''Stahleckeria'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Middle Triassic In the geologic timescale, the Middle Triassic is the second of three epochs of the Triassic period or the middle of three series in which the Triassic system is divided in chronostratigraphy. The Middle Triassic spans the time between Ma and ...

(

Ladinian The Ladinian is a stage and age in the Middle Triassic series or epoch. It spans the time between Ma and ~237 Ma (million years ago). The Ladinian was preceded by the Anisian and succeeded by the Carnian (part of the Upper or Late Triassic). ...

)

dicynodont Dicynodontia is an extinct clade of anomodonts, an extinct type of non-mammalian therapsid. Dicynodonts were herbivorous animals with a pair of tusks, hence their name, which means 'two dog tooth'. Members of the group possessed a horny, typicall ...

s.''Stahleckeria''
at

Fossilworks Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals ...

.org It lived about 240 million years ago in what is now

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. As a member of the group

Kannemeyeriiformes Kannemeyeriiformes is a group of large-bodied Triassic dicynodonts. As a clade, Kannemeyeriiformes has been defined to include the species ''Kannemeyeria simocephalus'' and all dicynodonts more closely related to it than to the species '' Lystros ...

, it was similar to the genus ''

Kannemeyeria ''Kannemeyeria'' is a genus of dicynodont that lived during the Anisian age of Middle Triassic period in what is now Africa and South America. The generic name is given in honor of Dr. Daniel Rossouw Kannemeyer, the South African fossil collect ...

''. The genus is known from the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

''Stahleckeria potens'', which was first collected from the

-age

Santa Maria Formation The Santa Maria Formation is a sedimentary rock formation found in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It is primarily Carnian in age (Late Triassic), and is notable for its fossils of cynodonts, "rauisuchian" pseudosuchians, and early dinosaurs and oth ...

in the Paleorrota fossil site of Brazil. ''Stahleckeria'' was named in honor of

Rudolf Stahlecker Rudolf Stahlecker (25 November 1898 in Sternenfels near Pforzheim – 26 October 1977 in Urach) was a German geologist and biology teacher. Biography He studied with the German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene at the University of T� ...

, who discovered the first specimens during a 1935 expedition led by paleontologist

Friedrich von Huene Friedrich von Huene, born Friedrich Richard von Hoinigen, (March 22, 1875 – April 4, 1969) was a German paleontologist who renamed more dinosaurs in the early 20th century than anyone else in Europe. He also made key contributions about v ...

to the Chiniquá fossil site.

Description

Skull of ''Stahleckeria'' measured in length. It was a contemporary of the more common ''

Dinodontosaurus ''Dinodontosaurus'' (meaning "terrible-toothed lizard") is a genus of dicynodont therapsid. It was medium to large dicynodont of the Triassic (with skull up to long) and had a beak corneum. It lived in the Middle Triassic but disappeared in the ...

''. The differences between ''Stahleckeria'' and ''Dinodontosaurus'' may reflect adaptations to feeding on different plant species. In 2012, fossils of ''Stahleckeria potens'' were described from the

Omingonde Formation The Omingonde Formation is an Early Triassic, Early to Middle Triassic (Anisian to Ladinian) geologic Formation (geology), formation, part of the Karoo Supergroup, in the western Otjozondjupa Region and northeastern Erongo Region of north-central N ...

, which like the Santa Maria Formation is Ladinian in age. The Omingonde Formation is part of the

Karoo Supergroup The Karoo Supergroup is the most widespread stratigraphic unit in Africa south of the Kalahari Desert. The supergroup consists of a sequence of units, mostly of nonmarine origin, deposited between the Late Carboniferous and Early Jurassic, a perio ...

, which preserves many Triassic tetrapod fossils in southern Africa but notably lacks fossils in a hiatus called the "Ladinian gap". In addition to the remains of ''Stahleckeria potens'', fossils of the

cynodont The cynodonts () (clade Cynodontia) are a clade of eutheriodont therapsids that first appeared in the Late Permian (approximately 260 mya), and extensively diversified after the Permian–Triassic extinction event. Cynodonts had a wide variety ...

Chiniquodon ''Chiniquodon'' is an extinct genus of carnivorous cynodonts, which lived during the Late Triassic (Carnian) in South America (Argentina and Brazil) and Africa (Namibia and Madagascar). ''Chiniquodon'' was closely related to the genus '' Aleodo ...

'' and an unidentified

rauisuchian "Rauisuchia" is a paraphyletic group of mostly large and carnivorous Triassic archosaurs. Rauisuchians are a category of archosaurs within a larger group called Pseudosuchia, which encompasses all archosaurs more closely related to crocodilians ...

have also been found in the Omingonde deposits. The presence of these animals in South America and in Africa at the same time is strong evidence that the two continents were once one uninterrupted landmass with a uniform climate and habitat that land animals such as ''Stahleckeria'' could travel freely between. The fossils of ''Stahleckeria potens'' discovered in Brazil are currently in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in the museum of the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

References

Bibliography

* Huene, F. von. 1936. "Die Fossilien Reptilien des südamerikanischen Gondwanalandes an der Zeitenwende (Denwa-Molteno-Unterkeuper = Ober-Karnisch)". ''Ergebnisse der Sauriergrabungen in Südbrasilien 1928/29''. Lieferung 2:93-159. * Huene, F. von. 1942.'' Die Fossilen Reptilien des Südamerikanischen gondwanalandes''. C.H. Beck Verlag, Munich.

External links

Brazilian Society of Paleontology
{{Portal bar, Paleontology Dicynodonts Anomodont genera Ladinian genera Middle Triassic synapsids of South America Triassic Brazil Fossils of Brazil Santa Maria Formation Middle Triassic synapsids of Africa Fossils of Namibia Omingonde Formation Fossil taxa described in 1935 Taxa named by Friedrich von Huene