A NEW BURNETIAMORPH (THERAPSIDA: BIARMOSUCHIA) FROM THE MIDDLE PERMIAN OF SOUTH AFRICA

The skull of a carnivorous therapsid from the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone of the Beaufort Group, Middle Permian of South Africa, is described as a new burnetiamorph biarmosuchian. Pachydectes elsi n. gen. and sp. is distinguished from all other therapsids by its possession of a conspicuous pachyo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of paleontology Vol. 80; no. 4; pp. 740 - 749
Main Authors RUBIDGE, BRUCE S, SIDOR, CHRISTIAN A, MODESTO, SEAN P
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.07.2006
Paleontological Society
Subjects
Africa
Beaufort Group
Biarmosuchia
Bones
Canines
Chordata
cladistics
Eastern Cape Province South Africa
Fossils
Holotypes
Jansenville South Africa
Koonap Formation
Mammals
Maxilla
Middle Permian
morphology
new taxa
Orbital bone
Pachydectes
Pachydectes elsi
Paleontology
Paleozoic
Permian
Phylogenetics
phylogeny
Prehistoric era
Reptiles
Reptilia
Skull
South Africa
Southern Africa
Synapsida
Taxa
taxonomy
Tetrapoda
Therapsida
Vertebrata
vertebrate
Weathering processes
South Africa
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:The skull of a carnivorous therapsid from the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone of the Beaufort Group, Middle Permian of South Africa, is described as a new burnetiamorph biarmosuchian. Pachydectes elsi n. gen. and sp. is distinguished from all other therapsids by its possession of a conspicuous pachyostotic maxillary boss that sheathes the root of the upper canine. It shares the presence of a preparietal ossification with other biarmosuchians and a pachyostotic boss below the postorbital bar with other burnetiamorphs. Pachydectes is the first burnetiamorph known from along the Ecca-Beaufort contact in the eastern part of the Karoo Basin and only the second burnetiamorph to be described from the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone. All other South African burnetiamorphs, save Bullacephalus jacksoni, are known from much younger biozones of the Beaufort Group. Our phylogenetic analysis links Pachydectes and Bullacephalus, which are the stratigraphically lowest-occurring taxa, with Burnetia, the burnetiamorph known from the highest position in the lower Beaufort Group. This result suggests that most of the history of biarmosuchians in South Africa is unrecorded.
ISSN:0022-3360
1937-2337
DOI:10.1666/0022-3360(2006)80[740:ANBTBF]2.0.CO;2