195 research outputs found
The BPI - 50 years of palaeontological activity
Main articleThe Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research at the University of the Witwatersrand
was established from an endowment made by Bernard Price in 1945. Now, a mere 50 years later, the
Institute ranks as a prominent palaeontological research centre in Africa. It curates large collections
of fossils including Karoo reptiles, mammals from the Makapansgat valley and other Plio-Pleistocene
sites, invertebrates from the Bokkeveld and Zululand, and has a large palaeobotany herbarium. The
Institute produces the journal Palaeontologia africana, the only journal in Africa dedicated to the
publication of palaeontological papers. The BPI is closely affiliated to the Department of Palaeontology
and Palaeoenvironmental Studies, the only department of palaeontology at a South African University.
During the 50 years of its existence the BPI has played an important role in the advancement and
dissemination of palaeontological knowledge in southern Africa.Non
A new vertebrate biozone at the base of the Beaufort Group, Karoo sequence (South Africa)
A new vertebrate biozone at the base of the Beaufort Group has been identified. This biozone is the oldest vertebrate biozone of the Beaufort Group and contains fossils of various therapsid genera which are more primitive than previously known related forms from the Karoo. The name Eodicynodon - Tapinocaninus Assemblage Zone is proposed as these two genera of therapsid are the most plentiful from this biozone and have not been found in the rocks of the overlying Dinocephalia Assemblage (Tapinocephalus) Zone.Directors and Board of Trustees of the National Museum; CSI
Charles Kimberlin (Bob) Brain - a tribute
THE COUNCIL’S RESEARCH COMMITTEE, UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND; NATIONAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION (NRF
The postcranial skeletal anatomy of the therocephalian Regisaurus (Therapsida: Regisauridae) and its utilization for biostratigraphic correlation
The postcranial morphology of the therocephalian genus Regisaurus from the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone of South Africa is
described. The remarkably complete state of preservation of the vertebral column has, for the first time, provided a full vertebral count
for a therocephalian and demonstrates that it is possible to differentiate between cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral and caudal vertebrae.
It is demonstrated that some postcranial elements can be used to identify particular therocephalian groups and will be of use in
biostratigraphic studies in areas where cranial remains have not been found. A slender scapula, low scapular ridge, shallow scapular
depression, short and broad interclavicle, oval sternum, and a small obturator foramen are characteristics of therocephalians known
from the Cistecephalus, Dicynodon and Lystrosaurus assemblage zones of the Beaufort Group of South Africa.The University of the Witwatersrand, Transvaal
Museum, National Research Foundation of South Africa and the Palaeontological
Scientific Trust (PAST
Dicynodont (Therapsida) bone histology: phylogenetic and physiological implications
The bone histology of humeri of a number of taxonomically well established and easily definable dicynodont genera is described and compared. The bone of Aulacephalodon, Cistecephalus, Dicynodon, Endothiodon, Lystrosaurus, Kannemeyeria and Oudenodon consists of alternating fibro-lamellar and lamellated bone tissue, while that of Diictodon consists only of fibro-lamellar tissue. The presence of fibro-lamellar bone in all the genera studied, indicates that the bone was deposited rapidly, but the occurrence of lamellated bone tissue suggests that all the genera except Diictodon, also had intermittent periods of slow growth. This is the first time that a comparative study of bone histology of different dicynodont genera has been attempted by using one particular bone element to standardise intergeneric comparisons
James William Kitching (1922–2003): a tribute
On 24 December 2003, James William Kitching, regarded by many as one of the world’s greatest fossil finders, died at his home in Johannesburg. His passing marks the end of a pioneering era of palaeontological giants in South Africa
The role of fossils in interpreting the development of the Karoo Basin
Main articleThe Permo-Carboniferous to Jurassic aged rocks off the main Karoo Basin of South Africa are world
renowned for the wealth of synapsid reptile and early dinosaur fossils, which have allowed a ten-fold
biostratigraphic subdivision of the Karoo Supergroup to be erected. The role of fossils in interpreting
the development of the Karoo Basin is not, however, restricted to biostratigraphic studies. Recent
integrated sedimentological and palaeontological studies have helped in more precisely defining a
number of problematical formational contacts within the Karoo Supergroup, as well as enhancing
palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, and basin development models.Non
The oldest Procolophonoid (Amniota: Parareptilia) - New discovery from the lower Beaufort of South Africa.
Main articleUntil now the earliest recognised procolophonoid (sensu Laurin & Reisz 1995) reptile has been
Owenetta, which ranges from the Cistecephalus assemblage zone (Upper Permian) to the
Lystrosaurus assemblage zone (Lower Triassic) of the Beaufort Group of South Africa. This
paper records the presence of a new even older form from low in the underlying Tapinocephalus
assemblage zone.Non
Biostratigraphy of the lower Burgersdorp Formation (Beaufort Group; Karoo Supergroup) of South Africa – implications for the stratigraphic ranges of early Triassic tetrapods
The Beaufort Group (Karoo Supergroup) of South Africa comprises a thick sequence of fluvio-lacustrine sedimentary rocks that
accumulated in a landlocked, intracratonic foreland basin in southwestern Gondwana during the Middle Permian to Middle Triassic. To
the south this basin was bounded by the Cape Fold Belt, which acted as the major source of both sediment and discharge. Rocks of the
Beaufort Group are renowned for their rich fossil record and eight tetrapod-based biozones are currently recognized. The uppermost
two biozones of the Beaufort Group, the Lystrosaurus and Cynognathus assemblage zones, record terrestrial biotic recovery following the
Permo-Triassic mass extinction event. Stratigraphic overlap between these biozones occurs in the proximal sector, but their separation
by an unconformity in the distal sector reflects the incomplete preservation of the sequence in this part of the basin. Our results afford
chronostratographic control that impacts on current theories on the development of the Karoo Basin, and on the relative age of the
sequence.South African Council for Geoscience, the University of the Witwatersrand and the National Research Foundation
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