Oldest known naiaditid bivalve from the high-latitude Late Devonian (Famennian) of South Africa offers clues to survival strategies following the Hangenberg mass extinction

A phased mass extinction event (which culminated in the Hangenberg event) marked the end of the Devonian period and had a significant impact on the palaeoecology and faunal diversity of vertebrate and invertebrate communities. In the present study the taxonomy of bivalves from the Waterloo Farm lagerstätte of the Upper Devonian, Famennian, Witpoort Formation (Witteberg Group, Cape Supergroup) was studied and compared with known Carboniferous examples. For the first time, Devonian bivalves of the Naiaditidae are described from a high-latitude palaeogeographic setting of Gondwana. The presented data suggests a high-latitude origin for post-Hangenberg event Naiaditidae, found at lower latitudes during the Early Carboniferous. This may have resulted from migration to lower latitudes in response to reduced global temperatures, which were associated with climatic perturbation at the time of the Hangenberg event, and which persisted into the Early Carboniferous. Taxa that were adapted to temperature ranges existing at high latitudes during the Late Devonian are likely to have followed these temperature ranges towards lower latitudes with decreasing global temperatures. Here they may have occupied free ecospace available in the aftermath of the Late Devonian extinction event

Supplementary materials for 'A tetrapod fauna from within the Devonian Antarctic Circle'

Until now, all known fossils of tetrapods (limbed vertebrates with digits) and near-tetrapods (such as Elpistostege, Tiktaalik, and Panderichthys) from the Devonian period have come from localities in tropical to subtropical paleolatitudes. Most are from Laurussia, a continent incorporating Europe, Greenland, and North America, with only one body fossil and one footprint locality from Australia representing the southern supercontinent Gondwana. Here we describe two previously unknown tetrapods from the Late Devonian (late Famennian) Gondwana locality of Waterloo Farm in South Africa, then located within the Antarctic Circle, which demonstrate that Devonian tetrapods were not restricted to warm environments and suggest that they may have been global in distribution

Kowieria alveoformis gen. nov. sp. nov., a new heterosporous lycophyte from the Latest Devonian of Southern Africa

A new lycopsid, Kowieria alveoformis gen. et sp. nov., is described from the FamennianWitpoort Formation, Grahamstown, South Africa. It possesses spirally arranged elongated falcate vegetative leaves. Terminal bisporangiate strobili are present and show loosely grouped micro- and megasporophylls. Sporophylls are similar in shape to the vegetative leaves though somewhat wider with a marked expansion to house the sporangium. One sporangium is attached directly to the adaxial surface of the lamina. Each megasporangium contains up to four heavily ornamented hologulate megaspores of the Lagenicula type. The combination of both basal and derived characters within this plant places it at an interesting position at the base of the phylogenetic tree of rhizomorphic lycopsids

An early Devonian flora from the Baviaanskloof Formation (Table Mountain Group) of South Africa.

peer reviewedNewly discovered early plant bearing lenses from the Baviaanskloof Formation at Impofu Dam in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa provide evidence for one of the most diverse Late Silurian to Early Devonian assemblages known to date. This work represents the first account of this flora. Fifteen taxa are presented, including eleven diagnosed to existing genera, of which eight may be reasonably diagnosed to existing species including several species of the genus Cooksonia. Three new taxa, Krommia parvapila, Elandia itshoba and Mtshaelo kougaensis are described. This flora is furthermore remarkable for the large number of complete or sub-complete specimens allowing good understanding of earliest plant architecture. The assemblage bears the greatest resemblance to Early Lochkovian assemblages from the Parana Basin of Brazil and the Anglo Welsh basin. Biostratigraphic constraints on the dating of the Baviaanskloof Formation are provided by this flora, which represents the oldest known from Africa

An unusual new fossil shark (Pisces: Chondrichthyes) from the Late Devonian of South Africa

A new stem-group chondrichthyan fish, PlesioselacJllIs macracanthlls gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Late Devonian Witpoort Formation, representing an estuarine lagoon site, near Grahamstown, South Africa. Based on a single, fairly complete specimen, it is distinctive in its a single dorsal fin braced by a large, stout spine with numerous ribs and posterior denticles, apparently no second dorsal or anal fin, an amphistylic jaw suspension, and a distinctive triangular palatoquadrate. It is suggested that the species may represent a high-latitude, Late Devonian relict taxon

Coombs Hill: A Late Devonian fossil locality in the Witpoort Formation (Witteberg Group, South Africa)

Coombs Hill, a new fossil locality in the Witpoort Formation (Witteberg Group) of South Africa, preserves a record of Famennian (Late Devonian) life in Gondwana. Fossil plants collected at Coombs Hill are preliminarily assigned to several classes. Shelly invertebrates include a variety of bivalve mollusc forms, some of which appear to be preserved in life position. Biodiversity at Coombs Hill is comparable to that of the well-known Waterloo Farm lagerstätte in ordinal diversity, but exhibits differences in species composition. Ongoing taxonomic analysis will provide a rare window into the ecology of high-latitude environments during this pivotal stage of Earth history, which immediately preceded the end-Devonian extinction. Sandstone dominated sedimentary facies at Coombs Hill suggest a high-energy coastal marine setting, with brackish back-barrier estuarine/lagoonally derived fossiliferous mudstones. Exact stratigraphic placement within the Witpoort Formation is hampered by structural deformation, and precise age comparisons with Waterloo Farm are currently tenuous.Significance: A new fossil locality at Coombs Hill comprises the second known site with a suite of well preserved continental and marginal marine fossils from the Witpoort Formation, providing an exceptionally rare example of high-latitude life during the critical latest Devonian Famennian age. Several new plant taxa will be diagnosed from this locality, which also gives important insights into the morphology of Archaeopteris notosaria, South Africa’s earliest known tree. Discovery of a second palaeontologically significant site in the Witpoort Formation provides impetus for further structural and sedimentary facies analyses to align the unit with datable global eustatic events, and to clarify its internal chronology

Supplementary materials for 'A tetrapod fauna from within the Devonian Antarctic Circle'

Until now, all known fossils of tetrapods (limbed vertebrates with digits) and near-tetrapods (such as Elpistostege, Tiktaalik, and Panderichthys) from the Devonian period have come from localities in tropical to subtropical paleolatitudes. Most are from Laurussia, a continent incorporating Europe, Greenland, and North America, with only one body fossil and one footprint locality from Australia representing the southern supercontinent Gondwana. Here we describe two previously unknown tetrapods from the Late Devonian (late Famennian) Gondwana locality of Waterloo Farm in South Africa, then located within the Antarctic Circle, which demonstrate that Devonian tetrapods were not restricted to warm environments and suggest that they may have been global in distribution

The first Bothriolepsis-associated Devonian fish fauna from Africa

An advanced diplacanthid (Climatiiformes) is described from a Famennian estuarine environment of South Africa. It is characterized by having exceptionally long thin fin spines and a deep body form. Unusual details of the fins and fin spine insertions are preserved. This is the first record of a diplacanthid from the Southern Hemisphere

A Late Devonian refugium for Colpodexylon (Lycopsida) at high latitude

peer reviewedLocalities within strata of the Witpoort Formation (Witteberg Group, Cape Supergroup) of South Africa provide diverse new fossil material of Famennian plants from a high palaeolatitude marginal marine setting. Lycopsid axes with sterile leaves include material here diagnosed to two new species of Colpodexylon Banks 1944. C. pullumpedes sp. nov. from Waterloo Farm is a ‘short-tipped’ species, whereas C. mergae sp. nov. from Coombs Hill, is a ‘long-tipped’ species. The latter has leaves similar to those of the type species, C. deatsii Banks, yet differing in proportions. This provides the first definite high latitude records of the genus. Furthermore, these occurrences substantially extend the temporal range of Colpodexylon, formerly only known from lower Frasnian and older strata, indicating that the genus persisted at high-latitudes after its apparent disappearance from the palaeo-sub-tropics

An unusual new fossil shark (Pisces: Chondrichthyes) from the Late Devonian of South Africa

A new stem-group chondrichthyan fish, PlesioselacJllIs macracanthlls gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Late Devonian Witpoort Formation, representing an estuarine lagoon site, near Grahamstown, South Africa. Based on a single, fairly complete specimen, it is distinctive in its a single dorsal fin braced by a large, stout spine with numerous ribs and posterior denticles, apparently no second dorsal or anal fin, an amphistylic jaw suspension, and a distinctive triangular palatoquadrate. It is suggested that the species may represent a high-latitude, Late Devonian relict taxon