Triassic cynodont reptiles from Antarctica. American Museum novitates

• Main Authors: Colbert, Edwin Harris, 1905-, Kitching, James William.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History 1977
• Subjects: Thrinaxodon liorhinus > Antarctica; Cynodontia; Therapsida > Antarctica; Reptiles; Fossil > Antarctica; Paleontology > Triassic > Antarctica; Paleontology > Antarctica; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Austral; Transantarctic Mountains; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2246/2011

30 p. : ill. 26 cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. 29-30). "Sixteen specimens of cynodont reptiles from the Lower Triassic Fremouw Formation were collected during the austral summer of 1970-1971 in the central Transantarctic Mountains of Antarctica. The fossils are described in the present paper. Fourteen of the specimens are definitely referable to Thrinaxodon liorhinus Seeley, a characteristic cynodont from the Lower Triassic Lystrosaurus Zone, Middle Beaufort Beds of the Karoo Series of South Africa. Two of the specimens are referred to Cynodontia incertae sedis, one of these being a mold in the rock of a heavy mandibular ramus, the other a right zygomatic arch with associated posterior parts of the mandibular rami, other fragments of skull bones and certain postcranial elements, all representing a cynodont considerably larger than a typical Thrinaxodon. The presence of Thrinaxodon liorhinus in Antarctica constitutes one more element in the chain of evidence indicating that a Lystrosaurus fauna, very similar to, if not completely identical with, the Lystrosaurus fauna of southern Africa inhabited what is now eastern Antarctica at the beginning of Mesozoic time. The association of the Antarctic-African species, Lystrosaurus murrayi, Lystrosaurus curvatus, and Procolophon trigoniceps, described in previous papers together with Thrinaxodon liorhinus, confirms the geological-geophysical interpretation indicating a close ligation between Antarctica and Africa in early Triassic time"--P. [1].