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A remarkable assemblage of terrestrial tetrapods from the Zechstein (Upper Permian: Tatarian) near Korbach (northwestern Hesse)

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Kurzfassung

Aus einer Spaltenfüllung im Randkalk des Zechsteins (Z1) bei Korbach (NW-Hessen) wird erstmalig eine Vergesellschaftung terrestrischer Tetrapoden aus dem Ober-Perm Mitteleuropas vorgestellt. Die bis jetzt bekannte Fauna setzt sich vor allem aus Therapsiden (Cynodontia und Dicynodontia), Archosauromorphen und Pareiasauriern zusammen. Derartige Faunen waren bislang nur aus dem Ober-Perm von Russland, Schottland und Süd- und Ostafrika bekannt. Das Vorkommen des frühen CynodontiersProcynosuchus in der Korbacher Spalte ist paläobiogeographisch bedeutsam, da diese Gattung bisher nur aus dem Ober-Perm von Südafrika und Sambia bekannt war. Die geologische Situation der Fundstelle erlaubt eine recht genaue stratigraphische Einstufung der hessischen Funde in den Zeitraum zwischen Zechstein 1 und 3. Zeitlich gehört die Korbacher Fauna eindeutig in das spätere Tatarium.

Abstract

We present a preliminary report on the first diverse central European assemblage of Late Permian terrestrial tetrapods from a fissure-filling in marine sediments of the lower Zechstein near Korbach (northwestern Hesse, Germany). It includes therapsids (cynodonts and dicynodonts), archosauromorph diapsids, and pareiasaurs. Similar assemblages were previously known only from the Upper Permian of Russia, Scotland, and South and East Africa. The occurrence of the basal cynodontProcynosuchus is paleobiogeographically significant because this taxon was previously known only from theDicynodon lacerticeps-Whaitsia assemblage zone of South Africa and the Madumabisa Mudstone of Zambia. The geological context of the Korbach site permits a rather precise chronostratigraphic placement of the tetrapod assemblage in the interval between Zechstein 1 and 3. The Korbach tetrapod assemblage is late Tatarian in age.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Vertebrate Palaeontology, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen’s Park, M5S 2C6, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Hans-Dieter Sues

  2. Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe, Erbprinzenstraße 13, D-76133, Karlsruhe

    Wolfgang Munk

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  1. Hans-Dieter Sues
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  2. Wolfgang Munk
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Sues, HD., Munk, W. A remarkable assemblage of terrestrial tetrapods from the Zechstein (Upper Permian: Tatarian) near Korbach (northwestern Hesse). Paläont. Z. 70, 213–223 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02988279

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