Abstract
The nearly complete gorgonopsian specimen GPIT/RE/7113, holotype of Scymnognathus (later Aelurognathus?) parringtoni, is redescribed. Comparisons with the type species of Aelurognathus (A. tigriceps) reveal that GPIT/RE/7113 is not referable to that genus. GPIT/RE/7113 shares a number of features with the Russian gorgonopsian Sauroctonus progressus, including a weakly flared zygomatic arch, interorbital and intertemporal regions of nearly equal width, broad nasal, naso-frontal suture situated anterior to the orbit and somewhat bow-shaped, prefrontal long and extremely low, terminating in a narrow anterior process, narrow vomer, parietal contribution to the occipital rim, and somewhat sloping dentary symphysis. Based on these characters, GPIT/RE/7113 is referred to Sauroctonus as S. parringtoni comb. nov. This represents the first instance of commonality in a gorgonopsian genus between the Eastern European and East African therapsid faunas.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Battail, B., & Surkov, M. V. (2000). Mammal-like reptiles from Russia. In M. J. Benton, M. A. Shishkin, D. M. Unwin, & E. N. Kurochkin (Eds.), The age of dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia (pp. 86–119). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Boonstra, L. D. (1934). A contribution to the morphology of the Gorgonopsia. Annals of the South African Museum, 31, 137–174.
Broom, R. (1905). On the use of the term Anomodontia. Records of the Albany Museum, 1, 266–269.
Broom, R. (1910). Observations on some specimens of South African fossil reptiles preserved in the British Museum. Transactions of the Royal Society London, 2, 19–25.
Broom, R., & Haughton, S. H. (1913). On a new species of Scymnognathus (S. tigriceps). Annals of the South African Museum, 12, 26–35.
Broom, R. (1925). On some carnivorous therapsids. Records of the Albany Museum, 3, 309–326.
Broom, R. (1932). The mammal-like reptiles of South Africa and the origin of mammals. London: H. F. & G. Witherby.
Bystrow, A. P. (1955). A gorgonopsian from the Upper Permian beds of the Volga. Voprosy Paleontologii, 2, 7–18.
Colbert, E. H. (1948). The mammal-like reptile Lycaenops. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 89, 357–404.
Gebauer, E. V. I. (2007). Phylogeny and evolution of the Gorgonopsia with a special reference to the skull and skeleton of GPIT/RE/7113 (‘Aelurognathus’ parringtoni). Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Eberhard-Karls Universität Tübingen.
Hartmann-Weinberg, A. (1938). Gorgonopsians as time indicators. Problemi Paleontologii, 4, 47–123.
Haughton, S. H. (1924). Investigations in South African fossil reptiles and Amphibia. 12. On some gorgonopsian skulls in the collection of the South African Museum. Annals of the South African Museum, 12, 499–518.
Huene, F. von. (1950). Die Theriodontier des ostafrikanischen Ruhuhu-Gebietes in der Tübinger Sammlung. Neues Jahrbuch der Geologie und Paläontologie, Beilagen- Band, 92, 47–136.
Ivakhnenko, M. F. (2001). Tetrapods from the East-European Placket – Late Paleozoic natural territorial complex. Trudy Paleontologicheskogo Instituta, Akademiya Nauk SSSR, 283, 1–200.
Ivakhnenko, M. F. (2003). The features of lower jaw articulation in the gorgonopian Suchogorgon (Therapsida). Paleontological Journal, 37, 48–52.
Ivakhnenko, M. F. (2002). Taxonomy of East European gorgonopians (Therapsida). Paleontological Journal, 36, 283–292.
Kammerer, C. F. (2013). A redescription of Eriphostoma microdon Broom, 1911 (Therapsida, Gorgonopsia) from the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone of South Africa and a review of Middle Permian gorgonopsians. In C. F. Kammerer, K. D. Angielczyk, & J. Fröbisch (Eds.), Early evolutionary history of the Synapsida (pp. 171–184). Dordrecht: Springer.
Lydekker, R. (1890). Catalogue of the fossil Reptilia and Amphibia in the British Museum (Natural History). Part IV. Containing the orders Anomodontia, Ecaudata, Caudata, and Labyrinthodontia; and supplement. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History).
Olson, E. C. (1937). The cranial morphology of a new gorgonopsian. Journal of Geology, 45, 511–527.
Owen, R. (1881). On the order Theriodontia with a description of a new genus and species (Ælurosaurus felinus, Ow.). Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society London, 37, 261–265.
Seeley, H. G. (1894). Researches on the structure, organisation and classification of the fossil Reptilia.—Part IX., Section 1. On the Therosuchia. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society London, B, 185, 987–1018.
Sigogneau, D. (1970). Révision systematique des Gorgonopsiens sud-africains. Cahiers de Paléontologie. Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.
Sigogneau-Russell, D. (1989). Theriodontia I. In P. Wellnhofer (Ed.), Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie (Vol. 17 B/I). Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer Verlag.
Surkov, M. V., Kalandadze, N. N., & Benton, M. J. (2005). Lystrosaurus georgi a dicynodont from the Lower Triassic of Russia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 25, 402–413.
Tatarinov, L. P. (1974). Terriodont of USSR. Trudy Paleontologicheskogo Instituta, Akademiya Nauk SSSR, 143, 1–226.
Tatarinov, L. P. (1999). A new gorgonopid (Reptilia, Theriodontia) from the Upper Permian of the Vologda region. Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal, 1, 70–78.
Tatarinov, L. P. (2000). New Theriodonts (Reptilia) from the Late Permian Fauna of the Kotel’nich locality of the Kirov Region. Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal, 5, 76–82.
Watson, D. M. S. (1912). On some reptilian lower jaws. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 9, 293–330.
Watson, D. M. S. (1921). The bases of classification of the Theriodontia. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1, 34–98.
Acknowledgments
Sincere thanks go to the following who have supported this study by providing access to specimens in their care, discussion and assistance: Jenny Clack (Cambridge), Roger Smith (Cape Town), Bruce Rubidge and Mike Raath (Johannesburg), Carl Mehling (New York), Tom Kemp (Oxford), Denise Sigogneau-Russell (Paris), and Wolf-Ernst Reif and Frank Westphal (Tübingen). Financial support of the Landesgraduiertenförderung Baden-Württemberg is gratefully acknowledged.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gebauer, E.V.I. (2014). Re-assessment of the Taxonomic Position of the Specimen GPIT/RE/7113 (Sauroctonus parringtoni comb. nov., Gorgonopsia). In: Kammerer, C., Angielczyk, K., Fröbisch, J. (eds) Early Evolutionary History of the Synapsida. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6841-3_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6841-3_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-6840-6
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6841-3
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)