In a study published October 20 in Science, paleontologists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences and Uppsala University in Sweden reported a second Silurian maxillate placoderm, Qilinyu rostrate, which bridges the gnathal and maxillate conditions. Researchers proposed that the maxilla, premaxilla, and dentary are homologous to the gnathal plates of placoderms and that all belong to the same dental arcade, and the gnathal-maxillate transformation occurred concurrently in upper and lower jaws, predating the addition of infradentary bones to the lower jaw.

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.