This paleomammalogy list records new fossil mammal taxa that were described during the year 2016, as well as notes other significant paleomammalogy discoveries and events which occurred during that year.
Metatherians
Metatherian research
A near-complete skull, a snout and two maxillae assigned to the species Didelphodon vorax are described from the Late Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation (Montana and North Dakota, United States) by Wilson et al. (2016). Description of a new specimen of Malleodectes mirabilis and a study of phylogenetic relationships of this species is published by Archer et al. (2016). A study on the shape of the elbow joint of Thylacoleo carnifex and its implications for the predatory behavior of the species is published by Figueirido, Martín-Serra & Janis (2016). Claw marks are described from the Tight Entrance Cave (southwestern Australia) by Arman & Prideaux (2016), who interpret the marks as left by the marsupial lions. A study evaluating whether the climate changes were the primary driver of Pleistocene megafauna extinctions in Australia is published by Saltré et al. (2016).