Volume 18 1975

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Browsing Volume 18 1975 by Keyword "Beaufort Group"

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    Palyno-stratigraphy of the lower Karroo sequence in the central Sebungwe District, Mid-Zambezi Basin, Rhodesia
    (Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1975) Falcon, Rosemary S
    Hart (1962) was the first to discuss seriously the subject "palynology-key to stratigraphy" with regard to Southern Africa. Since then a number of publications have appeared on African Karroo palynology. However, to date only one large scale microfloral zonation scheme has been proposed -that of Hart (1967). In this, four major palynofloristic zones were outlined for Lower Karroo (Permian) sequences, drawn from surface and sub-surface material in South and Central Africa. Another scheme, dividing the Permian into eight zones in S. Africa (Great Karroo Basin) , is as yet unpublished (Anderson, in press). In an attempt to apply palynology to the problems of geological correlation and relative age determinations, specifically in the field of coal exploration in Rhodesia, a standard section in the form of one borehole, the Matabola Flats borehole, well-sited, deep and with apparently continuous deposition was chosen for palynological biostratigraphic analysis. Fifty-five miospore genera and ninety-eight species have been recognised in this study. Their systematic descriptions and statistical analyses are published elsewhere, Falcon 1975 a, b. Detailed analysis of the forty-eight productive samples show large scale micro-floral changes up the stratigraphic column. Four major assemblage zones and eight assemblage sub-zones are herein proposed, thereby expanding by four the palynofloristic zones of Hart.
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    Permo-Triassic "lizards" from the Karroo
    (Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1975) Carroll, Robert L
    Three genera of sauropsid reptiles from the Permo-Triassic beds of South Africa - Saurosternon Huxley, Paliguana Broom and Palaegama Broom - were originally described as lizards, or the immediate ancestors of that group. Restudy of these forms confirms that they are close to the ancestry of later Mesozoic and Cenozoic squamates. The skull is somewhat primitive, but in size, proportions and function extremely similar to that of Kuehneosaurus. The pectoral girdle is lacertoid in the proportions and orientation of the clavicles and interclavicle; the anterior margin of the scapulocoracoid is fenestrate, and the articulating surface of the glenoid is very short. A sternum is present and one specimen shows ventral connections between the ribs and the sternum. In Saurosternon, the forelimb can be seen as very similar to that of living lizards, with special epiphyseal articulating surfaces on the proximal end of the humerus and distal end of the ulna. The pelvic girdle remains primitive, but the rear limb is close to the pattern in lizards. The fifth metatarsal is not obviously hooked, and all five distal tarsals are retained, but the proportions and functions of the ankle presage the condition in living lizards. Epidermal scales are present. Following Romer, these forms are all included in the Family Paliguanidae. They are placed in the Suborder Lacertilia, provisionally in the Infraorder Eolacertilia.
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    The skeleton of the Triassic anomodont Kannemeyeria wilsoni Broom
    (Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1975) Cruickshank, Arthur R I
    The general structure of the post-cranial skeleton of many Triassic anomodonts is now well known, but in Africa that of the stratigraphically important Lower Triassic (? Scythian) genus Kannemeyeria is known only from dissociated elements. A brief description is given for the first time of an almost complete skeleton ascribed to this genus. The environment of deposition is described briefly. The locality of the type species of the genus is also noted .