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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Subject: search.filters.subject.palaeoecology

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    New ‘rauisuchian’ fossil material from the lower Elliot Formation of South Africa
    (Evolutionary Studies Institute, 2023) Tolchard, Frederick B; Bordy, Emese M; Choiniere, Jonah N
    ‘Rauisuchians’ are a grade of paracrocodylomorph archosaurs that evolved a diversity of body plans and played a key role in ecosystems worldwide throughout the Triassic. They are widely believed to have gone extinct during the end-Triassic mass extinction event though the fossil record of rauisuchians in the latest Triassic is still poorly known. In this study, we describe new rauisuchian fossil remains from the lower Elliot Formation of South Africa. Based on comparative anatomical evidence, we assign these specimens to the pseudosuchian clade Rauisuchidae. The addition of this material to the existing southern African fossil record allows us, along with some new insights into the taxonomic affinities of previously published material, to identify the presence of at least three distinct taxa of rauisuchian in the Norian of southern Africa: two of the clade Rauisuchidae; and one of the clade Poposauroidea. These likely filled the ecological role of apex predators in the Late Triassic of southern Africa. We also provide a revision of the stratigraphic record of ‘rauisuchians’ from the Elliot Formation and show that the existing record of rauisuchians in southern Africa, though among the youngest in the world, does not extend beyond the late Norian. Further exploration of the Elliot Formation and other terrestrial deposits at the Triassic–Jurassic boundary will be needed to assess whether rauisuchians survived until, or even beyond, the end-Triassic mass extinction event.
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    Mongoose Manor: Herpestidae remains from the Early Pleistocene Cooper’s D locality in the Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng, South Africa
    (Evolutionary Studies Institute, 2019-01) Cohen, Brigette F.; O'Regan, Hannah J.; Steininger, Christine M.
    Mongooses (Herpestidae) are an important component of African ecosystems, and a common constituent of southern African fossil assemblages. Despite this, mongoose fossils from the Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng, South Africa, have received relatively little interest. This paper presents the diverse mongoose craniodental assemblage from the early Pleistocene fossil locality Cooper’s D. A total of 29 mongoose specimens from five genera were identified at Cooper’s, including numerous first appearances in the Cradle or in South Africa. The exceptional mongoose assemblage at Cooper’s likely reflects the effects of an unknown taphonomic process, although mongooses follow other carnivore groups in the Cradle in displaying an apparent preference for the southern part of the Cradle. This investigation shows the value of mongooses as palaeoecological indicators and supports previous interpretations of the environment at Cooper’s as grassland with a strong woody component near a permanent water source.
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    The potential and pitfalls of using simple dental metrics to infer the diets of African antelopes (Mammalia: Bovidae)
    (2015-04-01) Louys, Julien; Meloro, Carlo; Elton, Sarah; Ditchfield, Peter; Bishop, Laura C
    The use of mesowear to infer diets of extinct species is fast becoming widespread in palaeoecological studies. Nevertheless, traditional mesowear analyses suffer from a specimen number limitation, in that a minimum number of specimens identified to the species level is necessary to make accurate dietary predictions. This is problematic in many fossil African antelope (Mammalia: Bovidae) assemblages, where isolated teeth cannot always be assigned to species. Hereweexplore the possibility of using simple dental metrics to predict diets on the basis of individual teeth as well as gnathic rows using linear discriminant function analyses.We find that browsers are accurately classified at both the individual and species levels, across all models and tooth positions. Mixed feeders and grazers are classified accurately only sometimes, and this is probably a reflection of the more limited sample size of larger bodied species in our study. Body size was a highly significant predictor of the inaccurate classifications obtained in our models, with larger bodied species tending to grazing classifications and smaller bodied species browsing classifications. Nevertheless, the models correctly classify the majority of specimens we examined to their correct trophic group, as determined through stable isotope analyses or as defined through the literature. The methods outlined hold some promise for determining the diets of isolated fossil specimens unassigned to species in a simple manner and, when used in conjunction with other palaeodietary and palaeoecological proxies, may help determine palaeoenvironments more accurately.
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    A dinosaur fauna from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of northern Sudan
    (Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1999) Rauhut, Oliver W M
    A dinosaur fauna from the Cenomanian of northern Sudan (Wadi Milk Formation) is described. It comprises at least nine, probably ten to eleven taxa: a dicraeosaurid, a titanosaurid and another undetermined sauropod (possibly a titanosaurid), two charcharodontosaurids, a dromaeosaurid, a probable hypsilophodontid and two iguanodontian ornithopods. It is one of the most diverse dinosaur faunas known from the Cretaceous of Africa. The environment was probably a semiarid savanna with some rivers, lined by dense vegetation, with abundant sauropods, less abundant theropods and rare ornithopods. Gigantic carcharodontosaurids were at the top of the food chain. At the present state of knowledge, the dinosaur fauna from the middle to late Cretaceous of Africa can be characterized by the presence of carcharodontosaurids, spinosaurids, titanosaurids, diplodocoids, and possibly iguanodontian ornithopods.
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    New evidence of the Giant Hyaena, Pachycrocuta brevirostris (Carnivora, Hyaenidae), from the Gladysvale Cave deposit (Plio-pleistocene, John Nash Nature Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa)
    (Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 2001) Mutter, Raoul J; Berger, Lee R; Schmid, Peter
    A well preserved cranium which represents the most complete skull of Pachycrocuta brevirostris (Carnivora, Hyaenidae) discovered in Africa, and a maxillary fragment from the Gladysvale Cave Deposit (John Nash Nature Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa) are described and compared to other fossil and extant hyaenid specimens from South Africa and Europe. In addition, some aspects of functional morphology in the hyaenid dentition are reconsidered and suggested to be directly related to the palaeoecological role of P. brevirostris.