Response to Comment on "Abrupt and Gradual Extinction Among Late Permian Land Vertebrates in the Karoo Basin, South Africa"

Science ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 308 (5727) ◽  
pp. 1413c-1413c ◽  
Author(s):  
P. D. Ward
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Late Permian ◽  
Karoo Basin ◽  
Land Vertebrates

scholarly journals Evidence of a therapsid scavenger in the Late Permian Karoo Basin, South Africa

2012 ◽  
Vol 108 (11/12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Fordyce ◽  
Roger Smith ◽  
Anusuya Chinsamy
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Late Permian ◽  
Karoo Basin

Revision of the first therocephalian,TheriognathusOwen (Therapsida: Whaitsiidae), and implications for cranial ontogeny and allometry in nonmammaliaform eutheriodonts

2015 ◽  
Vol 89 (4) ◽  
pp. 645-664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam K. Huttenlocker ◽  
Fernando Abdala
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Late Permian ◽  
Triassic Boundary ◽  
Karoo Basin ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Status ◽  
Assemblage Zone ◽  
Jaw Function

AbstractHistorically, the whaitsiid therocephalianTheriognathusOwen was one of the earliest described nonmammalian therapsids, its morphology helping to link phylogenetically the Paleozoic synapsids of North America and southern Africa to their mammalian successors. However, decades of taxonomic over-splitting and superficial descriptions obscured the morphologic diversity of the genus, hindering its utility as a study system for the evolution of synapsid cranial function as well as its biostratigraphic significance in the Late Permian of southern Africa. Here, we revise the status and provenance of all the known specimens ofTheriognathusfrom South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia. We present both qualitative and quantitative support for the presence of a single morphospecies as proposed by some authors. Proportional differences in skulls that were previously ascribed to different morphotypes (‘Aneugomphius,’ ‘Notosollasia,’ ‘Moschorhynchus,’ and ‘Whaitsia’) are largely size-related and allometric trends are considered here in the context of jaw function and prey prehension. Our results suggest that the single species,Theriognathus microps, represented one of the most abundant Late Permian therocephalians in southern Africa and is consequently a potentially useful biostratigraphic marker for the upperCistecephalus-lowerDicynodonAssemblage Zone transition (i.e., late Wuchiapingian). The wide range of preserved sizes in conjunction with recent paleohistological evidence supports that individuals spent much of their lives in an actively-growing, subadult phase. LaterDicynodonAssemblage Zone records (e.g., upper Balfour Formation) are unconfirmed as the genus was likely replaced by other theriodont predators (e.g.,Moschorhinus) leading up to the Permo-Triassic boundary in the Karoo Basin of South Africa.

VARIABILITY IN THE LATE PERMIAN LANDSCAPE OF THE UPPER BALFOUR FORMATION (BEAUFORT GROUP STRATA, KAROO BASIN, SOUTH AFRICA)

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Gastaldo ◽  
◽  
Johann Neveling ◽  
J.W. Geissman ◽  
Sandra L. Kamo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Late Permian ◽  
Karoo Basin

scholarly journals Systematics of the Rubidgeinae (Therapsida: Gorgonopsia)

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e1608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian F. Kammerer
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Endemic Species ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Late Permian ◽  
Large Body Size ◽  
Karoo Basin ◽  
Assemblage Zone

The subfamily Rubidgeinae, containing the largest known African gorgonopsians, is thoroughly revised. Rubidgeinae is diagnosed by the absence of a blade-like parasphenoid rostrum and reduction or absence of the preparietal. Seven rubidgeine species from the Karoo Basin of South Africa are recognized as valid:Aelurognathus tigriceps,Clelandina rubidgei,Dinogorgon rubidgei,Leontosaurus vanderhorsti,Rubidgea atrox,Smilesaurus ferox, andSycosaurus laticeps. Rubidgeines are also present in other African basins:A. tigricepsandS. laticepsoccur in the Upper Madumabisa Mudstone Formation of Zambia, andD. rubidgei,R. atrox, and the endemic speciesRuhuhucerberus haughtonicomb. nov. andSycosaurus nowakicomb. nov. occur in the Usili Formation of Tanzania.Aelurognathus nyasaensisfrom the Chiweta Beds of Malawi also represents a rubidgeine, but of uncertain generic referral pending further preparation. No rubidgeine material is known outside of Africa: the purported Russian rubidgeineLeogorgon klimovensisis not clearly referable to this group and may not be diagnosable. Phylogenetic analysis of rubidgeines reveals strong support for a clade (Rubidgeini) of advanced rubidgeines includingClelandina,Dinogorgon,Leontosaurus, andRubidgea. Support forSmilesaurusas a rubidgeine is weak; it may, as previous authors have suggested, represent an independent evolution of large body size from anArctops-like ancestor. Temporally, rubidgeines are restricted to the Late Permian, first appearing in theTropidostomaAssemblage Zone and reaching highest diversity in theCistecephalusandDaptocephalusassemblage zones of the Beaufort Group.

scholarly journals Redescription of <i>Digalodon rubidgei</i>, an emydopoid dicynodont (Therapsida, Anomodontia) from the Late Permian of South Africa

Fossil Record ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. F. Kammerer ◽  
K. D. Angielczyk ◽  
J. Fröbisch
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Time Span ◽  
Central Portion ◽  
Sister Taxon ◽  
Recent Analysis ◽  
Dorsal Margin ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Limited Time ◽  
Late Permian ◽  
Karoo Basin

Abstract. The Late Permian dicynodont Digalodon rubidgei Broom and Robinson, 1948, is redescribed based on reanalysis of the holotype and newly recognized referable specimens. Digalodon can be diagnosed by the presence of a long "beak" sharply demarcated from the caniniform process; an extremely tall zygomatic ramus of the squamosal, with a thickened, "folded-over" dorsal margin; raised parietal "lips" along the lateral edges of the pineal foramen; and a broad posterolateral expansion of the parietal, excluding the postorbital from the back of the skull roof. Inclusion of Digalodon in a recent analysis of anomodont phylogeny recovers it as a kistecephalian emydopoid, specifically as the sister taxon to the clade containing the remaining kistecephalians. Four definite specimens of Digalodon are known, but several additional specimens lacking tusks, the swollen pineal "lips", and a thickened zygoma may represent sexually dimorphic females or juveniles. Specimens of Digalodon are restricted to the central portion of the Karoo Basin, in the area around Graaff-Reinet, and are part of a characteristic fauna probably representing a limited time span.

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