This paleomammology list records new fossil mammal taxa that were described during the year 2022, as well as notes other significant paleomammalogy discoveries and events which occurred during 2022.
Afrotherians Proboscidea NameNoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityCountryNotesImagesPlatybelodon tetralophusSp. novValidWang & LiMioceneTunggur FormationStegotetrabelodon emiratusSp. novValidSandersMioceneBaynunah Formation
Proboscidean research A study on the landscape-scale patterns in diet of mammoths and mastodons is published by Pardi & DeSantis (2022), who report evidence indicating that mammoths had significant dietary preferences for grass, but also engaged in more mixed-feeding in the areas outside the most environmentally suitable parts of their distribution, while the dietary preferences for mastodons were less resolved. Partial skeleton of a specimen of "Mammut" borsoni, representing one of the most recent record of mammutids in Europe reported to date, is described from the Villafranchian of Kaltensundheim (Thuringia, Germany) by Koenigswald et al. (2022). A study on patterns of landscape use by "Buesching mastodon" (recovered in 1998 from a peat farm near Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States) during its life is published by Miller et al. (2022), who interpret their findings as indicative of shifts in landscape use by this individual during adolescence and following maturation to adulthood, including increased monthly movements and development of a summer-only range and mating ground. A study on the carbon and oxygen isotope ratios in teeth of a sub-adult mastodon found in southern Brazil is published by Lopes et al. (2022), who interpret their findings as indicative of a diet shift during the life of the animal, and indicating that mastodons were able to change their diets at shorter timescales than can be addressed from the analysis of isolated teeth. Fossil material of a member or a relative of the genus Sinomastodon is described from the Quaternary of the Kashmir Valley by Parray et al. (2022), representing the youngest record of a gomphothere from the Indian Subcontinent reported to date. A study on the osteological anomalies in the vertebrae of Notiomastodon platensis from a new late Pleistocene site at Anolaima (Cundinamarca, Colombia) is published by Zorro-Luján et al. (2022), who interpret the studied anomalies as the result of nutritional deficiencies in essential minerals, caused by environmental stresses which were possibly related to the late Pleistocene environmental instability. Mothé et al. (2022) describe new fossil material of Notiomastodon platensis from three Pleistocene sites in the Valle del Cauca Department (Colombia), and interpret the distribution of the fossil material of N. platensis as indicating that this proboscidean used the inter-Andean valleys as migratory corridors, avoiding more prominent Andean hills. A study on the origin, dispersal and ecology of gomphotheres in South America is published by Alberdi & Prado (2022). Evidence indicating that the shovel-tusked gomphotheres from Florida (Amebelodon floridanus, Konobelodon britti, Serbelodon barbourensis) were leaf browsers that also ingested bark and twigs, using their upper tusks for scraping and slicing and their lower tusks for shoveling substrate (S. barbourensis and K. britti) or stripping and scraping (A. floridanus), is presented by Semprebon, Pirlo & Dudek (2022). A study on the range of size variation in palaeoloxodont elephants from Sicily, Favignana and Malta, inhabiting the Siculo-Maltese Palaeoarchipelago during the Pleistocene, and on possible reasons for size differences of these elephants is published by Scarborough (2022). A study on the morphological variation of samples of steppe mammoth and woolly mammoth remains, focusing on ca. 240,000-126,000 samples from Britain and the adjacent continent, is published by Lister (2022), providing evidence of a complex pattern of change in the transition from the steppe mammoth to the woolly mammoth in Europe. Evidence from woolly mammoth genomes (including genomes of two new Siberian specimens), indicating that genomic insertions and large deletions likely contributed to adaptive phenotypic evolution of the woolly mammoths, is presented by van der Valk et al. (2022).
Sirenia NameNoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityCountryNotesImagesDakhlasirenGen. et sp. novIn pressZouhri, Zalmout & GingerichLate EoceneSamlat FormationA member of the family Protosirenidae. The type species is D. marocensis.
Sirenian research A study on the phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of extant and fossil sirenians is published by Heritage & Seiffert (2022). Description of the anatomy of the skull of Sobrarbesiren cardieli and a study on the affinities of this taxon is published by Díaz-Berenguer et al. (2022).
Euarchontoglires Primates NameNoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityCountryNotesImagesChlorocebus ngedereSp. novArenson et al.Early PleistoceneLower Ngaloba BedsA guenonKhoratpithecus magnusSp. novIn pressChaimanee et al.Late MioceneSawecolobusGen. et sp. novValidGommery et al.Late MioceneLukeino FormationAn Old World monkey belonging to the subfamily Colobinae. The type species is S. lukeinoensis.
Primate research A study on the talar and calcaneal morphology in Eocene primates from the Vastan lignite mine (Gujarat, India), and on its implications for the knowledge of the locomotor capabilities of these primates, is published by Llera Martín, Rose & Sylvester (2022). A study on chipping patterns across the dentition of members of the genus Archaeolemur is published by Towle et al. (2022), who interpret their findings as indicating that members of this genus had a varied omnivorous diet and used their anterior teeth for extensive food processing. A study on the phylogenetic relationships of extant and fossil New World monkeys is published by Beck et al. (2022). A study on the internal nasal anatomy of Homunculus patagonicus, and on its implications for the knowledge of the phylogenetic affinities of this monkey, is published by Lundeen & Kay (2022). A study on the dental capabilities and potential dietary adaptations of Dolichopithecus ruscinensis is published by Plastiras et al. (2022), who interpret their findings as indicative of a more opportunistic feeding behavior for Dolichopithecus than characteristic of most extant colobines. Brasil et al. (2022) and Taylor et al. (2022) describe new assemblages of fossils of late Pleistocene Old World monkeys from the Middle Awash (Ethiopia), including fossils of the hamadryas baboons falling within the range of morphological variation observed for extant members of this species, fossils of black-and-white colobuses with morphologies intermediate between Middle Pleistocene samples from the Asbole site and modern mantled guereza and members or relatives of the genus Chlorocebus which might be ancestral to the monkeys currently living in the Afar region of Ethiopia. A study on the phylogenetic relationships for Middle-Late Miocene fossil apes is published by Pugh (2022). Rossie & Cote (2022) describe new fossil material of apes from the Miocene Lothidok Formation (Kenya), including a new mandible and an isolated molar of Turkanapithecus kalakolensis, expanding the knowledge of the lower molar morphology of the species; a new mandible of Simiolus enjiessi; and a new male specimen of Afropithecus turkanensis with unusual premolar morphology. Description of new fossil material of apes from the Miocene locality of Berg Aukas (Namibia) and new information on the locality of the ape mandible from the Miocene of Niger described by Pickford et al. (2008) is published by Mocke et al. (2022), who evaluate the implications of these fossils for the knowledge of the evolution of the African apes. A study on the anatomy and affinities of Yuanmoupithecus xiaoyuan is published by Ji et al. (2022), who interpret Y. xiaoyuan as a close relative of extant gibbons, and reinterpret Kapi ramnagarensis as a pliopithecoid. A study on the occurrence and morphology of calcar femorale in extant and fossil hominids is published by Cazenave et al. (2022), who interpret their findings as indicating that this structure cannot be considered as a diagnostic feature of habitual bipedal locomotion. Dental remains of Gigantopithecus blacki, possibly belonging to one of the latest relict populations of Gigantopithecus, are described from the Upper Pleistocene deposits of the Lang Trang cave (Vietnam) by Lopatin, Maschenko & Dac (2022). A study on the paleoecology of fossil pongines, with a focus on Khoratpithecus ayeyarwadyensis is published by Habinger et al. (2022), who interpret the habitat of K. ayeyarwadyensis to be overall similar to that of modern orangutans, but with foraging at different levels in the canopy. A study on the locomotor behaviour of Sahelanthropus tchadensis, based on data from a femur and two ulnae from the Miocene of the Toros-Ménalla fossiliferous area (Chad), is published by Daver et al. (2022), who interpret the morphology of the femur as likely indicative of habitual bipedality, and the morphology of the ulnae as preserving evidence of substantial arboreal behaviour. Atypical tooth wear, similar to tooth wear previously reported in fossil hominins and regarded as possible evidence of early cultural habits, is reported in a sample of extant Japanese macaques from Koshima Island by Towle et al. (2022), who interpret the atypical wear patterns as likely caused by accidental ingestion of sand and oral processing of marine mollusks, and evaluate the implications of this finding for interpretations of similar wear in fossil hominins. A review aiming to determine the value of extant primates as models for reconstructions of fossil hominin stone tool culture is published by Bandini, Harrison & Motes-Rodrigo (2022).
General paleoanthropology Monson et al. (2022) present evidence indicative of an increase in prenatal growth rates of hominids over the last 6 million years, with significant increases aligning with major evolutionary changes (adaptation to bipedality, increase of brain size associated with the evolution of genus Homo, the evolution of Homo erectus), and with prenatal growth rates more similar to humans than to other extant apes evolving in members of the genus Homo ~0.25–0.75 million years ago. A study on the evolution of modern human brain size during the Pliocene and Pleistocene, combining fourteen previous studies that document the evolution of brain size in gracile hominins in a consensus time series, is published by Gingerich (2022) who identifies four successive phases of evolutionary stasis and change. Revision of the age of major South African hominin sites, based on faunal correlations of Old World monkeys from African Plio-Pleistocene sites, is published by Frost et al. (2022), who interpret their findings as indicating that there are no hominin sites in South Africa significantly older than ~2.8 million years. Pickford et al. (2022) describe new fossil material of Orrorin praegens and Praeanthropus afarensis from the Pliocene Mabaget Formation (Kenya), and study the paleoenvironment of both species, reporting that O. praegens was found alongside a forest-adapted fauna, while geologically younger P. afarensis was found alongside an open woodland to savannah-like fauna. A study on the likely diet of members of the genus Paranthropus is published by Sponheimer et al. (2022). A study aiming to determine whether it is possible to identify distinct groups of Paranthropus robustus consistently with their provenience from the sites of Kromdraai, Drimolen and Swartkrans (South Africa), based on data from new fossil material of P. robustus from Kromdraai and Drimolen, is published by Braga et al. (2022).