence of presence of the species in the studied area from Ensenadan to Lujanian. González-Guarda et al. (2025) report evidence of frugivory of Notiomastodon platensis, and argue that the studied proboscidean may have acted as a seed disperser and its extinction may have increased the extinction risk of plants whose seeds it used to disperse. Cruz, Faurby & Sawaya (2025) identify climatically suitable areas for Cuvieronius hyodon and Notiomastodon platensis in South America during major climatic events of the Quaternary, reporting evidence that climate changes contributed to fragmentation of habitats suitable for the studied species but did not result in the complete disappearance of those habitats, indicating that climate changes were not the primary driver of extinction of South American gomphotheres. Sankhyan, Abbas & Sehgal (2025) describe fossil material of Stegodon sp. from the Pliocene strata of the Tatrot Formation, representing the first confirmed record a member of this genus from Himachal Pradesh (India). Tablizo, van den Bergh & Fernando (2025) describe a partial skull of a member of the genus Stegodon from the Pleistocene strata of the Awidon Mesa Formation from Luzon, representing the first formally described Stegodon skull from the Philippines, and interpret the studied fossil as supporting island-hopping dispersal of Stegodon across the Philippines and Wallacea. A tooth of a member of the genus Stegodon with anatomy distinct from Stegodon orientalis and S. trigonocephalus is described from the Pleistocene strata in the state of Perak (Malaysia) by Amiruddin et al. (2025), representing the southernmost known record of Stegodon in continental Asia. Evidence from the study of carbon and oxygen isotope values of tooth enamel of Palaeoloxodon from Early and Middle Pleistocene localities in the Afar Rift (Ethiopia), indicative of dietary flexibility of members of the "Palaeoloxodon recki complex", is presented by Luyt, Sahle & Stynder (2025). Evidence of diets of Palaeoloxodon naumanni and mammoths from the Pleistocene sites in Japan, including possible evidence of different foraging behaviors of the studied proboscideans in Hokkaido, is presented by Naito (2025). A study on the affinities of Palaeoloxodon naumanni, as indicated by ancient mitochondrial DNA, is published by Segawa et al. (2025), who recover P. naumanni as a member of an early-diverging lineage within Eurasian Palaeoloxodon that survived until the Late Pleistocene, avoiding replacement by Palaeoloxodon namadicus because of geographical isolation in the Japanese islands. A study on the diets of the straight-tusked elephants and mammoths from the Pliocene and Pleistocene strata of the Ptolemais Basin, Mygdonia Basin, Drama Basin and the Neapolis-Grevena Basin (Greece) is published by Tsakalidis et al. (2025). A study on tooth wear patterns in Palaeoloxodon falconeri and Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis is published by Strani et al. (2025), who report evidence of similar adaptations to feeding on abrasive plants in both species in response to different ecological conditions. Basilia et al. (2025) compare rib histology in Palaeoloxodon creutzburgi from Crete and in the straight-tusked elephant from mainland Greece, and report evidence of bone metabolic adaptation to the reduction of body mass in P. creutzburgi. Evidence from the study of carbon and oxygen isotope composition of tooth enamel of specimens of Palaeoloxodon from Pleistocene localities in Taiwan, indicative of reliance on C4 plants and running water sources, is presented by Biswas et al. (2025), who also report probable evidence of weaning in a juvenile specimen. A study on molars of Elephas recki from the Shungura Formation (Ethiopia) is published by Bedane, Mackaye & Boisserie (2025), who report evidence of stepwise rather than gradual changes in dental morphology, as well as evidence of a consistent diet throughout the evolution of the studied proboscidean, with no evidence of a correlation between changes of morphology and feeding preferences. Evidence from the study of remains of Mammuthus meridionalis from the Pleistocene strata from localities in the Barranc de la Boella complex (Spain), indicating that the studied mammoths were feeding in open environments dominated by C3 grasslands, and indicative of a spatial relationship between faunal remains and stone tools in the level II.2 of Pit 1 within the Barranc de la Boella ravine (consistent with the interpretation of this aggregation as resulting from butchering of the mammoth carcass), is presented by Fidalgo et al. (2025). A study on the evolutionary history of mammoths during the last million years, based on data from mitogenomes (including 34 newly reported ones), is published by Chacón-Duque et al. (2025). Description of the cranial morphology of Mammuthus meridionalis and its variation is published by Ferretti, Bellucci & Rustioni (2025). Ros-Montoya et al. (2025) revise the mammoth fossil material from the Dmanisi site (Georgia), and support its attribution to the species Mammuthus meridionalis. Krivokorin et al. (2025) study the carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of woolly mammoth remains from the Late Pleistocene strata from the Shestakovo, Krasnoyarskaya Kurya, and Volchia Griva sites in the Western Siberian Plain (Russia), and report evidence of unusually high nitrogen isotopic values, interpreted as likely related to local environmental conditions that affected nitrogen cycling. A study on the possible age and nitrogen isotopic composition of a probable woolly mammoth molar from the Long Island (Nunavut, Canada) is published by Bateman & Larsson (2025). A study on mammoth teeth from the Pleistocene strata in Alberta (Canada), providing evidence of presence of three morphotypes – including a morphotype intermediate between the woolly mammoth and the Columbian mammoth – is published by Barrón-Ortiz, Jass & Cammidge (2025). A study on the dietary habits of Columbian mammoths from the Tultepec I and Tultpec II sites (Mexico), providing evidence of mixed C3/C4 diet for the majority of the studied specimens, is published by Rodríiguez-Franco et al. (2025). Arrieta-Donato et al. (2025) recover 61 mitochondrial genomes of Columbian mammoths from central Mexico, providing evidence of presence of a lineage with a demographic history that differed from other North American mammoth lineages at the mitochondrial level, and formed a clade outside of the genetic variation of mammoths from Canada and the United States; the authors also report evidence of a static demographic trajectory for the studied mammoths, and find no evidence of a drastic bottlenecking at the end of the Pleistocene, as well as no evidence of an unequal proportion of males to females. Gardner, Jass & Hutchinson (2025) identify a probable distal prehallux and a fused sesamoid pair from the digits in Columbian mammoth specimens from the Mammoth Site of Hot Springs (South Dakota, United States), representing the first records of these elements reported in extinct elephantids. Evidence from the study of microbial DNA from mammoth remains spanning over 1 million years, indicative of presence of host-associated microbes related to extant members of the genera Actinobacillus, Erysipelothrix, Streptococcus and Pasteurella (including relatives of extant bacteria linked to the deaths of African elephants), is presented by Guinet et al. (2025). Evidence from genomic analysis of two mammoth molars from British Columbia (Canada), indicative of recurrent hybridization between Columbian and woolly mammoths resulting in an increased admixture signal over time (that would have gone undiscovered in the studies focusing on morphology and mitochondrial diversity), is presented by Dehasque et al. (2025). Mármol-Sánchez et al. (2025) report ancient RNA profiles from 10 Late Pleistocene woolly mammoths from northeastern Siberia (Russia), including the oldest preserved transcriptional signatures reported to date. Purported mammoth vertebra from the Holocene strata from interior Alaska with the youngest reported radiocarbon ages associated with mammoth specimens are reinterpreted as whale bones by Wooller et al. (2025). Belyaev & Prilepskaya (2025) compare morphology and intervertebral mobility of the vertebral column of extant elephants, steppe mammoths, woolly mammoths and American mastodons. Ruiz et al. (2025) estimate the maximum speed capabilities of Mammuthus primigenius, Mammut americanum, Mammuthus columbi, Deinotherium proavum, Mammuthus trogontherii, Mammuthus meridionalis, Palaeoloxodon antiquus and Mammut borsoni.
Sirenians Name NoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityCountryNotesImagesSalwasirenGen. et sp. novValidPyenson et al.Miocene (Aquitanian)Dam FormationA member of the family Dugongidae. The type species is S. qatarensis.
Sirenian research