Palaeontologia africana

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First record of Triassic Rhynchosauria (Reptilia: Diapsida) from the Lower Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe
(Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1992) Raath, Michael A; Oesterlen, P M; Kitching, James W
True rhynchosaurids are described from Zimbabwe for the first time. The fossils occur as partially associated skeletons and scattered isolates in upward-fining, micaceous fluvial sandstones of the Pebbly Arkose Formation (late Triassic) in the Western Cabora Bassa Basin, Lower Zambezi Valley. On the grounds that the dentary of the Zimbabwean form possesses a row of small, conical lingual teeth in addition to a palisade row of penicillate teeth on the occlusal surface, it is concluded that the taxon present is Hyperodapedon sp., and that it is closely related to a rhynchosaurid described from Tanzania. One bone identified as a prosauropod dinosaurian femur was found associated with the Zimbabwean rhynchosaurids. The late Triassic age suggested by the presence of advanced rhynchosaurids is supported by the occurrence of the typical Triassic fossil plant genus Dicroidium, and by the general stratigraphy of the beds which contain the fossils (i.e. the fossil-bearing beds are underlain by beds of mid-Triassic age or younger, and are overlain by beds of latest Triassic or early Jurassic age)
Preparation of fossil bone for histological examination
(Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1992) Chinsamy, Anusuya; Raath, Michael A
Palaeo-histology is the branch of palaeontology concerned with the microscopic structure of fossil bone. Researchers entering the field for the first time become aware of a need for a concise description of a technique to prepare thin sections from fossil bone. This note aims to fill that need by describing the procedure used in a recent palaeohistological study (Chinsamy 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992). The technique described has been successfully applied to the bones of dinosaurs and mammal-like reptiles, as well as to archaeological samples ofhuman bone and also to defatted bone of recent taxa. There is no one 'correct' method of making sections of hard tissues like bones, but all existing techniques share a number of core processes in common (Enlow 1954; Enlow and Brown 1956; Honjo and Fischer 1965; Peabody 1961 ; Macfall and Wollin 1972; Buffrenil, Ricqles, Ray and Domning 1990). Although the method described here is specifically intended for use on bone, thin sections of fossilised wood have also been obtained using the same method.
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.
A tribute to James William Kitching
(Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1990) Raath, Michael A
Skulls of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus carinatus Owen in the collections of the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research
(Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1990) Gow, Chris E; Kitching, James W; Raath, Michael A
Description of the skull of Massospondylus (Prosauropoda, Anchisauridae) is largely unnecessary since excellent descriptions now exist of Plateosaurus (Galton 1984, 1985a) which, though larger and of slightly different proportions, is anatomically almost identical. This paper presents comprehensive illustrations of the Massospondylus skulls in the Bernard Price Institute collections and discusses only those aspects of this material in which Massospondylus differs from Plateosaurus, or which further add to our knowledge of the prosauropod skull. It is shown that Attridge et al. ( 1985) give spurious reasons for considering the recently discovered Massospondylus skull from Arizona to differ from the southern African taxon, and that the suggestion of Crompton and Attridge ( 1986) that this animal may have had a horny beak on the tip of the lower jaw is unnecessary and improbable.
A juvenile coelophysoid skull from the Early Jurassic of Zimbabwe, and the synonymy of Coelophysis and Syntarsus
(Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 2004-12) Bristowe, Anthea; Raath, Michael A
Several authors have drawn attention to the close similarities between the neotheropod dinosaurs Coelophysis and Syntarsus. Reconstruction and analysis of a skull from a juvenile specimen of Syntarsus (collected from the Forest Sandstone Formation of Zimbabwe) show that cranial characters previously used to distinguish these taxa and justify their generic separation (namely the presence of a ‘nasal fenestra’ in Syntarsus and the length of its antorbital fenestra), were based on erroneous reconstructions of disassociated cranial elements. On the basis of this reinterpretation we conclude that Syntarsus is a junior synonym of Coelophysis. Variations are noted in three cranial characters – the length of the maxillary tooth row, the width of the base of the lachrymal and the shape of the antorbital maxillary fossa – that taken together with the chronological and geographical separation of the two taxa justify separation at species level.

Palaeontologia africana

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