Youngest dinocephalian fossils extend the Tapinocephalus Zone, Karoo Basin, South Africa.

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dc.citation.doi10.17159/sajs.2015/201403092015en_ZA
dc.citation.epage82en_ZA
dc.citation.issue3/4en_ZA
dc.citation.spage78en_ZA
dc.contributor.authorDay, M.O.
dc.contributor.authorGuven, S.
dc.contributor.authorAbdala, F.
dc.contributor.authorJirah, S.
dc.contributor.authorRubidge, B.
dc.contributor.authorAlmond, J.
dc.date.accessioned2017-01-13T10:12:05Z
dc.date.available2017-01-13T10:12:05Z
dc.date.issued2015-03-01
dc.description.abstractThe dinocephalians (Synapsida, Therapsida) were one of the dominant tetrapod groups of the Middle Permian (Guadalupian Epoch, ∼270-260 million years ago) and are most abundantly recorded in the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone (AZ) of the Main Karoo Basin, South Africa. Dinocephalians are thought to have become extinct near the top of the Abrahamskraal Formation of the Beaufort Group and their disappearance is one criterion used to define the base of the overlying Pristerognathus AZ. Because of the abundance of fossils in the Karoo, the Beaufort Group biozones form the biostratigraphic standard for later Permian terrestrial tetrapod ecosystems, so their stratigraphic delineation is of great importance to Permian palaeobiology. We report two new specimens of the rare tapinocephalid dinocephalian Criocephalosaurus from the lowermost Poortjie Member, which makes them the youngest dinocephalians known from the Main Karoo Basin and extends the Tapinocephalus AZ from the Abrahamskraal Formation up into the Teekloof Formation. The extension of the Tapinocephalus AZ relative to the lithostratigraphy potentially affects the biozone or biozones to which a fossil species can be attributed; this extension has implications for biostratigraphic correlations within the Main Karoo Basin as well as with other basins across Gondwana. These discoveries also indicate that a population of herbivorous tapinocephalids survived as rare constituents of the tetrapod fauna after most generic richness within the clade had already been lost.en_ZA
dc.description.librarianNCS2016en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationDay, M.O. et al. 2015. Youngest dinocephalian fossils extend the Tapinocephalus Zone, Karoo Basin, South Africa. South African Journal of Science 111 ( 3/4): Article number e2014-0309en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn0038-2353 (Print)
dc.identifier.issn1996-7489 (Online)
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10539/21613
dc.journal.titleSouth African Journal of Scienceen_ZA
dc.journal.volume111en_ZA
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherAcademy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)en_ZA
dc.rights© 2015. The Author(s). Published under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence.en_ZA
dc.subjectAbrahamskraalen_ZA
dc.subjectBiostratigraphyen_ZA
dc.subjectMiddle Permianen_ZA
dc.subjectPristerognathusen_ZA
dc.subjectTapinocephalusen_ZA
dc.titleYoungest dinocephalian fossils extend the Tapinocephalus Zone, Karoo Basin, South Africa.en_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
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