Taxonomic revision of the short-snouted tapinocephalid dinocephalia (Amniota-Therapsida): the key to understanding middle Permian Tetrapod biodiversity
Date
2020
Authors
Neumann, Saniye
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Abstract
The middle Permian period marks the origin and rapid diversification of therapsid synapsids such that all the main therapsid families (with exception of the Cynodontia) were already presentat that time. Dinocephalia, apart from being the earliest large therapsids, comprised a major component of the middle Permian terrestrial ecosystems and despite their taxonomic diversity and apparent ecological success they went extinct at the end of the Capitanian stage of the Middle Permian, thus having the dubious distinction of being the first therapsid lineage to face extinction. The most diverse dinocephalian family, in terms of both species and numbers of individuals, are the Tapinocephalidae. This herbivorous group of derived dinocephalians (comprising both short-and long-snouted forms) are known from Russia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and are most abundantly represented by discoveries from the South African Karoo Supergroup. Taxonomic revision of the short-snouted tapinocephalids, for the first time accompanied by detailed anatomical descriptions and illustrations of representative cranial material, enabled recognition ofeight monospecific genera out of 23 described holotypes. These are Tapinocaninus pamelae, Ulemosaurus svijagensis, Riebeeckosaurus longirostris, Moschognathus whaitsi, Agnosaurus pienaari, Moschops capensis, Criocephalosaurus vanderbyli, Tapinocephalus atherstonei. Mormosaurus and Keratocephalus are now considered to be long-snouted, and Keratocephalusis synonymised with Struthiocephalus whaitsi
Description
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Johannesburg, 2020
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Citation
Neumann, Saniye. (2019). Taxonomic revision of the short-snouted tapinocephalid dinocephalia (amniota-therapsida) :the key to understanding middle Permian Tetrapod biodiversity, University of the Witwatersrand, https://hdl.handle.net/10539/31602