A review of the reptile and amphibian assemblages from the Stormberg of southern Africa, with special emphasis on the footprints and the age of the Stormberg

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dc.contributor.authorOlsen, Paul E.
dc.contributor.authorGalton, Peter M.
dc.date.accessioned2014-12-23T15:56:25Z
dc.date.available2014-12-23T15:56:25Z
dc.date.issued1984
dc.description.abstractThe Molteno, Elliot, and Clarens formations comprise the continental Stormberg Group of the Karoo Basin of South Africa and Lesotho. The Molteno Formation contains a well preserved macro- and microfloral assemblage but apparently no vertebrates; the Elliot and Clarens formations contain abundant vertebrates but virtually no floral remains. The vertebrate taxa represented by skeletal remains are listed and divided into two assemblages - the lower Stormberg (lower Elliot) and upper Stormberg (upper Elliot and Clarens) assemblages. The abundant, diagnosable footprint taxa are revised and their names reduced to eight genera. These ichnotaxa also fall into two biostratigraphic zones that parallel the skeletal assemblages. Comparison of the faunal assemblages with those of the European type section strongly suggests that the lower Stormberg assemblage is Late Triassic (Carnian- Norian) in age while the upper Stormberg assemblage is Early Jurassic (Hettangian-Pliens- bachian) in age. Comparisons with other continental assemblages from other areas suggest that the upper Stormberg (upper Elliot and Clarens formations) assemblage broadly correlates with the upper Newark Supergroup of eastern North America, the Glen Canyon of the southwestern United States, and the lower Lufeng Series of China- all thought to be of Early Jurassic age on the basis of floral and/or radiometric evidence. Based on these correlations, previously published paleobiogeographic maps are revised; these show a shift from Late Triassic floral and faunal provinciality to Early Jurassic homogeneity. This shift was synchronous with a widening of the equatorial arid zone.en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Science Foundation, USAen_ZA
dc.identifier.issn0078-8554
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10539/16131
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherBernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Researchen_ZA
dc.subjectMolteno Formationen_ZA
dc.subjectElliot Formationen_ZA
dc.subjectClarens Formationen_ZA
dc.subjectKaroo Basinen_ZA
dc.subjectSouth Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectLesothoen_ZA
dc.subjectvertebrate fossilsen_ZA
dc.subjectfootprint taxaen_ZA
dc.subjectichnotaxaen_ZA
dc.subjectNewark Supergroupen_ZA
dc.subjectGlen Canyon Groupen_ZA
dc.titleA review of the reptile and amphibian assemblages from the Stormberg of southern Africa, with special emphasis on the footprints and the age of the Stormbergen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
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Volume 25 1984