Adult morphology of the therocephalian Simorhinella baini from the middle Permian of South Africa and the taxonomy, paleobiogeography, and temporal distribution of the Lycosuchidae

2014 ◽  
Vol 88 (6) ◽  
pp. 1139-1153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Abdala ◽  
Christian F. Kammerer ◽  
Michael O. Day ◽  
Sifelani Jirah ◽  
Bruce S. Rubidge
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Type Species ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Ventral Surface ◽  
Middle Permian ◽  
Valid Species ◽  
Incertae Sedis ◽  
The Family ◽  
Assemblage Zone

The Middle Permian tetrapod fauna of the South African Beaufort Group is taxonomically diverse and includes representatives of all major therapsid groups, including the earliest records of Eutheriodontia. In the Middle Permian, eutheriodonts are represented mainly by large therocephalians, which made up a large proportion of the vertebrate predators in these faunas. Here we describe the skull and partial skeleton of a large therocephalian from the uppermost Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone (AZ) of South Africa. A combination of features, including the short snout, presence of three to four upper postcanines and presence of teeth on the pterygoid processes, indicates that the new specimen belongs to the earliest-diverging therocephalian family, Lycosuchidae. The presence of a well-developed midline ridge on the ventral surface of the vomer indicates that the new specimen can be referred to Simorhinella baini, a species previously represented only by a tiny juvenile skull. The new specimen forms the basis for a taxonomic re-evaluation of the Lycosuchidae as well as of the geographic and stratigraphic range of the family. We recognize two valid species within the Lycosuchidae: the type species Lycosuchus vanderrieti represented by five specimens and Simorhinella baini represented by two specimens, with an additional 22 specimens currently identifiable as Lycosuchidae incertae sedis. Lycosuchid specimens range throughout the Tapinocephalus and Pristerognathus AZs; specimens of Simorhinella are restricted to the Tapinocephalus AZ, whereas Lycosuchus specimens are documented in both the Tapinocephalus and Pristerognathus AZs.

Cranial morphology and phylogenetic relationships of the Middle Permian pareiasaur Embrithosaurus schwarzi from the Karoo Basin of South Africa

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Johan Van den Brandt ◽  
Fernando Abdala ◽  
Bruce Sidney Rubidge
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Middle Permian ◽  
Cranial Morphology ◽  
Karoo Basin ◽  
Assemblage Zone ◽  
Mandibular Teeth ◽  
First Time ◽  
Globally Distributed ◽  
Distinct Taxon

Abstract Pareiasaurs were globally distributed, abundant, herbivorous parareptiles of the Middle to Late Permian, with the basal-most members found in the Middle Permian of South Africa. These basal taxa were particularly abundant and went extinct at the end of the Gaudalupian (Capitanian) at the top of the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone. Currently four taxa are recognized in this group: Bradysaurus seeleyi, B. baini, Nochelesaurus alexanderi and Embrithosaurus schwarzi, but they are all poorly understood. We here present the first detailed cranial description and updated diagnosis for Embrithosaurus schwarzi. No cranial autapomorphies were identified. However, Embrithosaurus schwarzi is a distinct taxon in this group, based on its unique dentition and using a combination of cranial features. It has nine marginal cusps on all maxillary and mandibular teeth, and wider maxillary teeth than in the co-occurring taxa, due to the marginal cusps being arranged more regularly around the crown, and the apex of the crown lacking the long, central, three-cusped trident. Our updated phylogenetic analysis recovers the four Middle Permian South African taxa as a monophyletic group for the first time, which we call Bradysauria, comprising a clade including Embrithosaurus, Bradysaurus baini and a polytomy including Nochelesaurus and Bradysaurus seeleyi.

The South African stereospondyl Lydekkerina huxleyi (Tetrapoda, Temnospondyli) from the Lower Triassic of Australia

2006 ◽  
Vol 143 (6) ◽  
pp. 877-886 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. A. WARREN ◽  
R. DAMIANI ◽  
A. M. YATES
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Posterior Margin ◽  
Lower Triassic ◽  
Ventral Surface ◽  
The South ◽  
Karoo Basin ◽  
Skull Roof ◽  
Assemblage Zone

The first tetrapod fossil from the Rewan Formation of the Galilee Basin, central Queensland, Australia, is identified as Lydekkerina huxleyi, a stereospondyl found elsewhere only in the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone of South Africa. Apomorphies shared with L. huxleyi are: anterior palatal vacuity with anterodorsal projections from its posterior margin; ventral surface of skull roof with series of thickened ridges (condition unknown in other lydekkerinids); and vomerine shagreen present (possible autapomorphic reversal). Restudy of the only other Australian lydekkerinid, Chomatobatrachus halei, shows it to be distinct from L. huxleyi. The Rewan Formation, undifferentiated in the Galilee Basin, can be correlated with the Rewan Group of the Bowen Basin, and to the early part of the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone of the Karoo Basin, South Africa, which are of Griesbachian age. Varying palaeoenvironments may contribute to the contrasting nature of the Australian and South African faunas.

scholarly journals A revision of the Pedrocortesellidae, fam. n. (Acari: Oribatei)

1986 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 385-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adilson D. Paschoal
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Type Species ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Incertae Sedis ◽  
The Family

The family Pedrocortesellidae, fam. n., includes the following genera and specie : Pedrocortesella Hammer, with the species: puchra Hammer (Peru) and gymnonota Hammer (New Zealand), which are redescribed; Pedrocortesella africana Pletzen (South Africa), P. parva Pletzen (South Africa) and P. hardyi Balogh (New Guinea) are considered incertae sedis: and Hexachaetoniella, gen. n., with the species sexpilosa (Hammer), n. comb., the type-species, and japonica (Aoki & Suzuki), n. comb. (Japan).

New replacement name for Anaperus Graff, 1911 (Acoelomorpha: Acoela: Convolutidae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4418 (5) ◽  
pp. 499 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. RIVAZ HERNÁNDEZ
Keyword(s):  
Type Species ◽  
Sequence Data ◽  
Valid Species ◽  
Molecular Sequence Data ◽  
Molecular Sequence ◽  
Copulatory Apparatus ◽  
Incertae Sedis ◽  
The Family ◽  
Male Copulatory Apparatus

The acoel genus Anaperus was established by Graff in 1911 for Amphiscolops gardineri Graff, 1910, making Anaperus gardineri (Graff, 1910) its type species. Since then, six more valid species were described: A. tvaerminnensis (Luther, 1912); A. sulcatus Beklemischev, 1914; A. rubellus Westblad, 1945; A. biaculeatus Boguta, 1970; A. ornatus Beltagi, 2001; A. singularis Hooge & Smith, 2004. A seventh species, A. australis Westblad, 1952, is incertae sedis (Dörjes & Karling, 1975). The genus was placed to family Convolutidae Graff, 1905, until Dörjes (1968) erected the family Anaperidae on the basis of a distinctive male copulatory apparatus. Jondelius et al. (2011) returned it to Convolutidae on the basis of molecular–sequence data.

Two new species ofSyllis(Polychaeta: Syllidae) from South Africa, one of them viviparous, with remarks on larval development and vivipary

2014 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 729-746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Simon ◽  
Guillermo San Martín ◽  
Georgina Robinson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New Species ◽  
South African ◽  
The Other ◽  
Coralline Algae ◽  
Colour Pattern ◽  
The Family ◽  
Two New Species ◽  
Haliotis Midae ◽  
Characteristic Colour

Two new species of South African Syllidae of the genusSyllisLamarck, 1818 are described.Syllis unzimasp. nov. is characterized by having unidentate compound chaetae with long spines on margin, a characteristic colour pattern and its reproduction by vivipary. Vivipary is not common among the polychaetes, but most representatives occur in the family Syllidae Grube, 1850 (in five otherSyllisspecies, two species ofDentatisyllisPerkins, 1981 and two species ofParexogoneMesnil & Caullery, 1818).Syllis unzimasp. nov. differs from the other viviparous species in having large broods (>44 juveniles) which develop synchronously. Development of the juveniles is similar to that of free-spawningSyllisspecies, but the appearance of the first pair of eyespots and the differentiation of the pharynx and proventricle occur later inS. unzima.Syllis amicarmillarissp. nov., is characterized by having an elongated body with relatively short, fusiform dorsal cirri and the presence of one or two pseudosimple chaeta on midbody parapodia by loss of blade and enlargement of shaft.Syllis unzimasp. nov. was found in high densities on culturedHolothuria scabraJaeger, 1833 with single specimens found on a culturedCrassostrea gigasThunberg, 1793 and on coralline algae, respectively, whileS. amicarmillariswas found mainly in sediment outside an abalone farm and less frequently on culturedHaliotis midaeLinnaeus, 1758. We discuss the possible benefits of the association withH. scabratoS. unzimasp. nov.

An update to the taxonomy of the genus Macroderes Westwood 1842 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) with descriptions of new species from South Africa

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4504 (1) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
ISHTIAG H. ABDALLA ◽  
CHRISTIAN M. DESCHODT ◽  
CLARKE H. SCHOLTZ ◽  
CATHERINE L. SOLE
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New Species ◽  
Geographic Distribution ◽  
Extreme Points ◽  
Valid Species ◽  
The South ◽  
Diagnostic Characters ◽  
Incertae Sedis

The genus Macroderes Westwood, 1842 (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae, tribe incertae sedis) is practically endemic to South Africa with only one species that is found little north in southern Namibia. The ranges of the species are limited to the winter-fall and bimodal biomes of South Africa comprising the regions of Richtersveld as extreme points of its northerly distribution, and extending to the south through Namaqualand to Cape Agulhas. The taxonomy of the genus is revised. Fourteen valid species are recognised and three others are of doubtful validity. Seven new species are described, these are: M. cederbergensis Abdalla & Deschodt, new species, M. tortuosus Abdalla & Scholtz, new species, M. gifboomi Abdalla & Scholtz, new species, M. leipoldti Abdalla & Deschodt, new species, M. oreatus Abdalla & Deschodt, new species, M. porselinus Abdalla, new species, and M. soleiana Abdalla & Deschodt, new species. Macroderes nitidus Harold, 1877 is redescribed and its lectotype is designated. The diagnostic characters as well as an updated geographic distribution of each species are summarised. An updated key of the genus, photographs of habitus, sclerites of internal sac, pronotum, pronotal punctures and elytra also are provided. 

scholarly journals Six new species of the widespread Brazilian millipede genus Eucampesmella (Polydesmida: Chelodesmidae)

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Rodrigo S. Bouzan ◽  
Luiz Felipe M. Iniesta ◽  
João Paulo P. Pena-Barbosa ◽  
Antonio D. Brescovit
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Type Species ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
The State ◽  
Junior Synonym ◽  
Valid Species ◽  
Distribution Maps ◽  
Incertae Sedis ◽  
Brazilian Species

This study concerns the diplopod genus Eucampesmella Schubart, 1955, widespread in Brazil. After this work, the genus includes 12 valid species, and three incertae sedis: E. pugiuncula (Schubart, 1946), E. brunnea Kraus, 1959 and E. schubarti Kraus, 1957. The type-species, Eucampesmella tricuspis (Attems, 1931), is redescribed based on the holotype, and the following six new Brazilian species are added: Eucampesmella macunaima sp. nov. from the states of Rondônia, Pará, and Piauí; E. capitu sp. nov. from the states of Piauí and Paraíba; E. brascubas sp. nov. from the state of Sergipe; E. iracema sp. nov. from the state of Pernambuco; E. pedrobala sp. nov. from the state of Ceará; and E. lalla sp. nov. from the state of Rio Grande do Norte. Furthermore, E. lartiguei ferrii (Schubart, 1956) is recognized as a junior synonym of E. lartiguei lartiguei (Silvestri, 1897), which also had its status changed, and E. sulcata (Attems, 1898) is revalidated, prevailing under the name Leptodesmus tuberculiporus Attems, 1898. In addition, drawings, diagnoses, and distribution maps for all species of the genus are provided.

van Wyk Louw, Nicolaas Petrus (1906–1970)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heilna du Plooy
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
The Family ◽  
South African Literature ◽  
Literature History ◽  
Faculty Of Education ◽  
University Of Cape Town ◽  
The University

N. P. Van Wyk Louw is regarded as the most prominent poet of the group known as the Dertigers, a group of writers who began publishing mainly in the 1930s. These writers had a vision of Afrikaans literature which included an awareness of the need of thematic inclusiveness, a more critical view of history and a greater sense of professionality and technical complexity in their work. Van Wyk Louw is even today considered one of the greatest poets, essayists and thinkers in the Afrikaans language. Nicolaas Petrus van Wyk Louw was born in 1906 in the small town of Sutherland in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. He grew up in an Afrikaans-speaking community but attended an English-medium school in Sutherland as well as in Cape Town, where the family lived later on. He studied at the University of Cape Town (UCT), majoring in German and Philosophy. He became a lecturer at UCT, teaching in the Faculty of Education until 1948. In 1949 he became Professor of South African Literature, History and Culture at the Gemeentelijke Universiteit van Amsterdam. In 1960 he returned to South Africa to become head of the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johanneshurg. He filled this post until his death in 1970.

Cyclacanthia n.g. (Demospongiae: Poecilosclerida: Latrunculiidae incertea sedis), a new genus of marine sponges from South African waters, and description of two new species

Zootaxa ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 725 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
TOUFIEK SAMAAI ◽  
VASHA GOVENDER ◽  
MICHELLE KELLY
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Type Species ◽  
New Genus ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Hot Spot ◽  
Marine Sponges ◽  
The Family ◽  
Two New Species ◽  
Shallow Subtidal ◽  
Warm Temperate

The new genus Cyclacanthia n.g. is erected in the poecilosclerid Family Latrunculiidae for the type species Latrunculia bellae Samaai & Kelly, 2003, and two further species, Cyclacanthia cloverlyae sp. nov., and Cyclacanthia mzimayiensis sp. nov.. The latter species are from the subtropical east coast of South Africa, whereas C. bellae has only been found further south in warm temperate Algoa Bay. Cyclacanthia n.g. differs from other Latrunculiidae genera in the ontogeny, morphology and structure of the mature microsclere, the isospinodiscorhabd, which has only three major whorls of projections as opposed to the four in species of Latrunculia du Bocage. Additional diagnostic characters include the presence of broad swathes of megascleres that diverge from the base of the sponge towards the upper choanosome, where they form loose brushes and the typical whispy reticulation of most Latrunculiidae. The ectosome is composed of a dense tangential layer of megascleres, an irregular palisade of microscleres at the surface, and a permanently encrusting habit. Cyclacanthia n.g. is the second new latrunculid genus recently described from shallow subtidal South African waters, following major revision of the family. The presence of species in four of the five known genera in the family, on South African coastlines, suggests a diversity hot-spot for the family in this region.

A revision of Palaeacmaea (Upper Cambrian) (?Cnidaria)

1999 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 598-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald F. Webers ◽  
Ellis L. Yochelson
Keyword(s):  
Type Species ◽  
Upper Cambrian ◽  
Incertae Sedis ◽  
Late Cambrian ◽  
The Family

Palaeacmaea typica, the type species of the genus, and P. irvingi, the only other Late Cambrian taxon considered congeneric are redescribed herein. Their morphology suggests that they are neither Monoplacophora, where they are currently assigned, nor are they Mollusca. Specimens of P. irvingi demonstrate considerable variation in shape, interpreted as distortion of a flexible integument, of essentially no thickness. A neotype is designated for P. irvingi; it is interpreted as a medusiform fossil, possibly a cnidarian. Only the holotype of P. typica is known, but it shows comparable features. The genus and the family Palaeacmaeide are placed in Phylum Incertae Sedis. Four Ordovician species previously assigned to Palaeacmaea, show none of the characteristics noted, and they are tentatively reassigned to other genera.

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