Volume 27 1990

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    Palaeontologia africana Volume 27
    (Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1990)
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    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.
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    Carnivore activity at Klasies River Mouth: a response to Binford
    (Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1990) Thackeray, J Francis
    Environmental and behavioural factors contributed to variability in the relative abundance of Raphicerus (grysbok/steenbok) represented in Late Pleistocene and Holocene deposits at the complex of caves at Klasies River Mouth and at Nelson Bay Cave in the southern Cape Province, South Africa. Binford has used the relative abundance of Raphicerus in an index assumed to measure the degree of hunting by Middle Stone Age hominids. However, the occurrence of relatively high numbers of Raphicerus with leopards and baboons in some layers is likely to have been associated, at least in part, with leopard activity, particularly at times when relatively large ungulates were not common in the palaeoenvironment and when the cave sites were not frequently occupied by hominids with control over fire. Binford's indices are re-assessed in the light of other indices which are designed to identify assemblages that have a relatively high probability of having been accumulated by leopards and/or other carnivores.
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    A new vertebrate biozone at the base of the Beaufort Group, Karoo sequence (South Africa)
    (Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1990) Rubidge, Bruce S
    A new vertebrate biozone at the base of the Beaufort Group has been identified. This biozone is the oldest vertebrate biozone of the Beaufort Group and contains fossils of various therapsid genera which are more primitive than previously known related forms from the Karoo. The name Eodicynodon - Tapinocaninus Assemblage Zone is proposed as these two genera of therapsid are the most plentiful from this biozone and have not been found in the rocks of the overlying Dinocephalia Assemblage (Tapinocephalus) Zone.
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    Dinosaur tracks in Triassic Molteno sediments: the earliest evidence of dinosaurs in South Africa?
    (Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1990) Raath, Michael A; Kitching, James W; Shone, Russell W; Rossouw, G J
    A fossil tracksite containing well-preserved tridactyl footprints of bipedal theropod dinosaurs is reported from fluvial overbank deposits of Molteno age (Stormberg Group: Triassic) in the northeastern Cape Province, South Africa. They occur stratigraphically below the mudrocks of the Elliot Formation, in which dinosaur remains are comparatively common, and are taken to represent the earliest evidence for dinosaurs in South Africa. They also represent the earliest unequivocal evidence of tetrapods in Molteno deposits.