In a study published online May 24 in the journal Scientific Reports, Dr. BI Shundong of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciencesreport, and his collaborators reported the discovery of Anebodon luoi, a new genus and species of zhangheotheriid symmetrodont mammal from the Lujiatun site of the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation in Liaoning Province of China. This finding provides new information for discussion of trechnotherian character evolution, and ultimately sheds additional light on the evolution of therians.

In a study published June 3 in the journal of Science Advances, Drs. LU Jing and ZHU Min, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and their collaborators described newly discovered skull material of Qingmenodus, an onychodont from South China about 409 million years ago, using high-resolution computed tomography to image internal structures of the braincase. This study provides the first detailed interpretation of internal neurocranial anatomy in onychodonts, and helps us to understand the sequence of character acquisition in the early evolution of sarcopterygians, illuminating the early evolution and diversification of modern sarcopterygians.

In a study published May 19 in Current Biology, Drs. LU Jing and ZHU Min, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and their collaborators used high-resolution computed tomography to re-examine the most complete remains of Meemannia, and presented new details of the internal skeleton and one of the earliest osteichthyan endocasts. Researchers revised hypotheses of bone histology in the ancestor of bony fishes, and found that “cosmine”-like tissues, previously thought to unite Meemannia with lobe-fins, are widely distributed among early bony fishes, including the ray-fin Cheirolepis. This finding revealed that once considered a lobe-fin, Meemannia is the oldest ray-finned fish, providing new evidence for the origin of ray-finned fishes.

In a paper published May 4 in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, paleontologists reported a new genus and species of fossil sheep from the Pliocene of Zanda Basin in Tibet. This finding extends the fossil record for the sheep into the Pliocene of the Tibetan Plateau, suggesting that the Tibetan Plateau, possibly including Tianshan-Altai, represents the ancestral home range(s) of mountain sheep and that these basal stocks were the ultimate source of all extant species, which is consistent with the Out-of-Tibet hypothesis regarding the origins of Ice Age megaherbivores.

In a study published May 6 in Science, Dr. NI Xijun, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his team reported the discovery of a diverse primate fauna from the early Oligocene of southern China.Asian and Afro-Arabian primate faunas responded differently to EOT climatic deterioration, indicating that the Eocene-Oligocene transition functioned as a critical evolutionary filter constraining the subsequent course of primate evolution across the Old World. This study provides a deeper understanding of a pivotal moment in the evolution of primates, the group that eventually gave rise to people.

In a paper published May 6 in Science Advances, Dr. Lichun, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his international team described two new specimens and revealed what was really going on--that "beak" is actually part of a hammerhead-shaped jaw apparatus, which it used to feed on plants on the ocean floor. It's the earliest known example of an herbivorous marine reptile.