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A fragmentary maxilla and isolated vertebrae of a viperid snake were found in the Lower Pleistocene deposits of the Taurida cave, Crimean Peninsula. The snake is assigned to Vipera cf. renardi based on the morphology of the maxilla. This is the first unquestionable fossil record of the Vipera ursinii-renardi complex dispersed into Crimea earlier than previously supposed, already in the Early Pleistocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work describes the dentognathic remains of Ursus etruscus Cuvier, 1823 from the recently discovered Taurida cave in central Crimea at the north Black Sea area. The bone-bearing layer of Taurida cave corresponds to the Psekupsian Faunal Assemblage of Eastern Europe and to the Late Villafranchian of Western Europe (ca. 1.8–1.5 Ma). Here, we describe unpublished ursid material unearthed during the excavations performed at the cave in 2020–2021, further comparing it with coeval chronologic and geographic sites around Europe. Our anatomical and biometrical analyses suggest the inclusion of the studied specimens in the hypodigm of the Early Pleistocene medium-sized species Ursus etruscus. The finds of the U. etruscus from the southern part of Eastern Europe provide a link between the western and eastern parts of the species range. Therefore, the finds from Crimea are important for understanding of the morphological diversity and evolution of U. etruscus which is the putative ancestor of both cave bears and brown bears. Furthermore, the study of these remains is also important for understanding the processes of the forming of the large mammal assemblages in the late Early Pleistocene and its relationships with the dispersal of the genus Homo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Khulsanurus magnificus gen. et sp. nov., is described based on a partial skeleton, including cervical and caudal vertebrae, scapulocoracoids, humerus, and pubis from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) Barungoyot Formation at Khulsan locality in Gobi Desert, Mongolia. The new taxon differs from other alvarezsaurids by a combination of characters that include cervicals lacking pleurocoels, carotid processes, and epipophyses, dorsoventrally thick and subtriangular in cross-section transverse process of the anterior caudals, prominent infrapostzygapophyseal fossa on the transverse process of anterior caudals, short and mostly anteriorly directed prezygapophyses of anterior caudals, neural arch of anterior caudal lacking the interzygapophyseal ridges and having a prominent dorsal depression around the anterior end of the neural spine. The new taxon retains a number of plesiomorphic traits: slightly convex posterior centrum condyle of anterior caudals, prominent anterior, and posterior bumps at the neurocentral junction in anterior caudals, neural arch of anterior caudals extending for the entire length of the centrum, and pubic foot and apron. Khulsanurus shares with Shuvuuia the deltopectoral crest of humerus that is continuous with the humeral head. The phylogenetic analysis placed Khulsanurus in the Parvicursorinae in a polytomy with Mononykus, Shuvuuia, Albinykus, and Xixianykus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five partially preserved mammaliaform petrosals recovered from Middle Jurassic sediments of the Berezovsk coal mine (Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia) show similarities to other early mammaliaforms like the morganucodontan Morganucodon and the docodontan Haldanodon in having an inflated promontorium and a curved and apically inflated cochlear canal, but they are distinct from dryolestoid and derived mammalian petrosals by the weak coiling of the cochlear duct and the presence of a perilymphatic foramen with an open perilymphatic sulcus. The two larger and robust specimens exhibit striking similarities to docodontan petrosals. Inside the bone an intricate circumpromontorial venous plexus was discovered, as recently described for the docodontan Borealestes , confirming that this structure is consistently present in basal non-mammalian mammaliaforms. The three smaller and slender petrosals probably belong to haramiyidans and are unique in showing a septum-like structure medially along the cochlear nerve entrance. The protruding perforated bony bar, which is preserved in two of the three, is interpreted here to be a remnant of a bony septum with multiple foramina for cochlear nerve fibres, representing an autapomorphic feature of Haramiyida. This newly described passageway for nerve fibres shows that the formation of the osteological structure surrounding the nervous pathways of the cochlea is more plastic among the non-mammalian mammaliaforms than previously thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]