A new large gomphodont from the Triassic of South Africa and its implications for Gondwanan biostratigraphy

• Main Authors: Tolchard, Frederick, Kammerer, Christian F., Butler, Richard J., Hendrickx, Christophe, Benoit, Julien, Abdala, Fernando, Choiniere, Jonah N.
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Taylor & Francis 2021
• Subjects: Biophysics; Cell Biology; Genetics; FOS Biological sciences; Molecular Biology; Evolutionary Biology; 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified; FOS Earth and related environmental sciences; Ecology; 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.15052540.v1; https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/dataset/A_new_large_gomphodont_from_the_Triassic_of_South_Africa_and_its_implications_for_Gondwanan_biostratigraphy/15052540/1

A partial skull (BP/1/7976) of a very large cynodont from the Middle Triassic Cynognathus Assemblage Zone ( Cricodon-Ufudocyclops subzone) of South Africa is described. The specimen represents a new gomphodont taxon, Impidens hancoxi , gen. et sp. nov., diagnosed by five sectorial teeth constituting just over half of the length of the upper postcanine tooth row, and enlarged canine and incisor teeth. BP/1/8123, a skull fragment also from the Cricodon-Ufudocyclops subzone, and AMNH FARB 24421, a partial skull from the upper Fremouw Formation of Antarctica, are also referred to the new species. The presence of this taxon in both the upper Fremouw Formation and Cricodon-Ufudocyclops subzone strengthens evidence of biostratigraphic correlation between these units. Impidens hancoxi , with an inferred skull length of up to 460 mm, was a large-bodied and likely omnivorous gomphodont, and may have played the role of apex predator within the tetrapod fauna of the Cricodon-Ufudocyclops subzone.