2012 in paleontology

Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils.^[1] This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 2012.

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Note: In 2012, the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature was amended, with new regulations allowing the publication of new names and nomenclatural acts in zoology after 2011, in works "produced in an edition containing simultaneously obtainable copies by a method that assures (...) widely accessible electronic copies with fixed content and layout", provided that the work is registered in ZooBank before it is published, the work itself states the date of publication with evidence that registration has occurred, and the ZooBank registration states both the name of an electronic archive intended to preserve the work and the ISSN or ISBN associated with the work.^[2][3] New scientific names appearing in electronic works are not required to be registered in ZooBank, only the works themselves are.^[2] Works containing descriptions of some of the taxa listed below were not printed on paper in 2012; however, the taxa that were described in works which were registered in ZooBank in 2012 are listed as valid.

Plants

Main article: 2012 in paleobotany

Arthropods

Main article: 2012 in arthropod paleontology

The following is a summary of the arthropods described in 2012

• 41 arachnids
• 105 crustaceans
• 362 insects
• 5 merostomatans
• 51 trilobites
• 9 other arthropods

Bryozoans

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Acupipora[4]	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Gorjunova & Weiss	Late Carboniferous		Russia	A member of Fenestellida. The type species is "Polypora" subborealis Schulga-Nesterenko (1951).
Admirandopora[5]	Nom. nov.	Valid	Ariunchimeg	Lower Carboniferous		Mongolia	A replacement name for the genus Admiranda Ariunchimeg, 1996.
Antoniettella[6]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Di Martino & Taylor	Early or middle Miocene		Indonesia	A cribrimorph ascophoran. The type species is Antoniettella exigua.
Argentinodictya[7]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Ernst & Carrera	Late Ordovician (Sandbian)		Argentina	A cryptostome bryozoan, a member of Ptilodictyina. The type species is Argentinodictya lenticulata.
Bigeyina ibera[8]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Ernst	Devonian		Spain	A member of Fenestrata.
Celleporina medoborensis[9]	Sp. nov	Valid	Hara & Jasionowski	Miocene (early Sarmatian)		Ukraine	A celleporid cheilostome bryozoan, a species of Celleporina.
Chasmatopora rossae[7]	Sp. nov	Valid	Ernst & Carrera	Late Ordovician (Sandbian)		Argentina	A phyloporinine, a species of Chasmatopora.
Dissotrypa punctata[8]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Ernst	Devonian		Spain	A member of Fenestrata.
Dissotrypa robusta[8]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Ernst	Devonian		Spain	A member of Fenestrata.
Eosemicoscinium serratum[8]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Ernst	Devonian		Spain	A member of Fenestrata.
Hemitrypa cantabrica[8]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Ernst	Devonian		Spain	A member of Fenestrata.
Iberofenestella[8]	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Ernst	Devonian		Spain	A member of Fenestrata. Genus includes new species I. wolfae.
Lunostoma[10]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Ernst, Taylor, Bohatý & Wyse Jackson	Middle Devonian		Germany	A cryptostome bryozoan. The type species is Lunostoma pulchra.
Parvohallopora parvula[7]	Sp. nov	Valid	Ernst & Carrera	Late Ordovician (Sandbian)		Argentina	A trepostome bryozoan, a species of Parvohallopora.
Paucipora akishinensis[4]	Sp. nov	Valid	Gorjunova & Weiss	Late Carboniferous (Moscovian)	Domodedovo Formation	Russia	A member of Fenestellida.
Prolixicella ibera[8]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Ernst	Devonian		Spain	A member of Fenestrata.
Prolixicella parva[8]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Ernst	Devonian		Spain	A member of Fenestrata.
Ptilodictya intermedia[7]	Sp. nov	Valid	Ernst & Carrera	Late Ordovician (Sandbian)		Argentina	A cryptostome bryozoan, a species of Ptilodictya.
Pyrisinella[11]	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Di Martino & Taylor	Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian)	Peedee Formation Prairie Bluff Chalk Ripley Formation	United States	A member of Cheilostomata belonging to the family Pyrisinellidae. The type species is "Setosinella" meniscacantha Taylor & McKinney (2006).
Rectifenestella elegantula[8]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Ernst	Devonian		Spain	A member of Fenestrata.
Rectifenestella villayandrensis[8]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Ernst	Devonian		Spain	A member of Fenestrata.
Rorypora[12]	Gen. et comb. nov.	Valid	Taylor	Jurassic		Switzerland	A new genus for "Diastopora" retiformis.
Setosinella perfluxa[11]	Sp. nov	Valid	Di Martino & Taylor	Miocene (Langhian)		Indonesia	A member of Cheilostomata belonging to the family Pyrisinellidae.
Spinisinella[11]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Di Martino & Taylor	Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian)		Czech Republic  Germany[13]	A member of Cheilostomata belonging to the family Pyrisinellidae. The type species is S. zagorseki.
Trigonodictya parvula[7]	Sp. nov	Valid	Ernst & Carrera	Late Ordovician (Sandbian)		Argentina	A cryptostome bryozoan, a species of Trigonodictya.

Brachiopods

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Amydroptychus markowitzi[14]	sp nov	Valid	Feldman et al.	Callovian	Mughanniyya Formation	Jordan	A tetrarhynchiid rhynchonellide, a species of Amydroptychus.
Anisopleurella tricostata[15]	Sp. nov	Valid	Rasmussen, Harper & Blodgett	Late Ordovician	Farewell Terrane	United States	A member of Strophomenida belonging to the group Plectambonitoidea and the family Sowerbyellidae.
Bolilaspirifer riccardii[16]	Sp. nov	Valid	Manceñido in Damborenea & Manceñido	Late Triassic		Argentina	A lepismatinid brachiopod, a species of Bolilaspirifer.
Burrirhynchia angustisinuata[17]	sp nov	Valid	Smirnova	Early Cretaceous		Russia	A cyclothyridid rhynchonellide, a species of Burrirhynchia.
Burrirhynchia latimarginata[17]	sp nov	Valid	Smirnova	Early Cretaceous		Russia	A cyclothyridid rhynchonellide, a species of Burrirhynchia.
Burrirhynchia oweni[17]	sp nov	Valid	Smirnova	Early Cretaceous		Russia	A cyclothyridid rhynchonellide, a species of Burrirhynchia.
Burrirhynchia subgrasiana[17]	sp nov	Valid	Smirnova	Early Cretaceous		Russia	A cyclothyridid rhynchonellide, a species of Burrirhynchia.
Callositella[15]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Rasmussen, Harper & Blodgett	Late Ordovician	Farewell Terrane	United States	A member of Orthida belonging to the group Enteletoidea and the family Saukrodictyidae. The type species is C. cheeneetnukensis.
Christiania aseptata[15]	Sp. nov	Valid	Rasmussen, Harper & Blodgett	Late Ordovician	Farewell Terrane	United States	A member of Strophomenida belonging to the family Christianiidae.
Cincinnetina[18]	Gen, sp. et comb. nov	Valid	Jin	Late Ordovician		United States	A dalmanellid brachiopod, with C. multisecta, C. meeki, C. minnesotensis
Craspedelia potterella[15]	Sp. nov	Valid	Rasmussen, Harper & Blodgett	Late Ordovician	Farewell Terrane	United States	A member of Strophomenida belonging to the group Plectambonitoidea and the family Bimuriidae.
Crurithyris tazawai[19]	sp nov	Valid	He et al..	Late Permian (Changhsingian)		China	An ambocoeliid brachiopod, a species of Crurithyris.
Cyclothyris aliformis[17]	sp nov	Valid	Smirnova	Early Cretaceous		Russia	A cyclothyridid rhynchonellide, a species of Burrirhynchia.
Cyclothyris alikentica[17]	sp nov	Valid	Smirnova	Early Cretaceous		Russia	A cyclothyridid rhynchonellide, a species of Burrirhynchia.
Cyclothyris burgemakensis[17]	sp nov	Valid	Smirnova	Early Cretaceous		Russia	A cyclothyridid rhynchonellide, a species of Burrirhynchia.
Cyclothyris dagestanica[17]	sp nov	Valid	Smirnova	Early Cretaceous		Russia	A cyclothyridid rhynchonellide, a species of Burrirhynchia.
Cyclothyris tenuicostata[17]	sp nov	Valid	Smirnova	Early Cretaceous		Russia	A cyclothyridid rhynchonellide, a species of Burrirhynchia.
Cyclothyris zudakharica[17]	sp nov	Valid	Smirnova	Early Cretaceous		Russia	A cyclothyridid rhynchonellide, a species of Burrirhynchia.
Daghanirhynchia susanae[14]	Species	Valid	Feldman et al.	Callovian	Mughanniyya Formation	Jordan	A tetrarhynchiid rhynchonellide, a species of Daghanirhynchia.
Duolobella[15]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Rasmussen, Harper & Blodgett	Late Ordovician	Farewell Terrane	United States	A member of Orthida belonging to the group Orthoidea and the family Orthidae. The type species is D. sandiae.
Eodmitria anauris[20]	sp nov	Valid	Oleneva	Late Devonian (middle Frasnian)		Russia	A cyrtospiriferid spiriferid, a species of Eodmitria.
Gatosella[21]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Benedetto	Middle Ordovician (early Darriwilian)	San Juan Formation	Argentina	A plectambonitoid brachiopod. The type species is Gatosella muricata.
Gelidorthis perisiberiaensis[15]	Sp. nov	Valid	Rasmussen, Harper & Blodgett	Late Ordovician	Farewell Terrane	United States	A member of Orthida belonging to the group Plectorthoidea and the family Plectorthidae.
Gracianella (Sublepida) paulula[22]	sp nov	Valid	Baliński	Early Devonian	Khudykivtsi Beds	Ukraine	An atrypinid brachiopod, a species of Gracianella.
Kentronetes giae[23]	Sp. nov	Valid	Racheboeuf in Racheboeuf et al.	Devonian (Lochkovian)	Uncía Formation	Bolivia	A chonetoid brachiopod belonging to the family Strophochonetidae.
Kuangshanotreta[24]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Wang et al.	Early Cambrian	Heilinpu Formation	China	An acrotretoid, a member of Lingulata. The type species is Kuangshanotreta malungensis.
Kudrjavzevina[17]	Gen. et 3 sp. nov	Valid	Smirnova	Early Cretaceous		Russia	A cyclothyridid rhynchonellide. Genus contains 3 species: K. ulluchaensis, K. regularis and K. fragilis.
Lamellaerhynchia latiovalis[17]	Sp. nov	Valid	Smirnova	Early Cretaceous		Russia	A praecyclothyridid rhynchonellide, a species of Lamellaerhynchia.
Leptaena (Septomena) alaskensis[15]	Sp. nov	Valid	Rasmussen, Harper & Blodgett	Late Ordovician	Farewell Terrane	United States	A member of Strophomenida belonging to the family Rafinesquinidae.
Lobachevina[17]	Gen. et 2 sp. nov	Valid	Smirnova	Early Cretaceous		Russia	A cyclothyridid rhynchonellide. Genus contains 2 new species: L. angusteinis and L. vagus.
Lynnica[25]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Madison	Ordovician		Russia	A member of Strophomenida. The type species is Lynnica fragilis.
Merglia[26]	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Franke	Devonian		Germany  Luxembourg	A member of the family Craniidae. The type species is "Philhedra" schwerdi Drevermann (1902).
Orthothrix sudoi[27]	Sp. nov	Valid	Tazawa	Permian (Changhsingian)	Toyoma Formation	Japan	A member of Productida belonging to the suborder Strophalosiidina and the family Strophalosiidae.
Oanduporella kuskokwimensis[15]	Sp. nov	Valid	Rasmussen, Harper & Blodgett	Late Ordovician	Farewell Terrane	United States	A member of Orthida belonging to the group Enteletoidea and the family Draboviidae.
Palaeowingella[15]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Rasmussen, Harper & Blodgett	Late Ordovician	Farewell Terrane	United States	A member of Orthida belonging to the group Orthoidea and the family Orthidae. The type species is P. farewellensis.
Petrocrania fabisziskyi[26]	Sp. nov	Valid	Franke	Devonian		Germany  Luxembourg	A member of the family Craniidae.
Petrocrania krautscheidensis[26]	Sp. nov	Valid	Franke	Devonian		Germany  Luxembourg	A member of the family Craniidae.
Plectodonta mariae pantherae[22]	Subsp nov	Valid	Baliński	Early Devonian	Khudykivtsi Beds	Ukraine	A sowerbyellid brachiopod, a subspecies of Plectodonta mariae.
Ptychoglyptus alaensis[15]	Sp. nov	Valid	Rasmussen, Harper & Blodgett	Late Ordovician	Farewell Terrane	United States	A member of Strophomenida belonging to the group Plectambonitoidea and the family Sowerbyellidae.
Rotutaspirifer[20]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Oleneva	Late Devonian (middle Frasnian)		Russia	A cyrtospiriferid spiriferid. The type species is Rotutaspirifer rotutus.
Sanjuanetes glemareci[23]	Sp. nov	Valid	Racheboeuf in Racheboeuf et al.	Silurian (Přídolí)	Muruhuta Shale Member	Bolivia	A chonetoid brachiopod belonging to the family Strophochonetidae.
Sharovaella[28]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Pakhnevich	Late Devonian (Famennian)		Russia	A punctate rhynchonellide brachiopod. The type species is Sharovaella mirabilis.
Skenidioides tatyanae[22]	sp nov	Valid	Baliński	Early Devonian	Khudykivtsi Beds	Ukraine	A skenidiid brachiopod, a species of Skenidioides.
Sowerbyella (Rugosowerbyella) praecursor[15]	Sp. nov	Valid	Rasmussen, Harper & Blodgett	Late Ordovician	Farewell Terrane	United States	A member of Strophomenida belonging to the group Plectambonitoidea and the family Sowerbyellidae.
Sowerbyella (Sowerbyella) rectangularis[15]	Sp. nov	Valid	Rasmussen, Harper & Blodgett	Late Ordovician	Farewell Terrane	United States	A member of Strophomenida belonging to the group Plectambonitoidea and the family Sowerbyellidae.
Strophatrypa[29]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Boucot, Blodgett & Rohr	Late Silurian		United States	A member of Atrypida belonging to the family Atrypidae. The type species is S. skaflestadi.
Sulcirhynchia insolitus[17]	Sp. nov	Valid	Smirnova	Early Cretaceous		Russia	A praecyclothyridid rhynchonellide, a species of Sulcirhynchia.
Terrakea nabekoshiyamensis[27]	Sp. nov	Valid	Tazawa	Permian (Changhsingian)	Toyoma Formation	Japan	A member of Productida belonging to the suborder Productidina and the family Linoproductidae.
Transridgeia[15]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Rasmussen, Harper & Blodgett	Ordovician (late Darriwilian–early Sandbian)	Farewell Terrane	United States	A member of Strophomenida belonging to the family Strophomenidae. The type species is T. costata.

Molluscs

Main article: 2012 in molluscan paleontology

The following is a summary of the Molluscs described in 2012

• 54 ammonites
• 14 other cephalopods
• 52 gastropods
• 15 other molluscs

Echinoderms

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Anatifopsis fillmorensis[30]	Sp. nov	Valid	Sumrall et al.	Early Ordovician		United States	A mitrate, a species of Anatifopsis.
Anatifopsis ninemilensis[30]	Sp. nov	Valid	Sumrall et al.	Early Ordovician	McKelligon Canyon Formation Ninemile Shale	United States	A mitrate, a species of Anatifopsis.
Andymetra[31]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Hess	Early Bathonian		France	A comatulid crinoid. The type species is Andymetra galei.
Aorocrinus meyeri[32]	Sp. nov	Valid	Ausich & Roeser	Late Kinderhookian	Cuyahoga Formation	United States	A camerate crinoid, a species of Aorocrinus.
Aphelecrinus gracilis[33]	Sp. nov	Valid	Kammer & Roeser	Kinderhookian	Cuyahoga Formation	United States	A cladid crinoid, a species of Aphelecrinus.
Apiocrinites negevensis[34]	Sp. nov	Valid	Ausich & Wilson	Middle Jurassic (Callovian)	Matmor Formation	Israel	An apiocrinitid crinoid, a species of Apiocrinites.
Aryballocrinus martini[32]	Sp. nov	Valid	Ausich & Roeser	Late Kinderhookian	Cuyahoga Formation	United States	A camerate crinoid, a species of Aryballocrinus.
Atelestocrinus meszarosi[33]	Sp. nov	Valid	Kammer & Roeser	Kinderhookian	Cuyahoga Formation	United States	A cladid crinoid, a species of Atelestocrinus.
Brissopsis (Kleinia) riccardii[35]	Sp. nov	Valid	Parma	Eocene to Oligocene or early Miocene		Argentina	A brissopsid echinoid, a species of Brissopsis.
Calceocrinus balticensis[36]	Sp. nov	Valid	Ausich, Wilson & Vinn	Silurian (Llandovery)		Estonia	A disparid crinoid belonging to the group Calceocrinida.
Ctenoimbricata[37]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Zamora, Rahman & Smith	Cambrian		Spain	A stem group echinoderm. The type species is Ctenoimbricata spinosa.
Cuyahogacrinus[33]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Kammer & Roeser	Kinderhookian	Cuyahoga Formation	United States	A cladid crinoid. The type species is Cuyahogacrinus lodiensis.
Cyathocrinites simplex[33]	Sp. nov	Valid	Kammer & Roeser	Kinderhookian	Cuyahoga Formation	United States	A cladid crinoid, a species of Cyathocrinites.
Cyrtocrinus praenutans[31]	Sp. nov	Valid	Hess	Early Bathonian		France	A cyrtocrinid crinoid, a species of Cyrtocrinus.
Desmidocrinus laevigatus[36]	Sp. nov	Valid	Ausich, Wilson & Vinn	Silurian (Pridoli)	Kaugatuma Formation	Estonia	A camerate crinoid belonging to the group Monobathrida.
Diploblastus fadigai[38]	Sp. nov	Valid	Atwood & Sumrall	Carboniferous (Mississippian)	Glen Dean Formation	United States	A blastoid, a species of Diploblastus.
Drepanocystis[30]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Sumrall et al.	Early Ordovician	Wah Wah Limestone	USA	A possible solute. The type species is Drepanocystis dubius.
Eucalyptocrinites tumidus[36]	Sp. nov	Valid	Ausich, Wilson & Vinn	Silurian (Pridoli)	Kaugatuma Formation	Estonia	A camerate crinoid belonging to the group Monobathrida.
Faorina maullui[39]	Sp. nov	Valid	Stara & Borghi	Early Miocene		Italy	A pericosmid sea urchin, a species of Faorina.
Gastrocrinus leunisseni[40]	Sp. nov	Valid	Franke	Devonian		Germany	A cladid crinoid belonging to the family Botryocrinidae.
Goniocrinus sceletus[33]	Sp. nov	Valid	Kammer & Roeser	Kinderhookian	Cuyahoga Formation	United States	A cladid crinoid, a species of Goniocrinus.
Heckerocrinus[41]	Nom nov.	Valid	Doweld	Ordovician			A replacement name for the crinoid genus Bockia Hecker 1940.
Leadagmara[42]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid[43]	Thuy et al.	Late Triassic (early Carnian)		Japan	An ophiacanthid brittle star. The type species is Leadagmara gracilispina.
Lebetocrinus ohioensis[33]	Sp. nov	Valid	Kammer & Roeser	Kinderhookian	Cuyahoga Formation	United States	A cladid crinoid, a species of Lebetocrinus.
Neotaxocrinus[44]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Mirantsev	Late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian)		Russia	A taxocrinid crinoid. The type species is Neotaxocrinus arendti.
Palaeocomaster messingi[31]	Sp. nov	Valid	Hess	Early Bathonian		France	A comatulid crinoid, a species of Palaeocomaster.
Paradiabolocrinus teres[45]	Sp. nov	Valid	Hearn & Deline	Late Ordovician	Lexington Limestone	United States	A camerate crinoid belonging to the group Diplobathra and the family Rhodocrinitidae.
Pentacrinites ausichi[31]	Sp. nov	Valid	Hess	Late Bajocian or early Bathonian		France	A species of Pentacrinites.
Pentremites fredericki[38]	Sp. nov	Valid	Atwood & Sumrall	Carboniferous (Mississippian)	Glen Dean Formation	United States	A blastoid, a species of Pentremites.
Pentremites meganae[38]	Sp. nov	Valid	Atwood & Sumrall	Carboniferous (Mississippian)	Glen Dean Formation	United States	A blastoid, a species of Pentremites.
Phyllocrinus voultensis[31]	Sp. nov	Valid	Hess	Early Bathonian		France	A cyrtocrinid crinoid, a species of Phyllocrinus.
Phymosoma ravni[46]	Sp nov.	Valid	Schlüter et al.	Late Cretaceous		Western Europe and Middle East	A phymosomatoid sea urchin, a species of Phymosoma.
Platycrinites burkei[32]	Sp. nov	Valid	Ausich & Roeser	Late Kinderhookian	Cuyahoga Formation	United States	A camerate crinoid, a species of Platycrinites sensu lato.
Praetetracrinus bathonicus[31]	Sp. nov	Valid	Hess	Early Bathonian		France	A cyrtocrinid crinoid, a species of Praetetracrinus.
Propoteriocrinus hosingeni[40]	Sp. nov	Valid	Franke	Devonian		Germany  Luxembourg	A cladid crinoid belonging to the family Glossocrinidae.
Pygolampas[47]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Saucède, Dudicourt & Courville	Early Cretaceous (Early Hauterivian)		France	A sea urchin. The type species is Pygolampas edita.
Saaremaacrinus[36]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Ausich, Wilson & Vinn	Silurian (Pridoli)	Kaugatuma Formation	Estonia	A camerate crinoid belonging to the group Monobathrida. The type species is S. estoniensis.
Salvaster[47]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Saucède, Dudicourt & Courville	Early Cretaceous (Early Hauterivian)		France	A sea urchin. The type species is Salvaster roberti.
Scutellacrinus[31]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Hess	Late Bajocian or early Bathonian		France	A cyrtocrinid crinoid. The type species is Scutellacrinus tenuis.
Segmentocolumnus (col.) hanshessi[48]	Sp. nov	Valid	Donovan et al.	Middle Ordovician (latest Darriwilian)		China	Probably a stem-group cladid crinoid, possibly a dendrocrinid; a species of Segmentocolumnus.
Singillatimetra[31]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Hess	Early Bathonian		France	A comatulid crinoid. The type species is Singillatimetra inordinata.
Solanocrinites voultensis[31]	Sp. nov	Valid	Hess	Early Bathonian		France	A comatulid crinoid, a species of Solanocrinites.
Thylechinus (Thylechinus) sinaiensis[49]	Sp. nov	Valid	Abdelhamid & Azab	Turonian		Egypt	A phymosomatid echinoid, a species of Thylechinus.
Toxaster dakhlensis[49]	Sp. nov	Valid	Abdelhamid & Azab	Turonian		Egypt	A toxasterid echinoid, a species of Thylechinus.
Tripatagus[50]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Zachos	Oligocene (Rupelian)	Marianna Limestone	United States	A heart urchin belonging to the group Micrasterina. The type species is T. pittsi.
Yanjiahella[51]	Gen. et 3 sp. nov	Valid	Guo et al.	Early Cambrian	Yanjiahe Formation	China	An animal of uncertain phylogenetic position, a possible relative of echinoderms. Genus contains Yanjiahella ancarpa (the type species), Y. monocarpa and Y. biscarpa.

Ascidians

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Burykhia[52]	Gen. et sp.	Valid	Fedonkin et al.	Vendian	Verkhovka Formation or Ust-Pinega Formation	Russia	An ausiid, a possible ascidian, Its type species is Burykhia hunti.

Conodonts

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Carnepigondolella angulata[53]	Sp nov	Valid	Mazza, Cau & Rigo	Late Triassic		Canada[54]  Italy	Originally described as a species of Carnepigondolella; Orchard (2014) transferred this species to the genus Quadralella.[54]
Carnepigondolella gulloae[55]	Sp nov	Valid	Mazza, Rigo & Gullo	Late Triassic	Scillato Formation	Italy	A species of Carnepigondolella.
Carnepigondolella tuvalica[55]	Sp nov	Valid	Mazza, Rigo & Gullo	Late Triassic	Scillato Formation	Italy	A species of Carnepigondolella.
Caudicriodus schoenlaubi[56]	Sp nov	Valid	Drygant & Szaniawski	Early Devonian (middle to late Lochkovian)	Chortkiv Formation	Ukraine	An icriodontid, a species of Caudicriodus.
Epigondolella heinzi[53]	Sp nov	Valid	Mazza, Cau & Rigo	Late Triassic		Italy	A species of Epigondolella.
Epigondolella miettoi[53]	Sp nov	Valid	Mazza, Cau & Rigo	Late Triassic		Italy	A species of Epigondolella.
Idiognathodus espinamaenis[57]	Sp. nov	Valid	Méndez	Carboniferous (Moscovian)		Spain
Idiognathodus mendezi[57]	Sp. nov	Valid	Méndez	Carboniferous (Moscovian)		Spain
Meiognathus[58]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Shen et al.	Permian (Kungurian)		Japan	A member of Ozarkodinida belonging to the family Sweetognathidae. The type species is Meiognathus pustulus.
Muellerina[59]	Gen. et sp. nov	Junior homonym	Bardashev & Bardasheva	Middle Devonian (Givetian)		Tajikistan	The type species is Muellerina idrisovi. The generic name turned out to be preoccupied by Muellerina Bassiouni (1965); Bardashev & Bardasheva (2013) subsequently renamed the conodont genus Muellerilepis.[60]
Nealeodus[61]	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Stouge	Middle Ordovician		Canada	A new genus for "Lenodus" martinpointensis (Johnston and Barnes, 2000).
Norigondolella trinacriae[53]	Sp nov	Valid	Mazza, Cau & Rigo	Late Triassic		Italy	Originally described as a species of Norigondolella; Karádi, Kozur & Görögt (2013) considered it more likely to be a species of Paragondolella.[62]
Pandorinellina? parva[56]	Sp nov	Valid	Drygant & Szaniawski	Early Devonian (late Lochkovian or Pragian)	Ivanye Formation	Ukraine	A spathognathodontid, possibly a species of Pandorinellina.
Periodon hankensis[61]	Sp nov	Valid	Stouge	Middle Ordovician		Canada	A species of Periodon.
Polygnathus chongqingensis[63]	Sp. nov	Valid	Wang in Gong et al.	Devonian		China
Pseudopolygnathus inordinatus[64]	Nom. nov	Valid	Tragelehn & Hartenfels	Devonian (Famennian)		Germany	A replacement name for Pseudopolygnathus irregularis Tragelehn & Hartenfels (2011) (preoccupied by Pseudopolygnathus irregularis Branson, 1934).
Spinodus wardi[61]	Sp nov	Valid	Stouge	Middle Ordovician		Canada	A species of Spinodus.

Fishes

Main article: 2012 in fish paleontology

During 2012, 81 new species of fish were described.

Amphibians

Research

• A study of the braincase of Eocaecilia micropodia and a phylogenetic analysis of non-amniote tetrapods is published by Hillary C. Maddin, Farish A. Jenkins Jr and Jason S. Anderson (2012).^[65]
• A study of anatomy and relationships of Solenodonsaurus janenschi is published by Marylène Danto, Florian Witzmann and Johannes Müller (2012).^[66]
• A study of limb joint mobility of Ichthyostega is published by Stephanie E. Pierce, Jennifer A. Clack and John R. Hutchinson (2012).^[67]

New taxa

Newly named basal tetrapods

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Ymeria[68]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Clack, Ahlberg, Blom & Finney	Famennian	Celsius Bjerg Group	Greenland	A stem tetrapod closely related to Ichthyostega.

Newly named temnospondyls

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Arachana[69]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Piñeiro, Ramos & Marsicano	? Late Permian	Buena Vista Formation	Uruguay	A rhinesuchid-like stereospondyl.
Benthosuchus gusevae[70]	Sp. nov	Valid	Novikov	Early Triassic	Kamennyi Yar Formation	Russia	A trematosauroid.
Cacops woehri[71]	Sp. nov	Valid	Fröbisch & Reisz	Leonardian		USA	A dissorophid.
Microposaurus averyi[72]	Sp nov	Valid	Warren	Anisian	Rouse Hill Siltstone	Australia	A trematosaurine stereospondyl, a species of Microposaurus.	Microposaurus averyi.
Nyranerpeton[73]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Werneburg	Late Carboniferous		Czech Republic	A micromelerpetontid.[74] The type species is Nyranerpeton amilneri.[73]
Platyrhinops fritschi[73]	Sp. nov	Valid	Werneburg	Late Carboniferous		Czech Republic	An amphibamiform. Originally described as a species of Platyrhinops, but subsequently made the type species of a separate genus Anthracobamus.[75]
Qantas[76]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Novikov	Early Triassic	Kamennyi Yar Formation	Russia	A trematosauroid temnospondyl. The type species is Qantas samarensis.
Sclerocephalus stambergi[77]	Sp nov	Valid	Klembara & Steyer	Early Permian	Boskovice Basin	Czech Republic	A stereospondylomorph, a species of Sclerocephalus.
Trematosuchoides[76]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Novikov	Triassic	Cynognathus Assemblage Zone	South Africa	A trematosaurid temnospondyl. The type species is Trematosuchoides africanus.

Newly named lepospondyls

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Altenglanerpeton[78]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Glienke	Gzhelian or Asselian	Altenglan Formation	Germany	A microsaur with an elongated body.

Newly named lissamphibians

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Albionbatrachus oligocenicus[79]	Sp. nov	Valid[80]	Venczel, Codrea & Fărcaş	Early Oligocene		Romania	A palaeobatrachid frog, a species of Albionbatrachus.
Bakonybatrachus[81]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Szentesi & Venczel	Santonian	Csehbánya Formation	Hungary	A discoglossine discoglossid.
Beiyanerpeton[82]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Gao & Shubin	Oxfordian	Tiaojishan Formation	China	A salamandroid. The type species is Beiyanerpeton jianpingensis.
Calyptocephalella satan[83]	Sp. nov	Valid	Agnolin	Late Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian)	Allen Formation	Argentina	A member of Calyptocephalellidae, a relative of the helmeted water toad.
Gigantobatrachus casamiquelai[83]	Sp. nov	Valid	Agnolin	Paleocene		Argentina	A member of Calyptocephalellidae, a species of Gigantobatrachus.
Piceoerpeton naylori[84]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Gardner	Latest Cretaceous (late Maastrichtian), possibly also early Paleocene		United States	A scapherpetontid salamander, a species of Piceoerpeton.
Rana auscitana[85]	Nom. nov	Valid	Martín, Alonso-Zarazaga & Sanchiz	Middle Miocene		France	A replacement name for Rana pygmaea Lartet (1851).
Rana cadurcorum[85]	Nom. nov	Junior synonym	Martín, Alonso-Zarazaga & Sanchiz	Eocene	Quercy Phosphorites	France	A replacement name for Rana plicata Filhol (1877). Reinterpreted as a junior synonym of Thaumastosaurus gezei by Laloy et al. (2013).[86]
Rana sendoa[85]	Nom. nov	Valid	Martín, Alonso-Zarazaga & Sanchiz	Late Pleistocene		Germany	A replacement name for Rana robusta Brunner (1956).
Seminobatrachus[87]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Skutschas & Gubin	late Paleocene - early Eocene		Ukraine	A urodelan salamander
Uberabatrachus[88]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Báez et al.	Maastrichtian	Marília Formation	Brazil	A neobatrachian, a possible member of Nobleobatrachia. The type species is Uberabatrachus carvalhoi.

Parareptiles

Newly named parareptiles

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Feeserpeton[89]	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Macdougall & Reisz	Early Permian		United States	A lanthanosuchoid. The type species is Feeserpeton oklahomensis.
Lasasaurus[90]	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Falconnet et al.	Lower Triassic	Middle Sakamena Formation	Madagascar	A procolophonid. The type species is Lasasaurus beltanae.

Ichthyopterygians

Newly named ichthyosaurs

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Acamptonectes[91]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Fischer et al..	Hauterivian–Cenomanian	Cambridge Greensand Formation	United Kingdom	An ophthalmosaurid. Type species is Acamptonectes densus.	Skull roof of Acamptonectes densus.
Cryopterygius[92]	Gen. et sp. nov	Disputed	Druckenmiller et al.	Late Jurassic	Agardhfjellet Formation	Norway	An ophthalmosaurid. The type species is Cryopterygius kristiansenae. Zverkov & Efimov (2019) considered this species to be synonymous with Undorosaurus gorodischensis,[93] while Delsett et al. (2019) considered it to be a distinct species, albeit possibly belonging to the genus Undorosaurus.[94]
Palvennia[92]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Druckenmiller et al.	Late Jurassic	Agardhfjellet Formation	Norway	An ophthalmosaurid. The type species is Palvennia hoybergeti. Zverkov & Prilepskaya (2019) considered Palvennia to be a junior synonym of the genus Arthropterygius, though the authors maintained P. hoybergeti as a distinct species within the latter genus;[95] Delsett et al. (2019) rejected this synonymy.[94]
Stenopterygius aaleniensis[96]	Sp. nov	Valid	Maxwell, Fernández & Schoch	Aalenian		Germany	A species of Stenopterygius.	The holotype of Stenopterygius aaleniensis.
Temnodontosaurus azerguensis[97]	Sp. nov	Valid	Martin et al.	Middle Toarcian		France	A species of Temnodontosaurus.

Lepidosauromorphs

Newly named saurosphargids

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Largocephalosaurus[98]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Cheng, Chen, Zeng & Cai	Middle Triassic	Guanling Formation	China	Initially thought to be an eosauropterygian sauropterygian and a relative of Wumengosaurus, pachypleurosaurs and nothosauroids,[98] but subsequently reinterpreted as member of Saurosphargidae (a non-sauropterygian diapsid, though related to sauropterygians), closely related to Saurosphargis and Sinosaurosphargis.[99] The type species is Largocephalosaurus polycarpon.

Newly named sauropterygians

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Albertonectes[100]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Kubo, Mitchell & Henderson	Upper Campanian	Bearpaw Formation	Canada	An elasmosaurid. The type species is Albertonectes vanderveldei.	Albertonectes vanderveldei.
Anningasaura[101]	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Vincent & Benson	Early Jurassic		United Kingdom	A basal member of Plesiosauria. The type species is Anningasaura lymense.
Avalonnectes[102]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Benson, Evans & Druckenmiller	Early Jurassic, most likely earliest Hettangian.	Blue Lias Formation	United Kingdom	A rhomaleosaurid. The type species is Avalonnectes arturi.	Avalonnectes.
Djupedalia[103]	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Knutsen, Druckenmiller & Hurum	Late Jurassic	Agardhfjellet Formation	Norway	A long-necked plesiosaurian. The type species is Djupedalia engeri.
Dolichorhynchops tropicensis[104]	Sp. nov.	Valid	McKean	Early Turonian	Tropic Shale	United States	Originally described as a third species of Dolichorhynchops, Clark, O'Keefe & Slack (2023) later moved it to the distinct genus Scalamagnus.[105]
Eoplesiosaurus[102]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Benson, Evans & Druckenmiller	Early Jurassic, most likely earliest Hettangian.		United Kingdom	A basal plesiosauroid. The type species is Eoplesiosaurus antiquior.	Eoplesiosaurus.
Hastanectes[106]	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid[107]	Benson et al.	Early Cretaceous		United Kingdom	A new genus for "Cimoliasaurus" valdensis
Lusonectes[108]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Smith, Araújo & Mateus	Toarcian	São Gião Formation	Portugal	A plesiosaurid plesiosaur.
Pliosaurus funkei[109]	Sp. nov	Valid	Knutsen, Druckenmiller & Hurum	Late Jurassic	Agardhfjellet Formation	Norway	A species of Pliosaurus.
Qianxisaurus[110]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Cheng et al.	Middle Triassic (Ladinian)	Falang Formation	China	An eosauropterygian, a relative of pachypleurosaurs and nothosauroids. The type species is Qianxisaurus chajiangensis.
Spitrasaurus[111]	Gen. et 2 sp. nov.	Valid	Knutsen, Druckenmiller & Hurum	Late Jurassic	Agardhfjellet Formation	Norway	A long-necked plesiosaurian. Genus contains two species: Spitrasaurus wensaasi and S. larseni.
Stratesaurus[102]	Gen. et sp.	Valid	Benson, Evans & Druckenmiller	Early Jurassic, most likely earliest Hettangian.	Blue Lias Formation	United Kingdom	A rhomaleosaurid. The type species is Stratesaurus taylori	Stratesaurus.
Vectocleidus[106]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid[107]	Benson et al.	Early Cretaceous (late Barremian)	Vectis Formation	United Kingdom	A leptocleidid. The type species is Vectocleidus pastorum.

Newly named rhynchocephalians

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Oenosaurus[112]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Rauhut et al.	Late Jurassic (early Tithonian)	Mörnsheim Formation	Germany	A sphenodontid rhynchocephalian. The type species is Oenosaurus muehlheimensis.
Sphenocondor[113]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Apesteguía, Gómez & Rougier	Middle Jurassic		Argentina	A rhynchocephalian lepidosaur. The type species is Sphenocondor gracilis.

Squamates

Research

• A large phylogenetic analysis of living and fossil squamates is published by Jacques A. Gauthier et al. (2012).^[114]
• A study of squamate diversity in North America during the latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) and the impact of Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event on the diversity of the group is published by Nicholas R. Longrich, Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar and Jacques A. Gauthier (2012).^[115]

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Chianghsia[116]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Mo, Xu & Evans	Late Cretaceous	Nanxiong Formation	China	A platynotan lizard, probably a monstersaurian. The type species is Chianghsia nankangensis.
Dornosaurus[117]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Alifanov	Eocene		Mongolia	An arretosaurid iguanian. The type species is Dornosaurus gobiensis.
Eremiasaurus[118]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Leblanc, Caldwell & Bardet	Maastrichtian		Morocco	A mosasaur.
Ergiliinsaurus[117]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Alifanov	Oligocene	Ergiliin Zoo Formation	Mongolia	An arretosaurid iguanian. The type species is Ergiliinsaurus postumus.
Jucaraseps[119]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Bolet & Evans	Early Cretaceous		Spain	A lizard related to scleroglossan lizards. The type species is Jucaraseps grandipes.
Khaichinguana[117]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Alifanov	Eocene	Khaychin Formation	Mongolia	An arretosaurid iguanian. The type species is Khaichinguana eocaenica.
Louisamphisbaena[120]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Augé	Eocene (Bartonian)		France	An amphisbaenian lizard, possibly a member of Blanidae. The type species is Louisamphisbaena ferox.
Pannoniasaurus[121]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Makádi, Caldwell & Ősi	Late Cretaceous (Santonian)	Ajka Coal Formation Csehbánya Formation	Hungary	A tethysaurine mosasauroid closely related to Tethysaurus, Russellosaurus and Yaguarasaurus. The type species is Pannoniasaurus inexpectatus.
?Placosaurus ragei[122]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Sullivan et al.	Earliest Eocene		Belgium	A glyptosaurine anguid lizard. Originally described as a possible species of Placosaurus; Čerňanský et al. (2024) transferred it to the genus Gaultia.[123]
Pseudomimeosaurus[124]	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Alifanov	Late Cretaceous	Djadochta Formation	Mongolia	A pleurodontagamid iguanian lizard; a new genus for "Mimeosaurus" tugrikinensis Alifanov (1989).
Pseudopus ahnikoviensis[125]	Sp. nov	Valid	Klembara	Early Miocene		Czech Republic	An anguid, a species of Pseudopus.
Purbicella[126]	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Evans, Jones & Matsumoto	Early Cretaceous	Purbeck Limestone Group	United Kingdom	A member of Lacertoidea. The type species isPurbicella ragei.
Ragesaurus[127]	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Bailon & Auge	Early Pleistocene		Spain	An anguid lizard. The type species is Ragesaurus medasensis.
Sphaerodactylus ciguapa[128]	Sp. nov	Valid	Daza & Bauer	Late Early Miocene or early Middle Miocene (20 to 15 MYA)		Dominican Republic	A sphaerodactylid gecko found in Dominican amber, a species of Sphaerodactylus.
Telmasaurus bialynickae[124]	Sp. nov	Valid	Alifanov	Late Cretaceous	Barun Goyot Formation	Mongolia	A varanoid lizard, a species of Telmasaurus.
Uquiasaurus[129]	Gen. et sp. nov	Disputed	Daza et al.	Late Pliocene	Uquía Formation	Argentina	An iguanian lizard. The type species is Uquiasaurus heptanodonta. Scanferla & Díaz-Fernández (2023) reinterpreted the type series of this species as a fossil bone assemblage composed by more than one species of Liolaemus.[130]
Varanus (Varaneades) amnhophilis[131]	Subgen. et sp. nov	Disputed	Conrad, Balcarcel & Mehling	Miocene (Turolian)	Mytilini Formation	Greece	A monitor lizard. Villa et al. (2018) considered this species to be likely junior synonym of Varanus marathonensis.[132]

Turtles

Research

• A large phylogenetic analysis of basal turtles is published by Jérémy Anquetin (2012).^[133]

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Allopleuron qazaqstanense[134]	Sp. nov	Valid	Karl, Gröning & Brauckmann	Eocene (Lutetian)		Kazakhstan	A member of Cheloniidae, a species of Allopleuron.
Axestemys cerevisia[135]	sp nov	Valid	Vitek	Eocene	Bridger Formation	United States	A trionychid, a species of Axestemys.
Axestemys montinsana[135]	sp nov	Valid	Vitek	Paleocene	Denver Formation Fort Union Formation Melville Formation	United States	A trionychid, a species of Axestemys.
Ballerstedtia[136]	Gen. et comb. et sp. nov	Valid	Karl et al.	Early Cretaceous		Germany  United Kingdom	A member of Paracryptodira, a new genus for "Pleurosternon" typocardium Seeley (1869). Genus also contains a new species Ballerstedtia bueckebergensis.
Bashuchelys[137]	Gen. et comb. et sp. nov	Valid	Tong, Danilov, Ye, Ouyang & Peng	Middle Jurassic	Xiashaximiao Formation	China	A bashuchelyid cryptodiran, a new genus for "Chengyuchelys" zigongensis (Ye, 1982). Genus also contains a new species Bashuchelys youngi.
Berruchelus[138]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Pérez-García	Upper Paleocene		France	A paracryptodiran closely related to Compsemys. The type species is Berruchelus russelli.
Carbonemys[139]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Cadena et al.	Late Palaeocene	Cerrejón Formation	Colombia	A podocnemidid turtle. The type species is Carbonemys cofrinii.
Chuannanchelys[137]	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Tong, Danilov, Ye, Ouyang & Peng	Middle Jurassic	Xiashaximiao Formation	China	A bashuchelyid cryptodiran, a new genus for "Chengyuchelys" dashanpuensis (Fang, 1987).
Foxemys trabanti[140]	sp nov	Valid	Rabi, Tong & Botfalvai	Santonian	Csehbánya Formation	Hungary	A bothremydid, a species of Foxemys.
Galvechelone[141]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Pérez-García & Murelaga	Early Cretaceous		Spain	A cryptodiran turtle. The type species is Galvechelone lopezmartinezae.
Guangdongemys[142]	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Claude et al.	Late Eocene		China	A geoemydid turtle. The type species is Guangdongemys pingi.
Hoyasemys[143]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Pérez-García, Fuente & Ortega	Late Barremian	Calizas de La Huérguina Formation	Spain	A basal eucryptodiran.
Iberoccitanemys[144]	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Pérez-García, Ortega & Murelaga	Late Campanian to Maastrichtian		France  Spain	A bothremydid, a new genus for "Elochelys" convenarum (Laurent et al. 2002). Pérez-García, Ortega & Murelaga (2021) considered I. convenarum to be a junior synonym of "Polysternon" atlanticum, resulting in a new combination Iberoccitanemys atlanticum.[145]
Kinosternon pojoaque[146]	Species	Valid	Bourque	Middle Miocene		United States	A species of Kinosternon.
Kinosternon skullridgescens[147]	Species	Valid	Bourque	Early middle Miocene	Tesuque Formation	United States	A species of Kinosternon.
Larachelus[148]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Pérez-García & Murelaga	Early Cretaceous (late Hauterivian–early Barremian)	Pinilla de los Moros Formation	Spain	A basal member of Pan-Cryptodira (the clade containing living cryptodirans and all extinct turtles that were more closely related to them than to pleurodirans). The type species is Larachelus morla.
Oertelia[149]	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Karl, Biermann & Tichy	Early Cretaceous (early Aptian)		Germany	A toxochelyid sea turtle, a new genus for "Toxochelys" gigantea Oertel (1914).
Peligrochelys[150]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid[151]	Sterli & de la Fuente	Palaeocene	Salamanca Formation	Argentina	A relative of meiolaniids. The type species is Peligrochelys walshae.
Polysternon isonae[152]	Species	Valid	Marmi et al..	Late Maastrichtian		Spain	A bothremydid, a species of Polysternon.
Protoxinjiangchelys[137]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Tong, Danilov, Ye, Ouyang & Peng	Middle Jurassic	Xiashaximiao Formation	China	A xinjiangchelyid cryptodiran.
Puentemys[153]	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Cadena, Bloch & Jaramillo	Paleocene	Cerrejón Formation	Colombia	A bothremydid turtle. The type species is Puentemys mushaisaensis.
Rhinoclemmys panamaensis[154]	Sp nov	Valid	Cadena et al.	Miocene	Cucaracha Formation	Panama	A geoemydid turtle, a species of Rhinoclemmys.
Staurotypus moschus[154]	Sp nov	Valid	Cadena et al.	Miocene	Cucaracha Formation	Panama	A kinosternid turtle, a species of Staurotypus.
Tasbacka danica[155]	Sp. nov	Valid	Karl & Madsen	Early Eocene	Fur Formation	Denmark	A member of Cheloniidae, a species of Tasbacka.
Terrapene parornata[156]	Sp nov	Valid	Joyce et al..	Miocene/Pliocene boundary		United States	A box turtle.
Yuchelys[157]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Tong et al.	Late Cretaceous	Gaogou Formation	China	A nanhsiungchelyid cryptodiran. The type species is Yuchelys nanyangensis.

Archosauromorphs

Newly named basal archosauromorphs

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Chanaresuchus ischigualastensis[158]	sp nov	Valid	Trotteyn, Martínez & Alcober	Late Triassic	Ischigualasto Formation	Argentina	A proterochampsian archosauriform. Originally described as a species of Chanaresuchus;[158] subsequently made the type species of a separate genus Pseudochampsa by Trotteyn & Ezcurra (2014).[159]
Diandongosuchus[160]	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Li et al.	Middle Triassic (Ladinian)	Falang Formation	China	A member of Archosauriformes of uncertain phylogenetic placement. Originally classified as a poposauroid pseudosuchian,[160] but subsequently argued to be a phytosaur.[161][162] The type species is Diandongosuchus fuyuanensis.	Diandongosuchus fuyuanensis.
Doswellia sixmilensis[163]	sp nov	Valid	Heckert, Lucas & Spielmann	Late Triassic	Bluewater Creek Formation	United States	A doswelliid archosauromorph. Originally described as a species of Doswellia; Wynd et al. (2020) transferred it to the separate genus Rugarhynchos.[164]
Protome[165]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Stocker	Late Triassic	Chinle Formation	USA	A phytosaur. The type species is Protome batalaria.

Archosaurs

Main article: 2012 in archosaur paleontology

The following is a summary of the archosaurs described in 2012

• 8 pseudosuchians
• 1 basal dinosauriform
• 40 non-avian dinosaurs
• 64 birds
• 9 pterosaurs
• 1 archosaur of uncertain phylogenetic placement

Synapsids

Non-mammalian synapsids

Research

• A phylogenetic analysis of basal synapsids is published by Roger B. J. Benson (2012).^[166]

New taxa

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Fortunodon[167]	Gen. et comb. nov	Valid	Kurkin	Upper Permian		Russia	A dicynodont, a new genus for "Dicynodon" trautscholdi (Amalitzky, 1922) (considered to be a senior synonym of Vivaxosaurus permirus and assigned to the genus Vivaxosaurus by Kammerer et al., 2011).[168] "Dicynodon" amalitzkii (Sushkin, 1926) is considered by Kurkin (2012) to be a second species of Fortunodon[167] (Kammerer et al., 2011 classify it as the type species of the genus Peramodon.[168])
Novocynodon[169]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Ivakhnenko	Middle Permian		Russia	A thrinaxodontid cynodont. The type species is Novocynodon kutorgai.
Pampaphoneus[170]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Cisneros, Abdala, et al.	Guadalupian (Middle Permian)	Rio do Rasto Formation	Brazil	An anteosaurid dinocephalian.
Panchetocynodon[171]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Das & Gupta	Early Triassic	Panchet Formation	India	A cynodont. The type species is Panchetocynodon damodarensis.
Purbeckodon[172]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Butler, Sigogneau-Russell, & Ensom	Early Cretaceous	Purbeck Limestone Group	United Kingdom	A possible morganucodontan.
Sludica[169]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Ivakhnenko	Upper Permian		Russia	A procynosuchid cynodont. The type species is Sludica bulanovi.

Mammals

Main article: 2012 in mammal paleontology

The following is a summary of the mammals described in 2012

• 9 non-eutherian Mammals
• 24 eutherian Mammals

Other animals

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Aggerscolex[173]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Botting et al.	Ordovician		United Kingdom	A palaeoscolecid. The type species is A. murchisoni.
Belebey augustodunensis[174]	Sp. nov.	Valid	Falconnet	Latest Carboniferous (Gzhelian) or earliest Permian (Asselian)		France	An amniote of uncertain phylogenetic placement. Originally classified as a bolosaurid and a species of Belebey; Spindler, Voigt & Fischer (2019) considered it to be a possible edaphosaurid synapsid instead.[175]
Bullascolex[173]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Botting et al.	Ordovician		United Kingdom	A palaeoscolecid. The type species is B. inserere.
Carbotubulus[176]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Haug et al.	Carboniferous	Carbondale Formation	United States	A long-legged lobopodian. The type species is C. waloszeki.
Circotheca smetanai[177]	Sp. nov	Valid	Valent et al.	Middle Cambrian	Buchava Formation	Czech Republic	A member of Hyolitha (a group of animals of uncertain phylogenetic placement, possibly molluscs), a species of Circotheca.
Coronacollina[178]	Gen. et sp. nov.	Valid	Clites, Droser & Gehling	Ediacaran		Australia	An animal of uncertain phylogenetic placement. The type species is Coronacollina acula.
Crenulipora kuwanoi[179]	Sp. nov	Valid	Niko	Devonian	Fukuji Formation	Japan	A tabulate coral belonging to the group Favositida and the family Favositidae.
Dispinoscolex[180]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Duan, Dong & Donoghue	Cambrian (Paibian)	Bitiao Formation	China	A palaeoscolecid. The type species is D. decorus.
Favia maitreyiae[181]	Sp. nov	Valid	López-Pérez	Pliocene	Carmen Formation	Mexico	A stony coral, a species of Favia.
Favia tulsidasi[181]	Sp. nov	Valid	López-Pérez	Pliocene	San Marcos Formation	Mexico	A stony coral, a species of Favia.
Heydenius arachnius[182]	Sp. nov	Valid	Poinar	Eocene to Miocene	Dominican amber	Dominican Republic	A nematode belonging to the family Mermithidae.
Heydenius phasmatophilus[182]	Sp. nov	Valid	Poinar	Eocene	Baltic amber	Russia ( Kaliningrad Oblast)	A nematode belonging to the family Mermithidae.
Heydenius podenasae[182]	Sp. nov	Valid	Poinar	Eocene	Baltic amber	Russia ( Kaliningrad Oblast)	A nematode belonging to the family Mermithidae.
Heydenius trichorosus[182]	Sp. nov	Valid	Poinar	Eocene	Baltic amber	Russia ( Kaliningrad Oblast)	A nematode belonging to the family Mermithidae.
Loriciscolex[173]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Botting et al.	Ordovician		United Kingdom	A palaeoscolecid. The type species is L. cuspidus.
Parastriatopora boliviana[23]	Sp. nov	Valid	Plusquellec, Tourneur & Fernández-Martínez in Racheboeuf et al.	Devonian (Emsian or Eifelian)	Belén Formation	Bolivia	A tabulate coral belonging to the superfamily Pachyporoidea and the family Parastriatoporidae.
Placosmilia? aliciae[181]	Sp. nov	Valid	López-Pérez	Pliocene	San Marcos Formation San Nicolas Formation	Mexico	A stony coral belonging to the family Montlivaltiidae.
Pluoscolex[173]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Botting et al.	Ordovician		United Kingdom	A palaeoscolecid. The type species is P. linearis.
Probactrotheca[177]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Valent et al.	Middle Cambrian	Buchava Formation	Czech Republic	A member of Hyolitha. The type species is Probactrotheca briketa.
Protomichelinia foveata[183]	Sp. nov	Valid	Niko, Haikawa & Fujikawa	Permian	Akiyoshi Limestone Group	Japan	A tabulate coral.
Pseudoromingeria muratai[183]	Sp. nov	Valid	Niko, Haikawa & Fujikawa	Permian	Akiyoshi Limestone Group	Japan	A tabulate coral.
Radnorscolex[173]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Botting et al.	Ordovician		United Kingdom	A palaeoscolecid. The type species is R. bwlchi.
Redondagnathus[184]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Spielmann & Lucas	Late Triassic		United States	A vertebrate of uncertain phylogenetic placement. Described on the basis of three postcanine teeth, considered to be teeth of a trirachodontid cynodont by Lucas et al. (1999)[185] and Spielmann and Lucas (2012).[184] On the other hand, Abdala, Neveling and Welman (2006) and Sidor and Hopson (2018) did not consider it likely that Redondagnathus was a member of Trirachodontidae, and Abdala, Neveling and Welman (2006) weren't even sure whether it was a cynodont.[186][187] The type species is Redondagnathus hunti.
Schistoscolex hunanensis[180]	Sp. nov	Valid	Duan, Dong & Donoghue	Cambrian (Paibian)	Bitiao Formation	China	A palaeoscolecid.
Siderastrea annae[181]	Sp. nov	Valid	López-Pérez	Pliocene	San Marcos Formation	Mexico	A stony coral, a species of Siderastrea.
Sinopathes[188]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Baliński, Sun & Dzik	Early Ordovician	Fenxiang Formation	China	A black coral. The type species is S. reptans.
Siphusauctum[189]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	O'Brien & Caron	Middle Cambrian	Burgess Shale	Canada	A stem-bilaterian of uncertain phylogenetic placement, a stalked filter feeder. The type species is S. gregarium.
Syringopora konishii[190]	Sp. nov	Valid	Niko & Ibaraki	Carboniferous (Viséan)	Kotaki Formation	Japan	A tabulate coral belonging to the group Auloporida.
Thecia ichikawai[191]	Sp. nov	Valid	Niko & Adachi	Silurian	Gionyama Formation	Japan	A tabulate coral belonging to the group Favositida and the family Theciidae.
Trachypsammia konbo[192]	Sp. nov	Valid	Niko	Early Carboniferous	Akiyoshi Limestone Group	Japan	A tabulate coral.
Ulexiscolex[173]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Botting et al.	Ordovician		United Kingdom	A palaeoscolecid. The type species is U. ormrodi.
Wernia[173]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Botting et al.	Ordovician		United Kingdom	A palaeoscolecid. The type species is W. eximia.

Other organisms

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Unit	Location	Notes	Images
Hydrolithon braganum[193]	Sp. nov	Valid	Woelkerling, Bassi & Iryu	Quaternary		Reef terraces around Tahiti,  French Polynesia	A red alga belonging to the family Corallinaceae, a species of Hydrolithon.
Jimwhitea[194]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Krings & Taylor in Krings et al.	Middle Triassic	Fremouw Formation	Antarctica	A fungus belonging to the group Endogonales. The type species is Jimwhitea circumtecta.