This article records new taxa of fossil mammals of every kind described during the year 2024, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleontology of mammals that occurred in 2024.
Afrotherians Proboscideans Proboscidean research Hauffe, Cantalapiedra & Silvestro (2024) present a Bayesian model that can be used to determine diversification dynamics from fossil occurrence data, apply it to the fossil record of proboscideans, and interpret their findings as indicating that the diversification of proboscideans was influenced by dietary flexibility and biogeography (particularly the association with islands), while the emergence of humans was the primary driver of proboscidean extinctions. Review of the evolution of the proboscidean head, focusing on the evolution of the anatomy and use of tusks and proboscis, is published by Nabavizadeh (2024). A study on the evolution of limb bones of extant and extinct proboscideans, providing evidence of adaptations to columnar posture and mass support, is published by Bader et al. (2024). Konidaris et al. (2024) describe new proboscidean material from Late Miocene localities in Romania, including fossils of Deinotherium proavum and "Mammut" cf. obliquelophus, as well as the first fossil material of a member of the genus Konobelodon from the country. Yaghoubi et al. (2024) describe fossil material of "Mammut" cf. obliquelophus from the Miocene fossiliferous areas of Maragheh (Iran), extending known geographical range of this taxon. May (2024) revises the biochronology and distribution of gomphothere occurrences from the Miocene of the Texas Coastal Plain. Evidence from the study of molars of Notiomastodon platensis from Brazilian Quaternary fossiliferous assemblages, interpreted as indicating that N. platensis was susceptible to tartar development, is presented by Paiva, Alves-Silva & Barbosa (2024). A study on the diet of specimens of Notiomastodon platensis collected from areas in central Chile is published by González-Guarda et al. (2024), who interpret their findings as indicative of the presence of xerophyte scrubs in central Chile during the Late Pleistocene, similar to the present-day environment of the studied area. Li et al. (2024) report the discovery of fossil material of Stegolophodon pseudolatidens from the Miocene Fotan Formation in Fujian, representing the first known record of Neogene proboscidean fossils in southeastern China. A study on the histology of a rib of a specimen of Stegodon florensis florensis from the So'a Basin (Flores, Indonesia) is published by Basilia et al. (2024), who interpret the histology of the bone tissue as possibly indicative of a relatively long lifespan of the studied individual. Biswas, Chang & Tsai (2024) provide body mass estimates of specimens of Palaeoloxodon from Taiwan, determining the studied specimens to be similar in size to straight-tusked elephants across Eurasia. Pineda et al. (2024) study the assemblage of straight-tusked elephant remains from the Notarchirico site (Italy), and argue that the available evidence does not support the interpretation of the studied site as the elephant butchery area. Jukar et al. (2024) describe a skull of a member of the genus Palaeoloxodon from the Middle Pleistocene Pampore Member in the Karewas of Kashmir, most closely resembling the skull of the type specimen of Palaeoloxodon turkmenicus, and interpret this finding as supporting the presence of a Middle Pleistocene species of Palaeoloxodon in Central and South Asia with a morphology intermediate between African and Eurasian species. Evidence from tooth enamel of a straight-tusked elephant specimen from the MIS 12 site Marathousa 1 (Greece), interpreted as indicating that the studied individual (as well as the hominins that processed its carcass) lived in stable environmental conditions with sufficient plant cover and limited seasonality, is presented by Roditi et al. (2024). A study on the age of the fossil, age and health of the individual prior to death, affinities and diagenetic processes after death of the mammoth specimen collected in 1966 from the hydrothermal spring deposit near Soda Springs (Idaho, United States), interpreted as one of the latest members of the Mammuthus jeffersonii lineage from the mainland Western North America reported to date, is published by Morrison et al. (2024). Rowe et al. (2024) use isotopic and genetic data from a tusk of a female woolly mammoth from the Swan Point Archaeological Site (Alaska, United States) to trace the studied individual's lifetime movements, interpret their findings as indicative of movement of the studied individual approximately 1000 km northwest in the middle of her life, and compare the range of movement of the studied mammoth with the distribution of early archaeological sites in Alaska, arguing that early North Americans likely settled in the territories frequently used by mammoths. Sandoval-Velasco et al. (2024) present evidence of preservation of three-dimensional genome architecture in a 52,000-year-old permafrost-preserved woolly mammoth skin sample collected near Belaya Gora (Sakha Republic, Russia). Du et al. (2024) reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of Late Pleistocene woolly mammoths from northern and northeastern China on the basis of mitogenomic data, reporting evidence of presence of members of three mitochondrial clades of woolly mammoths in the studied sample. A study on the genetic consequences of isolation of woolly mammoths from Wrangel Island (Russia), as indicated by genomic data, is published by Dehasque et al. (2024), who find that the mainland population of mammoths from northeastern Siberia underwent little changes in genome-wide diversity prior to their extinction, that mammoths from Wrangel Island recovered quickly from the population bottleneck after becoming isolated on the island and their population subsequently remained stable with no evidence of accelerated decline prior to extinction (in spite of evidence of genomic erosion), and that the extinction of mammoths from Wrangel Island happened rapidly and its causes are uncertain. A review of the dwarf Sardinan mammoth species Mammuthus lamarmorai is presented by Palombo, Zedda and Zomboli (2024). Lister & Dalén (2024) evaluate the implications of the mammoth DNA analysis published by van der Valk et al. (2021) for the knowledge of the evolutionary history of mammoths and for their taxonomy.
Sirenians Sirenia research Mamdouh et al. (2024) describe fossil material of members of the genus Protosiren representing the first sirenians reported from the Eocene (Bartonian) ornamental limestone from the Eastern Desert (Egypt).
Other afrotherians Name NoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityCountryNotesImagesAbdahyraxGen. et sp. novVitek et al.OligoceneA member of Hyracoidea. Genus includes new species A. philipi.AxainamasiaGen. et sp. novMétais et al.Eocene-Oligocene transitionCemalletin FormationAn embrithopod. The type species is A. sandersi.Crivadiatherium sahiniSp. novMétais et al.EoceneBaraklı FormationAn embrithopod.Crivadiatherium sevketseniSp. novMétais et al.EoceneBaraklı FormationAn embrithopod.Geniohyus ewoiiSp. novVitek et al.OligoceneA member of Hyracoidea.NengohyraxGen. et sp. novVitek et al.OligoceneA member of Hyracoidea. Genus includes new species N. josephi.Thyrohyrax ekaiiSp. novVitek et al.OligoceneA member of Hyracoidea.Thyrohyrax lokutaniSp. novVitek et al.OligoceneA member of Hyracoidea.
Miscellaneous afrotherian research Vitek & Princehouse (2024) evaluate classification criteria used to assign individual molars to serial position in fossil hyracoids.
Euarchontoglires
Primates Name NoveltyStatusAuthorsAgeType localityCountryNotesImagesBuroniusGen. et sp. novValidBöhme et al.Late MioceneHammerschmiede clay pitA hominid. The type species is B. manfredschmidi.Homo juluensisSp. novWu & Bae in BaePleistocene?A species of Homo, proposed to include Pleistocene hominins from the Xujiayao, Lingjing (Xuchang), Xiahe and Penghu sites, as well as Denisovans and possibly an individual from the Tam Ngu Hao 2 (Cobra) Cave in Laos; Kaifu & Athreya (2024) do not consider this grouping to be well founded, noting that mandibular remains from Xujiayao lack the body to compare with the Xiahe mandible.Microchoerus erinaceus duplexSsp. novValidHookerPaleogeneA member of the family Omomyidae.OrogalagoGen. et sp. novMarivaux in Marivaux et al.Oligocene (Rupelian)Samlat FormationA probable member of Lorisiformes. The type species is O. saintexuperyi.OrolemurGen. et sp. novMarivaux in Marivaux et al.Oligocene (Rupelian)Samlat FormationA member of Strepsirrhini of uncertain affinities. The type species is O. mermozi.
Primate research A study on the frequency of caries in strepsirrhines and on implications for determining diet and health of fossil members of the group, based on data from extant strepsirrhines, Karanisia clarki and Megaladapis madagascariensis, is published by Selig et al. (2024). Chaimanee et al. (2024) describe the anatomy of the maxilla of Siamopithecus eocaenus and interpret the studied primate as an anthropoid belonging to the family Siamopithecidae. New fossil material of the Hispaniola monkey is described by Halenar-Price et al. (2024), who provide the first description of the complete anterior dentition of the studied monkey, and interpret the ranges of the body mass and the endocranial volumes of the studied specimens as indicating that the brain size of the Hispaniola monkey was not smaller than expected for its body mass. Evidence from the study of incisors of extant anthropoids, interpreted as indicative of mixed-feeding ecology of the Hispaniola monkey, is presented by Cobb et al. (2024). Bouchet et al. (2024) describe new fossil material of Pliobates cataloniae, and interpret this primate as a member of Pliopithecoidea belonging to the family Crouzeliidae. Evidence from the study of the enamel–dentine junction in the molars of Pliobates cataloniae, interpreted as supporting the classification of P. cataloniae as a crouzeliid pliopithecoid, is presented by Bouchet et al. (2024). Revision of the fossil material of Old World monkeys from the Pliocene Mount Galili Formation (Ethiopia), indicative of closer similarity of the studied faunal assemblage to monkey assemblages from the Kanapoi and Gona localities than to the one from Aramis, is published by Reda et al. (2024). Stan et al. (2024) revise fossil material of Plio–Pleistocene Old World monkeys from Romania, and interpret the studied monkeys as indicative of a mosaic habitat with open and forested areas. A molar of cf. Paradolichopithecus sp., possibly belonging to a previously unknown species, is described from the Pliocene strata from the Ridjake site (Serbia) by Radović et al. (2024). Pina & Nakatsukasa (2024) interpret the morphology of the ulna of Nacholapithecus kerioi as consistent with adaptations for quadrupedal behaviors, and sharing morphological features with ulnae of large papionins, chimpanzees and extinct taxa such as Equatorius. A study on the morphology of a thoracic vertebra of Nacholapithecus kerioi is published by Kikuchi et al. (2024). A study on the distribution of the cortical bone in the femoral neck of Nacholapithecus, and on its implications for the knowledge of the locomotor behavior of Nacholapithecus, is published by Tomizawa et al. (2024). Alba et al. (2024) describe new fossil material of Anoiapithecus brevirostris from the Miocene strata of the Abocador de Can Mata sequence in the Vallès-Penedès Basin (Spain). Russo et al. (2024) describe a partial postcranial skeleton of an ape from the Middle Miocene sediments of Napudet (Kenya), interpreting the studied specimen as having large forelimbs and likely relying on forelimb-dominated movement in the tree (possibly including vertical climbing) to a greater degree than most Early Miocene apes.