3 research outputs found
Further material of the ceratosaurian dinosaur Syntarsus from the Elliot Formation (Early Jurassic) of South Africa
Two further fossils recovered from the Elliot Formation in South Africa are referred to the ceratosaurian genus Syntarsus: a partial pelvis and a well preserved and articulated snout. The pelvic fragment consists of most of the posterior end of the left ilium and sacrum, with a small part of the right ilium attached. The acetabular area and ‘brevis shelf’ of the left ilium are well preserved, as is the ventral surface of the sacrum. These parts show features characteristic of Syntarsus material from Zimbabwe. The snout has the premaxillae, maxillae, nasals and dentaries from both sides preserved, of which only the premaxillae are more or less complete. The premaxilla has four alveoli and the maxilla nine, and the maxilla bears the characteristic dimpling on its lateral surface also seen in Syntarsus material collected in Zimbabwe. The snout also possesses the characteristic small diastema or subnarial gap between the premaxillary and maxillary teeth shown by Syntarsus material from elsewhere. The snout is strongly compressed bilaterally and the jaws are tightly closed, so that the dentary teeth are obscured beneath the upper dentition. This compression has crushed the palatal region, obscuring palatal details.The Council's Research Committe, University of the Witwatersrand; National Science Foundatio
Cranial morphology of a primitive dinocephalian from the Madumabisa Mudstone Formation, Zimbabwe
A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science.Dinocephalians form an important part of the Upper Permian therapsid faunas of South
Africa and Russia, and have also recently been reported from China and Brazil, and even
more recently a diverse dinocephalian fauna has been described from Zimbabwe. This
thesis reports a new primitive tapinocephalid dinocephalian, NHMB 1556, from the Upper
Madumabisa Mudstone Formation in Zimbabwe. NHMB 1556 is considered to be closely
related to Avenantia and it possesses primitive tapinocephalid characters, but is more
derived than Tapinocaninus, the most primitive tapinocephalid dinocephalian known.
NHMB 1556 is distinguished from other tapinocephalines by having a groove on the
squamosal below its dorsal contact with the parietal, a low squamosal-parietal suture on
the posterior border of the temporal fenestra, a vomer which extends posteroventrally and
forms the anterior margin of the interpterygoidal vacuity and basisphenoid, which is
semi-circular anteroventrally.AC201