The first record of late Permian tetrapods from Namibia
Date
2023
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Evolutionary Studies Institute
Abstract
The entire Omingonde Formation in Namibia was previously assigned a Triassic age based on the fossil tetrapod fauna discovered
southwest of theWaterberg Plateau. However, recently repatriated and newly collected material suggests that the lowermost part of the
Omingonde Formation includes late Permian strata, equivalent in age to the upper Endothiodon Assemblage Zone of the South African
Karoo Basin. In this study,we document the first record of late Permian tetrapod fossils from Namibia, and provide brief descriptions of
a gorgonopsian skull collected at Mount Etjo in 1996 and the skull of a small dicynodont collected at the same site in 2019, referable to
cf. Tropidostoma. This material confirms that there is need for better understanding of the stratigraphy of the Etjo Mountain area, in
particular the position and nature of the unconformity between strata of the Permian Endothiodon and the Triassic Cynognathus assemblage
zones.
Description
Keywords
Endothiodon Assemblage Zone, biostratigraphy, Tropidostoma, gorgonopsian, Late Palaeozoic, southern Africa