First evidence of a neonate dentition in pareiasaurs from the Upper Permian of Russia

Abstract

Finds of juvenile parareptiles are rare in the fossil record. We describe partial upper dentition with large vacuities between bones belonging to a neonate pareiasaur (preserved skull fragment is 22.4 mm long). The specimen was collected within 5 m from a skeleton of an adult specimen of Deltavjatia vjatkensis (Hartmann-Weinberg, 1937) (Pareiasauridae) from red calcareous mudstones in the upper part of the Vanyushonkov Member of Ursulov Formation (Upper Permian, Upper Tatarian substage, Vishkil'skiy regional stage) of Kotel'nich locality, Vyatka River region, Russia. Referral to Deltavjatia vjatkensis is based on the presence of heterodont dentition: spatulate maxillary, triconodont vomerine and conical, palatine and pterygoid teeth located on well-developed palate ridges. This is the first positively identified record of the neonate pareiasaur dentition