Abrahamskraal, Prince Albert: Capitanian, South Africa

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Varanopidae
Elliotsmithia longiceps n. gen., n. sp. Broom 1937
Broom 1937 1 individual
TMP 1483 (type)
unclassified
Eoarctops vanderbyli n. gen., n. sp. Haughton 1929
Haughton 1929 1 individual
synonym of Eriphostoma microdon
SAM-PK-5598 (holotype)
Galesuchus gracilis n. gen., n. sp. Haughton 1915
Haughton 1915 1 individual
synonym of Eriphostoma microdon
SAM-PK-2754 (holotype)
Anteosauridae
Anteosaurus magnificus Watson 1921
Kitching 1977
Tapinocephalidae
Taurocephalus lerouxi n. sp. Broom 1928
Kitching 1977 1 specimen
AMNH 5655 (holotype), skull
Struthiocephalus intermedius
Kitching 1977
Struthiocephalus whaitsi Haughton 1915
Kitching 1977
Struthiocephalellus parvus n. sp. Boonstra 1955
Boonstra 1969
synonym of Struthiocephalus whaitsi
Keratocephalus moloch n. sp. von Huene 1931
Kitching 1977
Criocephalus vanderbyli n. sp. Broom 1928
Kitching 1977
recombined as Criocephalosaurus vanderbyli
Titanosuchidae
Dinartamus vanderbyli n. gen., n. sp. Broom 1923
Kitching 1977
nomen dubium belonging to Titanosuchidae
Jonkeria truculenta van Hoepen 1914
Kitching 1977
Phoneosuchus angusticeps n. sp. Broom 1929
Boonstra 1969
synonym of Jonkeria truculenta
Jonkeria vanderbyli n. sp. Broom 1929
Kitching 1977
Jonkeria koupensis Boonstra 1955
Kitching 1977
Dinopolus atrox n. sp. Broom 1936
Kitching 1977
nomen dubium belonging to Jonkeria
Titanosuchus dubius n. sp. Haughton 1915
Kitching 1977
nomen dubium belonging to Titanosuchidae
Titanosuchus strubeni
Kitching 1977
Titanosuchus ferox Owen 1879
Kitching 1977
Scapanodon duplessisi Broom 1904
Broom 1923
synonym of Titanosuchus ferox
Titanosuchus cloetei Broom 1903
Kitching 1977
nomen dubium belonging to Titanosuchidae
Anomodontia
Dicynodon jouberti Broom 1905
Kitching 1977
synonym of Diictodon feliceps
Robertia broomiana Boonstra 1948
King 1988 1 individual
SAM-PK-3354, a skull
Dicynodon pseudojouberti Boonstra 1948
Kitching 1977
nomen dubium belonging to Emydops
Therocephalia - Lycosuchidae
Trochorhinus vanhoepeni Broom 1936
Kitching 1977
Trochosaurus major Broom 1932
Kitching 1977
Trochosaurus intermedius n. sp. Haughton 1913
Boonstra 1969
Therocephalia - Alopecodontidae
Alopecodon priscus Broom
Kitching 1977
Alopecodon minor n. sp. Broom 1925
Boonstra 1969
synonym of Alopecodon priscus
Therocephalia - Pristerognathidae
Lycedops scholtzi n. sp. Broom 1936
Kitching 1977
Pristerognathus vanderbyli n. sp. Broom 1936
Kitching 1977
Alopecognathus megalops n. sp. Broom 1937
Kitching 1977
Scymnosaurus sp. Broom 1903
Kitching 1977
Reptilia - Styracocephalidae
Styracocephalus platyrhynchus Haughton 1929
Rubidge and van den Heever 1997 1 specimen
SAM 9346, posterior portion of skull roof and separate portion with heeled incisor teeth
Reptilia
Bradysaurus angusta
Kitching 1977
Bradysaurus strubeni
Kitching 1977
Bradysaurus baini (Seeley 1892)
Haughton and Boonstra 1929 2 individuals
SAM 4347 (not mentioned by Lee, 1997) + one skull reposited in Tübingen, Germany (see v. Huene, 1931, Geol. Paläont. Abh. N.F. 18)
Bradysaurus vanderbyli n. sp. Haughton and Boonstra 1929
Haughton and Boonstra 1929 1 individual
synonym of Bradysaurus seeleyi
SAM 3718 (type)
Brachypareia watsoni n. sp. Haughton and Boonstra 1929
Boonstra 1969
synonym of Nochelesaurus alexanderi
Dolichopareia angusta Haughton and Boonstra 1929
Boonstra 1969
synonym of Nochelesaurus alexanderi
see common names

Geography
Country:South Africa State/province:Western Cape County:Prince Albert
Coordinates: 32.9° South, 22.0° East (view map)
Paleocoordinates:59.8° South, 35.4° West
Basis of coordinate:based on political unit
Geographic resolution:outcrop
Time
Period:Permian Epoch:Guadalupian
Stage:Capitanian 10 m.y. bin:Permian 4
Key time interval:Capitanian Zone: Tapinocephalus Assemblage
Age range of interval:264.28000 - 259.51000 m.y. ago
Stratigraphy
Geological group:Beaufort Formation:Abrahamskraal
Stratigraphic resolution:member
Stratigraphy comments: "Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone, Late Permian" (Dilkes & Reisz, 1996);
The Tapinocephalus AZ is Capitanian in age according to Catuneanu et al. (2005, J. Afr. Earth Sci., 43). Lithostratigraphic informations are from Catuneanu et al. (2005) as well.
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology: sandstone
Secondary lithology: claystone
Lithology description: "fining-upward succession of sandstones and purple mudstones containing numerous thin chert bands and rich tetrapod faunas" (general lithology description of the Abrahamskraal Fm. in Catuneanu et al., 2005, J. Afr. Earth Sci. 43)
Environment:"floodplain" Tectonic setting:foreland basin
Geology comments: " [...] deposited mainly by overbank flooding of large meandering rivers of variable sinuosity, draining an extensive alluvial plain [...]" (Catuneanu et al., 2005).
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body
Size of fossils:macrofossils
Collection methods and comments
Collection methods:survey of museum collection
Reason for describing collection:taxonomic analysis
Museum repositories:TMP
Collection method comments: SAM = Iziko South African Museum, Cape Town
Taxonomic list comments:"This locality has also yielded the abundant remains of morphologically and presumably palaeoecologically diverse therapsid taxa (Kitching 1977)." (Dilkes & Reisz, 1996).
Metadata
Also known as:Farm Abrahamskraal
Database number:86388
Authorizer:J. Mueller, R. Butler, A. Dunhill Enterer:T. Liebrecht, R. Butler, J. Benito Moreno, B. Allen
Modifier:J. Benito Moreno Research group:vertebrate
Created:2009-02-01 13:17:01 Last modified:2016-08-19 10:45:08
Access level:authorizer only Released:2012-02-01 13:17:01
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:
29105. D. W. Dilkes and R. R. Reisz. 1996. First record of a basal synapsid (‘mammal-like reptile’) in Gondwana. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 263:1165-1170 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht]

Secondary references:

67683 L. D. Boonstra. 1969. The fauna of the Tapinocephalus Zone (Beaufort Beds of the Karoo). Annals of the South African Museum 56(1):1-73 [A. Dunhill/B. Allen]
67669 R. Broom. 1923. On the Structure of the Skull in the Carnivorous Dinocephalian Reptiles. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 93(4) [A. Dunhill/B. Allen]
55690 R. Broom. 1937. A further contribution to our knowledge of the fossil reptiles of the Karroo. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 107(3):299-318 [R. Butler/R. Butler]
57892 S. H. Haughton. 1915. Investigations in South African fossil reptiles and amphibia. 7. On some new gorgonopsians. Annals of the South African Museum 12:82-90 [R. Butler/R. Butler]
57893 S. H. Haughton. 1929. On some new therapsid genera. Annals of the South African Museum 28:55-78 [R. Butler/R. Butler]
31439 S. H. Haughton and L. D. Boonstra. 1929. Pareiasaurian studies. Part I. - An Attempt at a Classification of the Pareiasauria based on Skull Features. Annals of the South African Museum 28(1):79-87 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht/T. Liebrecht]
57888 C. F. Kammerer, R. M. H. Smith, M. O. Day and B. S. Rubidge. 2015. New information on the morphology and stratigraphic range of the mid‐Permian gorgonopsian Eriphostoma microdon Broom, 1911. Papers in Palaeontology [R. Butler/R. Butler]
29055 G. M. King. 1988. Anomodontia. In G. Fischer (ed.), Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology 1-174 [H. Sims/J. Camp]
27216 J. W. Kitching. 1977. The distribution of the Karroo vertebrate fauna. Memoirs of the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research 1:1-131 [H. Sims/J. Camp]
67668 B. S. Rubidge and J. A. van den Heever. 1997. Morphology and systematic position of the dinocephalian Styracocephalus platyrhynchus. Lethaia 30:157-168 [A. Dunhill/B. Allen]