Stereospondyl amphibians from the Elliot Formation of South Africa

Abstract

This paper documents the first members of the Chigutisauridae (Amphibia, Stereospondyli) from southern Africa and the first post-Triassic stereospondyls from that region. The material, from the Lower and Upper Elliot Formation, was associated with a diverse fauna including early mammals and dinosaurs. Most temnospondyls known to have survived the Triassic are brachyopoids, with large members of the Chigutisauridae present in the Jurassic and Cretaceous of Gondwana, and smaller members of the Brachyopidae in the Jurassic of Eurasia.