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Pebbly Arkose Formation
The Pebbly Arkose Formation is a Late Triassic geologic formation found in southern Africa. Geology Description The formation comprises mainly coarse, arkosic sandstones. Extent The Pebbly Arkose Formation is found in Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, in the Mid-Zambezi, Mana Pools, Cabora Bassa and Limpopo basins. Deposition Age Stratigraphy The Pebbly Arkose Formation is part of the Upper Karoo Group, overlies the Escarpment formation (in the Mid-Zambezi and Limpopo basins) and the Angwa Sandstone Formation (in the Mana Pools and Cabora Bassa Basins) and underlies the Forest Sandstone Formation. The Pebbly Arkose has been correlated to the Elliot Formation of the Great Karroo Basin, South Africa and the Mpandi Formation of the Thuli Basin in Botswana and Zimbabwe. Fossil content Flora Vertebrate fauna See also * List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations ** List of stratigraphic units with indeterminate dinosaur fossils * List of fossiliferous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kariba District
Kariba is a district and constituency on the shores of Lake Kariba in the Mashonaland West Province of northern Zimbabwe, along the border with Zambia. The constituency comprises 12 rural wards or municipalities in Kariba Rural, also known as Nyaminyami Rural District, and 9 urban wards in Kariba Town, the district capital. The district's total population was just under 60,000 in 2011. Kariba town was built to house the workers who built Kariba Dam, which was completed in 1960 to supply Zimbabwe and Zambia with hydroelectric power, and which gave rise to one of the largest artificial lakes in the world. The creation of the Kariba Lake led to a thriving fishing industry, but following Zimbabwe's economic collapse, Kariba became the least developed district in the country. Kariba is also the most isolated district in Zimbabwe, with no tarred roads as of 2002. The main economic activities are subsistence agriculture, fishing and subsistence hunting. The district, which includes Matusa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the northeast, Malawi to the east, Mozambique to the southeast, Zimbabwe and Botswana to the south, Namibia to the southwest, and Angola to the west. The capital city of Zambia is Lusaka, located in the south-central part of Zambia. The nation's population of around 19.5 million is concentrated mainly around Lusaka in the south and the Copperbelt Province to the north, the core economic hubs of the country. Originally inhabited by Khoisan peoples, the region was affected by the Bantu expansion of the thirteenth century. Following the arrival of European exploration of Africa, European explorers in the eighteenth century, the British colonised the r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhynchosauria
Rhynchosaurs are a group of extinct herbivorous Triassic archosauromorph reptiles, belonging to the order Rhynchosauria. Members of the group are distinguished by their triangular skulls and elongated, beak like premaxillary bones. Rhynchosaurs first appeared in the Middle Triassic or possibly the Early Triassic, before becoming abundant and globally distributed during the Carnian stage of the Late Triassic. Description Rhynchosaurs were herbivores, and at times abundant (in some fossil localities accounting for 40 to 60% of specimens found), with stocky bodies and a powerful beak. Early primitive forms, like ''Mesosuchus'' and '' Howesia'', were generally small and more typically lizard-like in build, and had skulls rather similar to the early diapsid ''Youngina'', except for the beak and a few other features. Later and more advanced genera grew to medium to medium large size, up to two meters in length. The skull in these forms were short, broad, and triangular, becoming muc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herrerasauridae
Herrerasauridae is a family of carnivorous dinosaurs, possibly basal to either theropods or even all of saurischians, or even their own branching from dracohors, separate from dinosauria altogether. They are among the oldest known dinosaurs, first appearing in the fossil record around 233.23 million years ago (the Carnian stage of the Late Triassic), before becoming extinct by the end of the Carnian stage. Herrerasaurids were relatively small-sized dinosaurs, normally no more than long, although the holotype specimen of "''Frenguellisaurus ischigualastensis"'' (nowadays considered a synonym of ''Herrerasaurus'' ''ischigualastensis'') is thought to have reached around 6 meters (20 ft) long. The best known representatives of this group are from South America (Brazil, Argentina), where they were first discovered in the 1930s in relation to ''Staurikosaurus'' and 1960s in relation to ''Herrerasaurus''. A nearly complete skeleton of ''Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis'' was discovered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aetosaur
Aetosaurs () are heavily armored reptiles belonging to the extinct order Aetosauria (; from Greek, (aetos, "eagle") and (, "lizard")). They were medium- to large-sized omnivorous or herbivorous pseudosuchians, part of the branch of archosaurs more closely related to crocodilians than to birds and other dinosaurs. All known aetosaurs are restricted to the Late Triassic, and in some strata from this time they are among the most abundant fossil vertebrates. They have small heads, upturned snouts, erect limbs, and a body ornamented with four rows of plate-like osteoderms (bony scutes). Aetosaur fossil remains are known from Europe, North and South America, parts of Africa, and India. Since their armoured plates are often preserved and are abundant in certain localities, aetosaurs serve as important Late Triassic tetrapod index fossils. Many aetosaurs had wide geographic ranges, but their stratigraphic ranges were relatively short. Therefore, the presence of particular aetosaurs can ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sauropodomorpha
Sauropodomorpha ( ; from Greek, meaning "lizard-footed forms") is an extinct clade of long-necked, herbivorous, saurischian dinosaurs that includes the sauropods and their ancestral relatives. Sauropods generally grew to very large sizes, had long necks and tails, were quadrupedal, and became the largest animals to ever walk the Earth. The '' prosauropods,'' which preceded the sauropods, were smaller and were often able to walk on two legs. The sauropodomorphs were the dominant terrestrial herbivores throughout much of the Mesozoic Era, from their origins in the Late Triassic (approximately 230 Ma) until their decline and extinction at the end of the Cretaceous. Description Sauropodomorphs were adapted to browsing higher than any other contemporary herbivore, giving them access to high tree foliage. This feeding strategy is supported by many of their defining characteristics, such as: a light, tiny skull on the end of a long neck (with ten or more elongated cervical vertebrae) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mbiresaurus
''Mbiresaurus'' (meaning " Mbire reptile") is an extinct genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Late Triassic (Carnian) Pebbly Arkose Formation of Zimbabwe. The genus contains a single species, ''Mbiresaurus raathi'', known from a nearly complete skeleton. ''Mbiresaurus'' represents one of Africa’s earliest known definitive dinosaurs. Discovery and naming The ''Mbiresaurus'' holotype specimen, NHMZ 2222, was discovered in two expeditions in 2017 and 2019 in layers of the Pebbly Arkose Formation on Dande Communal Land of Mbire District, Mashonaland Central Province, Zimbabwe, which dates to the late Carnian age of the late Triassic period. The holotype consists of a mostly complete, partially-articulated skeleton, including a partial skull and lower jaws, cervical, dorsal, sacral, and caudal vertebrae, fragments of ribs, partial pectoral and pelvic girdles, and partial forelimbs and hindlimbs. A larger referred specimen, NHMZ 2547, was found in association with th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dadoxylon
''Agathoxylon'' (previously known as ''Dadoxylon'') is a form genus of araucarian fossil wood, including massive tree trunks. Although identified from the late Palaeozoic to the end of the Mesozoic, ''Agathoxylon'' is common from the Carboniferous to Triassic. Description ''Agathoxylon'' were large trees that bore long strap-like leaves and trunks with small, narrow rays. Often the original cellular structure is preserved as a result of silica in solution in the ground water becoming deposited within the wood cells. This mode of fossilization is termed permineralization. Systematics As a genus, ''Dadoxylon'' was poorly defined, and apart from Araucariaceae, has been associated with fossil wood as diverse as Cordaitales, Glossopteridales and Podocarpaceae. Furthermore, it may be the same form genus as ''Araucarioxylon'', hence the usage ''Dadoxylon'' (''Araucarioxylon''). The genus ''Agathoxylon'', classified under the family Araucariaceae, has nomenclatural priority over the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pinales
The order Pinales in the division Pinophyta, class Pinopsida, comprises all the extant conifers. The distinguishing characteristic is the reproductive structure known as a cone produced by all Pinales. All of the extant conifers, such as cedar, celery-pine, cypress, fir, juniper, larch, pine, redwood, spruce, yew and ''Araucaria araucana'' ("Monkey tail tree" or "Monkey puzzle tree") are included here. Some fossil conifers, however, belong to other distinct orders within the division Pinophyta. Multiple molecular studies indicate this order being paraphyletic with respect to Gnetales, with studies recovering Gnetales as either a sister group to Pinaceae or being more derived than Pinaceae but sister to the rest of the group. Taxonomy History Brown (1825) first discerned that there were two groups of seed plants, distinguished by the form of seed development, based on whether the ovules were exposed, receiving pollen directly, or enclosed, which do not. Shortly afterwar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mpandi Formation
The Mpandi Formation is a geological formation in Zimbabwe. It dates back to the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic.Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Triassic, Africa)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 528–529. . Fossil content ;Other fossils * '' Massospondylus sp.'' * Rauisuchidae indet. See also * List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations * List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Zimbabwe * Geology of Zimbabwe * Beaufort Group * Pebbly Arkose Formation The Pebbly Arkose Formation is a Late Triassic geologic formation found in southern Africa. Geology Description The formation comprises mainly coarse, arkosic sandstones. Extent The Pebbly Arkose Formation is found in Botswana, Zambia and ... References {{Reflist Further reading * D. Munyikwa. 1997. Faunal analysis of Karoo-aged sediments in the northern Limpopo Vall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elliot Formation
The Elliot Formation is a geological formation and forms part of the Stormberg Group, the uppermost geological Stratigraphic unit, group that comprises the greater Karoo Supergroup. Outcrops of the Elliot Formation have been found in the northern Eastern Cape, southern Free State (province), Free State, and in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa. Outcrops and exposures are also found in several localities in Lesotho such as Qacha's Nek, Qacha's Neck, Hill Top, Quthing, and near the capital, Maseru. The Elliot Formation is further divided into the lower (LEF) and upper (UEF) Elliot formations to differentiate significant Sedimentology, sedimentological differences between these layers. The LEF is dominantly Late Triassic (Norian-Hettangian) in age while the UEF is mainly Early Jurassic (Sinemurian-Pliensbachian) and is tentatively regarded to preserve a continental record of the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event, Triassic-Jurassic boundary in southern Africa. This ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
