Driefontein (Triassic of South Africa)

Where: Free State, South Africa (28.2° S, 28.0° E: paleocoordinates 65.5° S, 10.6° W)

• coordinate estimated from map

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Cynognathus Assemblage Zone Subzone A other zone, Burgersdorp Formation (Beaufort Group), Olenekian (251.2 - 247.2 Ma)

• Lower horizons of the Burgersdorp Formation; Cynognathus Assemblage Zone Subzone A; late Olenekian age

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: fluvial; siliciclastic sediments

• For a brief description of the lithology and sedimentology of the Cynognathus AZ beds see Damiani & Jeannot (2002 p. 60).

Size class: macrofossils

Collected by J. Neveling, P. J. Hancox, C. Marshall, R. J. Damiani, A. M. Jeannot in 1996, 2000, 2001; reposited in the BPI

Collection methods: bulk, surface (float), mechanical,

• The Palacrodon specimen was found by the student Catherine Marshall during a field excursion in September 1996 "amongst the surface float" (Gow, 1999).

•The holotype of Bathignathus poikilops was found by J. Neveling in February 2000 and additional material of that taxon was recovered "during a subsequent trip to the locality in April 2001" (Damiani & Jeannot, 2002). "Both specimens [i.e. the 2001 material; TL] were found imbedded at the base of an approximately 30 cm thick, bluish-grey, fine-grained sandstone layer, immediately above typical red-green mudstone of the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone. In the field these were consolidated with a dilute Glyptal solution before being either directly removed in sections (skull) or plastered (mandible). In the laboratory the bulk of the matrix was removed mechanically using an airscribe, with subsequent finer preparation achieved using a hand-held pin-vice. The prepared surfaces were cleaned using a paint-brush and water, and cyanoacrylate glue used to join broken bone" (Damiani & Jeannot, 2002).

Primary reference: F. Abdala, J. Neveling, and J. Welman. 2006. A new trirachodontid cynodont from the lower levels of the Burgersdorp Formation (Lower Triassic) of the Beaufort Group, South Africa and the cladistic relationships of Gondwanan gomphodonts. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 147:383-413 [R. Butler/R. Butler]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 98617: authorized by Richard Butler, entered by Richard Butler on 14.10.2010, edited by Trisha Wolfe

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• The taxon originally entered as "Palacrodon sp.", based on Damiani & Jennot (2002), has subsequently been changed to Palacrodon browni, based on Gow (1999). Damiani & Jennot (2002 p. 61) cite that taxon as "Palacrodon" together with some other elements of the associated fauna of their new species Bathignathus poikilops and their omission of the species epithet probably is not intended as a re-identification, but just for convenience. (TL)
Osteichthyes
 Saurichthyiformes - Saurichthyidae
cf. Saurichthys sp.1 Agassiz 1834 ray-finned fish
Two jaw fragments
Reptilia
 Parareptilia - Procolophonidae
Procolophonidae indet.2 Lydekker 1889 parareptile
 Diapsida -
Palacrodon browni4 Broom 1906 diapsid
BP/1/5672, right maxillary fragment bearing four acrodont teeth and a dentary fragment bearing five teeth (possibly belonging to one and the same individual)
Archosauriformes indet.2 Gauthier 1986 archosauromorph
 Diapsida - Erythrosuchidae
Garjainia madiba n. sp.5 Gower et al. 2014 archosauromorph
BP/1/5760. Large number of additional paratype and referred specimens (see Gower et al. 2014)
Osteichthyes
 Therapsida - Trirachodontidae
Langbergia modisei Abdala et al. 2006 cynodont
BP/1/5666, two upper postcanines
 Therapsida -
Eucynodontia indet.3 Kemp 1982 cynodont
BP/1/6518–6519, two isolated incisors, and BP/1/6514–6517 and 7161, five isolated postcanine teeth.
Amphibia
 Temnospondyli - Brachyopidae
Bathignathus poikilops n. sp.2 Damiani and Jeannot 2002 tetrapod
BP/1/5790, partial skull roof and part of the occiput
 Temnospondyli - Mastodonsauridae
Kestrosaurus sp.6 Haughton 1925 tetrapod
BP/1/5673, partial skull
Kestrosaurus kitchingi n. sp.6 Shishkin et al. 2004 tetrapod
BP/1/5359 (holotype). BP/1/5617, 5596, 5597, 5360/1-16, 5606, 5607, 5612
Osteichthyes
 Dipnoi - Ptychoceratodontidae
? Ptychoceratodus sp.1 Jaekel 1926 lungfish
toothplates
Gnathostomata
  -
Actinopterygii indet.1 ray-finned fish
scales
Chondrichthyes indet.1 Huxley 1880 cartilaginous fish
teeth
Chondrichthyes
 Hybodontiformes -
Lissodus sp.1 Brough 1935 elasmobranch