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Saurodektes
''Saurodektes'' is an extinct genus of owenettid procolophonoid parareptile known from the earliest Triassic deposits of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. It was first named by Sean P. Modesto, Ross J. Damiani, Johann Neveling and Adam M. Yates in 2003 and the type species is ''Saurodectes rogersorum''. The generic name ''Saurodectes'' was preoccupied by the generic name of '' Saurodectes vrsanskyi'' Rasnitsyn & Zherikhin, 2000, a fossil chewing lice known from the Early Cretaceous of Russia. Thus, an alternative generic name, ''Saurodektes'', was proposed by Modesto ''et al.'' in 2004. The generic name means "lizard", ''sauros'', and "biter", ''dektes'' from Greek. The specific name, ''rogersorum'', honors Richard and Jenny Rogers, owners of the farm Barendskraal, for their hospitality, support and interest in the work of the paleontologists who recovered the holotype. ''Saurodektes'' is known solely from the holotype BP/1/6025, a partial skull and some fragmentary partial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Owenettid
Owenettidae is an extinct family of procolophonian parareptiles. Fossils have been found primarily from Africa and Madagascar, with one genus present from South America. It is the sister taxon to the family Procolophonidae. The family was constructed in 1939 for the type genus ''Owenetta''. Since then several other genera have been assigned to Owenettidae, including '' Barasaurus'' and '' Saurodektes''. The oldest known owenettid, ''Owenetta rubidgei'', dates back to the Wuchiapingian stage of the Late Permian. It and ''Saurodektes'', have been found from the Beaufort Group in the Karoo Basin of South Africa, while '' Barasaurus'' is known from the Late Permian and the Early Triassic of Sakamena Group in Madagascar. These strata span the Permo-Triassic boundary and provide evidence for the great faunal change that occurred as a result of the Permian–Triassic extinction event. Although most owenettids lived during the Permian, remains of some taxa such as ''"Owenetta" kitchingoru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Procolophonoid
Procolophonoidea is an extinct superfamily of procolophonian parareptiles. Members were characteristically small, stocky, and lizard-like in appearance. Fossils have been found worldwide from many continents including Antarctica. The first members appeared during the Late Permian in the Karoo Basin of South Africa. Taxonomy Procolophonoidea includes the families Owenettidae and Procolophonidae. ''Sclerosaurus'', which is placed within its own family Sclerosauridae, may be a member of the superfamily as well. In 1997, De Braga and Rieppel defined this same taxon (the oldest common ancestor of Procolophonidae and Owenettidae and all its descendants) using the name Procolophoniformes.Jalil, N. E., & Janvier, P. (2005). Les pareiasaures (Amniota, Parareptilia) du Permien supérieur du Bassin d’Argana, Maroc. Geodiversitas, 27(1), 35-132. When the superfamily was constructed in 1956, it was thought to be within the anthracosaur suborder Diadectomorpha. Since then it has been plac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Early Triassic
The Early Triassic is the first of three epochs of the Triassic Period of the geologic timescale. It spans the time between Ma and Ma (million years ago). Rocks from this epoch are collectively known as the Lower Triassic Series, which is a unit in chronostratigraphy. The Early Triassic is the oldest epoch of the Mesozoic Era. It is preceded by the Lopingian Epoch (late Permian, Paleozoic Era) and followed by the Middle Triassic Epoch. The Early Triassic is divided into the Induan and Olenekian ages. The Induan is subdivided into the Griesbachian and Dienerian subages and the Olenekian is subdivided into the Smithian and Spathian subages. The Lower Triassic series is coeval with the Scythian Stage, which is today not included in the official timescales but can be found in older literature. In Europe, most of the Lower Triassic is composed of Buntsandstein, a lithostratigraphic unit of continental red beds. The Early Triassic and partly also the Middle Triassic span the in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several examples, but explicitly designated as the holotype. Under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), a holotype is one of several kinds of name-bearing types. In the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) and ICZN, the definitions of types are similar in intent but not identical in terminology or underlying concept. For example, the holotype for the butterfly '' Plebejus idas longinus'' is a preserved specimen of that subspecies, held by the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. In botany, an isotype is a duplicate of the holotype, where holotype and isotypes are often pieces from the same individual plant or samples from the same gathering. A holotype is not necessarily "typ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fossil Taxa Described In 2003
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in amber, hair, petrified wood and DNA remnants. The totality of fossils is known as the ''fossil record''. Paleontology is the study of fossils: their age, method of formation, and evolutionary significance. Specimens are usually considered to be fossils if they are over 10,000 years old. The oldest fossils are around 3.48 billion years old to 4.1 billion years old. Early edition, published online before print. The observation in the 19th century that certain fossils were associated with certain rock strata led to the recognition of a geological timescale and the relative ages of different fossils. The development of radiometric dating techniques in the early 20th century allowed scientists to quantitatively measure the absolut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geological Timescale
The geologic time scale, or geological time scale, (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth. It is a system of chronological dating that uses chronostratigraphy (the process of relating strata to time) and geochronology (scientific branch of geology that aims to determine the age of rocks). It is used primarily by Earth scientists (including geologists, paleontologists, geophysicists, geochemists, and paleoclimatologists) to describe the timing and relationships of events in geologic history. The time scale has been developed through the study of rock layers and the observation of their relationships and identifying features such as lithologies, paleomagnetic properties, and fossils. The definition of standardized international units of geologic time is the responsibility of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), a constituent body of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), whose primary objective is to precisely define ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Induan
The Induan is the first age of the Early Triassic epoch in the geologic timescale, or the lowest stage of the Lower Triassic series in chronostratigraphy. It spans the time between 251.902 Ma and Ma (million years ago). The Induan is sometimes divided into the Griesbachian and the Dienerian subages or substages. The Induan is preceded by the Changhsingian (latest Permian) and is followed by the Olenekian. The Induan is roughly coeval with the regional Feixianguanian Stage of China. Geology Stratigraphy The Triassic is the first period of the Mesozoic era. It is subdivided into the Lower, Middle, and Upper Triassic series, which are further subdivided into stages. The Induan is the first stage of the Lower Triassic, from 251.9 million to 251.2 million years ago, spanning the first 700,000 years after the Permian–Triassic extinction event. Stages can be defined globally or regionally. For global stratigraphic correlation, the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone
The ''Lystrosaurus'' Assemblage Zone is a tetrapod assemblage zone or biozone which correlates to the upper Adelaide and lower Tarkastad Subgroups of the Beaufort Group, a fossiliferous and geologically important geological Group of the Karoo Supergroup in South Africa. This biozone has outcrops in the south central Eastern Cape (Middelburg, Queenstown, Aliwal North, Nieu-Bethesda) and in the southern and northeastern Free State (Bethulie, Gariep Dam, Mthatha, Harrismith). The ''Lystrosaurus'' Assemblage Zone is one of eight biozones found in the Beaufort Group, and is considered to be Early Triassic in age. The name of the biozone refers to ''Lystrosaurus'', a small to medium-sized dicynodont therapsid. It is characterized by the appearance of further ''Lystrosaurus'' subspecies which are confined to this biozone. '' Lystrosaurus maccaigi'' and ''Lystrosaurus curvatus'' are the only two species found outside the ''Lystrosaurus'' Assemblage Zone in Upper Permian deposits of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katberg Formation
The Katberg Formation is a geological formation that is found in the Beaufort Group, a major geological group that forms part of the greater Karoo Supergroup in South Africa. The Katberg Formation is the lowermost geological formation of the Tarkastad Subgroup which contains the Lower to Middle Triassic-aged rocks of the Beaufort Group. Outcrops and exposures of the Katberg Formation are found east of 24 degrees on wards and north of Graaff-Reniet, Nieu Bethesda, Cradock, Fort Beaufort, Queensdown, and East London in the south, and ranges as far north as Harrismith in deposits that form a ring around the Drakensberg mountain ranges. Geology The Katberg Formation overlies the Balfour Formation of the Adelaide Subgroup and the Burgersdorp Formation of the upper Tarkastad Subgroup, all pertaining to the greater Beaufort Group. The appearance of the Katberg Formation rocks starkly differs from the underlying Balfour Formation due to its high sandstone content and reddish colore ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metre
The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its prefixed forms are also used relatively frequently. The metre was originally defined in 1793 as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole along a great circle, so the Earth's circumference is approximately km. In 1799, the metre was redefined in terms of a prototype metre bar (the actual bar used was changed in 1889). In 1960, the metre was redefined in terms of a certain number of wavelengths of a certain emission line of krypton-86. The current definition was adopted in 1983 and modified slightly in 2002 to clarify that the metre is a measure of proper length. From 1983 until 2019, the metre was formally defined as the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum in of a second. After the 2019 redefi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beaufort Group
The Beaufort Group is the third of the main subdivisions of the Karoo Supergroup in South Africa. It is composed of a lower Adelaide Subgroup and an upper Tarkastad Subgroup. It follows conformably after the Ecca Group and unconformably underlies the Stormberg Group. Based on stratigraphic position, lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic correlations, palynological analyses, and other means of geological dating, the Beaufort Group rocks are considered to range between Middle Permian (Wordian) to Early Triassic (Anisian) in age. Background During the period when sedimentation of the Beaufort Group rocks took place, the Ecca sea had retreated to the northeastern Karoo Basin. All sediment deposition at this time took place in a terrestrial, although in a predominantly fluvial or alluvial environment that was seasonally arid. This environment covered a vast area and deposition was influenced by a retroarc foreland basin. This foreland system was caused by crustal uplift (oro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balfour Formation
The Balfour Formation is a geological formation that is found in the Beaufort Group, a major geological group that forms part of the greater Karoo Supergroup in South Africa. The Balfour Formation is the uppermost formation of the Adelaide Subgroup which contains all the Late Permian-aged biozones of the Beaufort Group. Outcrops and exposures of the Balfour Formation are found from east of 24 degrees in the highest mountainous escarpments between Beaufort West and Fraserburg, but most notably in the Winterberg and Sneeuberg mountain ranges near Cradock, the Baviaanskloof river valley, Graaff-Reniet and Nieu Bethesda in the Eastern Cape, and in the southern Free State province. Geology The Balfour Formation overlies the Middleton Formation of the Adelaide Subgroup and underlies the Katberg Formation of the lower Tarkastad Subgroup, all comprising the greater Beaufort Group. The Balfour Formation is composed of five members which are listed below (from oldest to youngest): * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
