Three capitosaurs from the Triassic of South Africa: Parotosuchus africanus (Broom 1909); Kestrosaurus dreyeri Haughton 1925, and Parotosuchus dirus sp. Nov.
Main article Two members of the family Capitosauridae are redescribed after further preparation, namely Paratosuchus africanus (Broom 1909) and Kestrasaurus dreyeri Haughton, 1925. New material consisting of a fragmental, lower jaw or a very large parotosaur from the Cynognathus zone of Aliwal North...
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Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research
1978
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10539/16252 |
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ftunivwitwaters:oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/16252 2023-06-11T04:15:06+02:00 Three capitosaurs from the Triassic of South Africa: Parotosuchus africanus (Broom 1909); Kestrosaurus dreyeri Haughton 1925, and Parotosuchus dirus sp. Nov. Chernin, Sharon 1978 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10539/16252 en eng Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research None; None 0078-8554 http://hdl.handle.net/10539/16252 Cynognathus zone Parotosuchus Triassic Article 1978 ftunivwitwaters 2023-05-15T09:13:28Z Main article Two members of the family Capitosauridae are redescribed after further preparation, namely Paratosuchus africanus (Broom 1909) and Kestrasaurus dreyeri Haughton, 1925. New material consisting of a fragmental, lower jaw or a very large parotosaur from the Cynognathus zone of Aliwal North is described, upon which a new species, Parotosuchus dirus, is erected. Paratosuchus africanus (Broom 1909) from the Cynognathus zone of Vaalbank, Albert, Cape Province, is redescribed and figured for the first time. It consists of most of the postorbital regions of the skull associated with part or the left lower jaw which are fairly well preserved and capable of being directly compared with the same parts of other taxa. Thus it is reconfirmed a valid member of the family Capitosauridae. Kestrosaurul dreyeri is re-examined and found to consist of large areas of plaster of Paris in which the original bone has been embedded. The entire skull could be about 5 cm shorter than the original reconstruction. The position and shape of the orbits are not preserved and the reconstructed lateral position found in the specimen is arbitrary. The parietal foramen is also not preserved. The nature of the preserved palate and occipital area indicates that the material probably represents a primitive member of the family Capitosauridae, not only stratrigraphically ( Lystrosaurus zone), but also morphologically. The taxonomic designation established by Welles and Cosgriff (1965) is retained. Kestrosaurus remains an enigma because it also displays certain trematosaurid characters. A partial capitosaurid jaw from the Cynognathus zone of Aliwal North, Cape Province, is also described which when reconstructed represents one of the largest amphibians found in Southern Africa. Comparisons are made with Parotosuchus pronus (Howie 1970) and Parotosuchus megarhinus (Chernin and Cosgriff 1975), which share a few similar characteristics. It is suggested that the amphibian represented by this jaw may be ancestral to both P. pronus and P. ... Article in Journal/Newspaper North Cape University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg: WITS Institutional Repository on DSpace (WIReDSpace) North Cape ENVELOPE(165.700,165.700,-70.650,-70.650) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg: WITS Institutional Repository on DSpace (WIReDSpace) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivwitwaters |
language |
English |
topic |
Cynognathus zone Parotosuchus Triassic |
spellingShingle |
Cynognathus zone Parotosuchus Triassic Chernin, Sharon Three capitosaurs from the Triassic of South Africa: Parotosuchus africanus (Broom 1909); Kestrosaurus dreyeri Haughton 1925, and Parotosuchus dirus sp. Nov. |
topic_facet |
Cynognathus zone Parotosuchus Triassic |
description |
Main article Two members of the family Capitosauridae are redescribed after further preparation, namely Paratosuchus africanus (Broom 1909) and Kestrasaurus dreyeri Haughton, 1925. New material consisting of a fragmental, lower jaw or a very large parotosaur from the Cynognathus zone of Aliwal North is described, upon which a new species, Parotosuchus dirus, is erected. Paratosuchus africanus (Broom 1909) from the Cynognathus zone of Vaalbank, Albert, Cape Province, is redescribed and figured for the first time. It consists of most of the postorbital regions of the skull associated with part or the left lower jaw which are fairly well preserved and capable of being directly compared with the same parts of other taxa. Thus it is reconfirmed a valid member of the family Capitosauridae. Kestrosaurul dreyeri is re-examined and found to consist of large areas of plaster of Paris in which the original bone has been embedded. The entire skull could be about 5 cm shorter than the original reconstruction. The position and shape of the orbits are not preserved and the reconstructed lateral position found in the specimen is arbitrary. The parietal foramen is also not preserved. The nature of the preserved palate and occipital area indicates that the material probably represents a primitive member of the family Capitosauridae, not only stratrigraphically ( Lystrosaurus zone), but also morphologically. The taxonomic designation established by Welles and Cosgriff (1965) is retained. Kestrosaurus remains an enigma because it also displays certain trematosaurid characters. A partial capitosaurid jaw from the Cynognathus zone of Aliwal North, Cape Province, is also described which when reconstructed represents one of the largest amphibians found in Southern Africa. Comparisons are made with Parotosuchus pronus (Howie 1970) and Parotosuchus megarhinus (Chernin and Cosgriff 1975), which share a few similar characteristics. It is suggested that the amphibian represented by this jaw may be ancestral to both P. pronus and P. ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Chernin, Sharon |
author_facet |
Chernin, Sharon |
author_sort |
Chernin, Sharon |
title |
Three capitosaurs from the Triassic of South Africa: Parotosuchus africanus (Broom 1909); Kestrosaurus dreyeri Haughton 1925, and Parotosuchus dirus sp. Nov. |
title_short |
Three capitosaurs from the Triassic of South Africa: Parotosuchus africanus (Broom 1909); Kestrosaurus dreyeri Haughton 1925, and Parotosuchus dirus sp. Nov. |
title_full |
Three capitosaurs from the Triassic of South Africa: Parotosuchus africanus (Broom 1909); Kestrosaurus dreyeri Haughton 1925, and Parotosuchus dirus sp. Nov. |
title_fullStr |
Three capitosaurs from the Triassic of South Africa: Parotosuchus africanus (Broom 1909); Kestrosaurus dreyeri Haughton 1925, and Parotosuchus dirus sp. Nov. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Three capitosaurs from the Triassic of South Africa: Parotosuchus africanus (Broom 1909); Kestrosaurus dreyeri Haughton 1925, and Parotosuchus dirus sp. Nov. |
title_sort |
three capitosaurs from the triassic of south africa: parotosuchus africanus (broom 1909); kestrosaurus dreyeri haughton 1925, and parotosuchus dirus sp. nov. |
publisher |
Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research |
publishDate |
1978 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10539/16252 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(165.700,165.700,-70.650,-70.650) |
geographic |
North Cape |
geographic_facet |
North Cape |
genre |
North Cape |
genre_facet |
North Cape |
op_relation |
None; None 0078-8554 http://hdl.handle.net/10539/16252 |
_version_ |
1768371678789763072 |