Palaeontologia africana

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Further material of the ceratosaurian dinosaur Syntarsus from the Elliot Formation (Early Jurassic) of South Africa
(Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1999) Munyikwa, Darlington
Two further fossils recovered from the Elliot Formation in South Africa are referred to the ceratosaurian genus Syntarsus: a partial pelvis and a well preserved and articulated snout. The pelvic fragment consists of most of the posterior end of the left ilium and sacrum, with a small part of the right ilium attached. The acetabular area and ‘brevis shelf’ of the left ilium are well preserved, as is the ventral surface of the sacrum. These parts show features characteristic of Syntarsus material from Zimbabwe. The snout has the premaxillae, maxillae, nasals and dentaries from both sides preserved, of which only the premaxillae are more or less complete. The premaxilla has four alveoli and the maxilla nine, and the maxilla bears the characteristic dimpling on its lateral surface also seen in Syntarsus material collected in Zimbabwe. The snout also possesses the characteristic small diastema or subnarial gap between the premaxillary and maxillary teeth shown by Syntarsus material from elsewhere. The snout is strongly compressed bilaterally and the jaws are tightly closed, so that the dentary teeth are obscured beneath the upper dentition. This compression has crushed the palatal region, obscuring palatal details.
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)
The fossil content of the Upper Triassic Molteno Formation, South Africa
(Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1984) Anderson, John M.; Anderson, Heidi M.;
The present paper is essentially drawn, with a few additions (the insects in particular) and changes, from the section on the Molteno Formation in the book Prodromus of South African megafloras: Devonian to L. Cretaceous currently in press (Anderson and Anderson 1984). The repetition is justified by the nature and scope of this Haughton Memorial Volume- an attempt to bring together a series of papers giving a general overview of the 'Stormberg Series' (Molteno to Drakensberg formations). We are in the process of preparing a series of volumes on the palaeoflora of the Molteno Formation. These are based primarily on our own collections begun in 1967 and now amounting to 15 500 catalogued slabs from 74 assemblages. The first volume has been published (Anderson and Anderson 1983a) and provides an interim synthesis of the megaflora to species level as well as a detailed taxonomic account of Dicroidium, the dominant most diverse element. For further detail and clarification of aspects of the paper presented here the above mentioned volumes should be consulted.

Palaeontologia africana

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