Evidence for hexadecapole collectivity in closed-shell nuclei is presented by examining the observed characteristics of the lowest 4+ excited state in each case. These 4+ states, presently identified in the N = 82 isotones Sn and Ce, and the Z = 82 isotopes, Pb and Pb, have nanosecond half-lives, and are found to decay by enhanced E4 transitions to the respective 0+ ground state, whereas AI = 2 E2 transitions from, and to, these states have B(E2) values which are only a fraction of a Weisskopf unit. These features, suggestive of a significant one-phonon hexadecapole component in the structure of these 4+ states, are interpreted in terms of their shell model configurations.Similar characteristics are predicted for some other closed-shell nuclei.PACS number(s): 21.60.Ev, 21.10.Re, 21.60.Cs, 23.20.Lv Low-energy spectroscopic studies of even-even nuclei