Wits Evolutionary Studies Institute (ESI)

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15th Biennial Meeting of the Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa, Albany Museum and Rhodes University, 7–10 September 2006
(BERNARD PRICE INSTITUTE FOR PALAEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH, 2007)
3D techniques and fossil identification: An elephant shrew hemi-mandible from the Malapa site.
(Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2011-11-07) Val, A.; Carlson, K.J; Kibii, J.M.; Steininger, C.; Churms, C.; Kuhn, B.F.; Berger, L.R.
Conventional methods for extracting fossilised bones from calcified clastic sediments, using air drills or chemical preparations, can damage specimens to the point of rendering them unidentifiable. As an alternative, we tested an in silico approach that extended preparation and identification possibilities beyond those realisable using physical methods, ultimately proving to be crucial in identifying a fragile fossil. Image data from a matrix-encased hemi-mandible of a micromammal that was collected from the Plio-Pleistocene site of Malapa, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa, were acquired using microtomography. From the resultant images, a 3D rendering of the fossil was digitally segmented. Diagnostic morphologies were evaluated on the rendering for comparison with extant comparative specimens, positively identifying the specimen as an elephant shrew (Elephantulus sp.). This specimen is the first positively identified micromammal in the Malapa faunal assemblage. Cutting-edge in silico preparation technology provides a novel tool for identifying fossils without endangering bone integrity, as is commonly risked with physical preparation.
7th Biennial Conference of the Palaeontological Society of South Africa 6th-9th September 1992 Programme
(Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1993)
A new middle Permian burnetiamorph (Therapsida: Biarmosuchia) from the South African Karoo filling a gap in the biarmosuchian record
(The Evolutionary Studies Institute, 2024-09) Matlhaga, Fonda; Benoit, Julien; Rubidge, Bruce S
Biarmosuchia, the most basal therapsid clade, is represented by relatively few specimens known from Permian deposits in Russia and southern Africa. In both the Guadalupian (middle Permian) and Lopingian (late Permian), biarmosuchians represent less than 1% of the fossil record at the specimen level. Here, we describe a new burnetiamorph biarmosuchian, Impumlophantsi boonstrai, based on a partial skull and associated postcrania from the upper Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone. It is characterized by the presence of a low nasal crest with a unique morphology among burnetiamorphs. Inclusion of this taxon in an updated phylogenetic analysis of biarmosuchians indicates that this specimen is one of the most basal burnetiamorphs, representing the only record of this grade from the middle Permian.
A Tribute to Professor Bruce Sidney Rubidge
(2023-07) Hancox, P. John; Day, Michael O.
Professor Bruce Sidney Rubidge has published hundreds of articles and papers covering various aspects of the geology of the Cape and Karoo supergroups and their palaeontological signatures. His work has significantly advanced our understanding of numerous taxonomic groups, as well as the litho- and biostratigraphy of the Karoo Supergroup. He has also driven the robust radiometric dating of the lower half of the Karoo Supergroup, and via supervision and collaboration with postgraduate students, our understanding of the basin fill and the end-Guadalupian extinction in South Africa. Bruce has also supervised numerous honours, masters and doctoral students (Fig. 1) and provided strong research leadership to many South African and international collaborators. Bruce’s vision and dedication to first the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research (BPI) and now the Evolutionary Studies Institute (ESI) have guided it to become the connected 21st century establishment that it is today.
Abstracts of the 19th Biennial Conference of the Palaeontological Society of southern Africa
(2017-04-28)
An Acheulean handaxe from Gladysvale Cave site, Gauteng, South Africa.
(Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2006-03) Hall, G.; Pickering, R.; Lacruz, R.; Hancox, J.; Berger, L.R.; Schmid, P.
WE DESCRIBE A SINGLE HANDAXE FROM fossiliferous breccias at Gladysvale Cave, South Africa. The artefact is the only known tool so far discovered during the controlled excavations conducted at this site over the last decade, and was recovered from decalcified sediments near the stratigraphic interface of two breccia units, making it difficult to assign it with confidence to either. The morphology of the handaxe indicates a middle-late Acheulean industry, and preliminary electron spin resonance and palaeomagnetic dating suggest an age of greater than 780 000 years.
Acknowledgements
(Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 2004-12)
The advent of herbivory in certain reptilian lineages during the Triassic
(Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1978) Gow, C. E.
The dentitions of several presumed herbivorous Triassic reptiles are described and discussed. Some changes in dentitions with growth suggest that juveniles were insectivorous. The appearance of these forms may have been facilitated by floral changes which took place in the early Triassic.
Affiliations
(BERNARD PRICE INSTITUTE FOR PALAEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH, 2003-12)
The affinities of Proterochampsa barrioneuvoi Reig
(Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1975) Cruickshank, Arthur R I
Proterochampsa barrioneuvoi Reig is re-examined and is confirmed as a proterosuchian thecodont. None of the features previously thought to ally it to the Crocodilia are solely characteristic of that group. On the other hand it is not a phytosaur nor phytosaur ancestor, only showing one real trend towards these animals in the rearward migration of the internal and external nares. Proterochampsa and its relatives Chanaresuchus, Gualosuchus and Cerritosaurus are too late in time to be phytosaur ancestors. They are grouped together in the Proterochampsidae, a family within the Proterosuchia.
The affinities of the early cynodont reptile, Nanictosaurus
(Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1990) van Heerden, Jacques; Rubidge, Bruce
This investigation into the anatomy of the four extant specimens of Nanictosaurus has revealed that there is one valid species, viz. N. kitchingi Broom 1936 which has two junior synonyms, viz. N. robustus Broom 1940 and N. rubidgei Broom 1940. The closest known relative of Nanictosaurus is the well-known cynodont Thrinaxodon liorhinus. The differences from Thrinaxodon and other early cynodonts are discussed and illustrated.
African chelonians from the Jurassic to the present: phases of development and preliminary catalogue of the fossil record
(Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 2000) de Lapparent de Broin, France
The five major phases in the palaeontological history of African chelonians are presented: 1) autochthonous development of the north Gondwanan pleurodires from a Pangean source group; 2) littoral expansion of a member of this group (Bothremydidae), accompanied by the arrival of Laurasian marine turtles; 3) in situ development of pleurodires and the immigration of Eurasian cryptodires (Oligo-Miocene) traversing the Tethys in several waves; 4) great diversification and endemism (Pliocene to Holocene); 5) important faunal reduction due to climatic changes at the end of Holocene times (cooling, aridification); elsewhere, great speciation and arrival during the Present of the last European immigrant in the north. Throughout the period under consideration there were several reductions in taxonomic diversity and emigrations from Africa. A preliminary catalogue of the fossil record of African chelonians is given, presented country by country followed by a taxonomic listing.
African fossil Lissamphibia
(Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1995) van Dijk, D. E.
The Anura (Frogs and Toads) are represented in Africa and associated regions by fossils of every epoch from the Cretaceous to the Holocene. Pipid frogs of African affinity are known from the Early Cretaceous of Israel and Later Cretaceous of South America and Africa; those of Israel and South America have been well-studied, but only one from Africa has been: Eoxenopoides reuningi from Namaqualand. Two well-studied Palaeocene frogs of South America, Shelania pascuali and Xenopus romeri, have affinities with the African pipids. Apart from a Miocene assemblage from North Africa (including pipids, which are now exclusively sub-Saharan) and one species from Namibia, Xenopus stromeri, the fossil African anurans remain largely unstudied. Deposits in which the African anuran fossils occur represent crater lakes, other lacustrine deposits, including lacustrine tuffs, river terraces, deltas, estuarine/lagoon zones, karst landscapes and archaeological sites; data are not available for several of the recorded fossils. No fossils in Africa appear to have been definitely ascribed to the Urodela or Caecilia.
The age of Homo naledi and associated sediments in the Rising Star Cave, South Africa
(eLife Sciences Publications Ltd, 2017-05) Dirks, P.H.G.M.; Roberts, E.M.; Hilbert-Wolf, H.; Kramers, J.D.; Hawks, J.; Dosseto, A.; Duval, M.; Elliott, M.; Evans, M.; Grün, R.; Hellstrom, J.; Herries, A.I.R.; Joannes-Boyau, R.; Makhubela, T.V.; Placzek, C.J.; Robbins, J.; Spandler, C.; Wiersma, J.; Woodhead, J.; Berger, L.R.
New ages for flowstone, sediments and fossil bones from the Dinaledi Chamber are presented. We combined optically stimulated luminescence dating of sediments with U-Th and palaeomagnetic analyses of flowstones to establish that all sediments containing Homo naledi fossils can be allocated to a single stratigraphic entity (sub-unit 3b), interpreted to be deposited between 236 ka and 414 ka. This result has been confirmed independently by dating three H. naledi teeth with combined U-series and electron spin resonance (US-ESR) dating. Two dating scenarios for the fossils were tested by varying the assumed levels of 222Rn loss in the encasing sediments: a maximum age scenario provides an average age for the two least altered fossil teeth of 253 +82/–70 ka, whilst a minimum age scenario yields an average age of 200 +70/–61 ka. We consider the maximum age scenario to more closely reflect conditions in the cave, and therefore, the true age of the fossils. By combining the US-ESR maximum age estimate obtained from the teeth, with the U-Th age for the oldest flowstone overlying Homo naledi fossils, we have constrained the depositional age of Homo naledi to a period between 236 ka and 335 ka. These age results demonstrate that a morphologically primitive hominin, Homo naledi, survived into the later parts of the Pleistocene in Africa, and indicate a much younger age for the Homo naledi fossils than have previously been hypothesized based on their morphology.
An aggregation of juvenile Youngina from the Beaufort Group, Karoo Basin, South Africa
(Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1995) Smith, Roger M. H.; Susan, E. Evans
An assemblage of five fully-articulated juvenile skeletons of Youngina has been recovered from the Late Permian strata of the south-western Karoo Basin. These 12-cm-long skeletons are not only the first articulated juveniles of this taxon, but also the oldest yet found in the Karoo Basin. They are preserved in overbank mudrocks of the Hoedemaker Member (Beaufort Group, Adelaide Subgroup) on the farm Leeukloof 43 in the Beaufort West district. Although they are estimated to be some three million years older than previously described Youngina, these specimens show no significant skeletal differences. The high degree of articulation and the spatial arrangement of these skeletons in a dish-shaped hollow is compelling evidence for them having huddled together within an underground burrow. Taphonomic analysis of associated fossils indicates that this was probably a mechanism to reduce water loss during drought on the ancient Karoo floodplains .
Allometric growth in the Diademodontinae (Reptilia; Therapsida); a preliminary report
(Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1978) Grine, F. E.; Hahn, B. D.
The hypothesis that many, if not all, of the South African and Zambian specimens, which have been regarded as different diademodontine genera and species, actually consitute a taxonomically homogeneous, ontogenetic growth series is tested. The principles of allometric growth were applied to this sample of fossils, which varied considerably in size and shape. The approach which was followed was exclusively morphometric. The results indicate that these specimens do represent various ontogenetic stages of a growth series of only a single species of Diademodon Seeley.
Alun R. Hughes: Publications and Reports
(BERNARD PRICE INSTITUTE FOR PALAEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH, 1991) Tobias, Philip V.; White, H; Strong, V E
Alun Rhun Hughes: a tribute after forty four years of companionship in Anatomy and Anthropology
(Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1991) Tobias, Phillip V
The ammonite genus Diaziceras Spath, 1921, from the Campanian of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and Madagascar
(2012-12) Kennedy, William James; Klinger, Herbert Christian
The ammonite genus Diaziceras Spath, 1921, and the type species, D. tissotiaeforme are revised and referred to the subfamily Lenticeratinae Hyatt, 1900, of the family Sphenodiscidae Hyatt, 1900. Skoumalia Summesberger, 1979, is interpreted as a junior synonym of Diaziceras. Diaziceras guillantoni Hourcq, 1949, and D. spathi Hourcq, 1949, are regarded as synonyms of D. tissotiaeforme, and all are referred to the Lower Campanian on the basis of records from Madagascar.

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