Palaeontologia africana

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ISSN (print): 0078-8554 ISSN (electronic): 2410-4418 For queries regarding content of Palaeontologia africana collections please contact Jonah Choiniere by email : jonah.choiniere@wits.ac.za or Tel : 011 717 6684

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Author: search.filters.author.Cisneros, Juan CarlosSubject: search.filters.subject.Gondwana

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    Taxonomic status of the reptile genus Procolophon from the Gondwanan Triassic
    (Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, University of the Witwatersrand, 2008-04) Cisneros, Juan Carlos
    The specific composition of the genus Procolophon in Brazil, South Africa and Antarctica is discussed in the light of new data. It is found that P. pricei and P. brasiliensis, two species described from Brazil, fit within the pattern of ontogenetic variation of the type species P. trigoniceps, and they are here considered junior synonyms. The South African species P. laticeps, characterized by the presence of a temporal fenestra, is no longer considered valid. The peculiar temporal openings of this species are regarded here as an anomalous condition without taxonomic significance. The only complete skull known from Antarctica shows a unique feature consisting of an elliptical depression in the palate. The interpretation of this structure is ambiguous because it may also be attributable to individual variation, and this specimen is provisionally kept within P. trigoniceps. Therefore, only the type species, P. trigoniceps, is recognized in Gondwana. This species occupies a wide geographic range, from the Paraná Basin to the Transantarctic Mountains.