[dinosaur] 'Rauisuchian' material from Late Triassci Lower Elliot Formation of South Africa

Ben Creisler
[email protected]

A new paper:

Frederick Tolchard, Sterling J. Nesbitt, Julia B. Desojo, Pia Viglietti,
Richard Butler & Jonah N. Choiniere (2019)
'Rauisuchian' material from the Lower Elliot Formation of South Africa:
implications for Late Triassic biogeography and biostratigraphy.
Journal of African Earth Sciences Article 103610 (advance online
publication)
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1016_j.jafrearsci.2019.103610&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=GPZ0VExccc3hj0SiDKlINCMD5Z__67178PYOxlC__7A&s=IwVPDyKkZKIVoabhX4ZtvQS8ayV-LJJF4-WRgrBnXUY&e= 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.sciencedirect.com_science_article_pii_S1464343X19302651&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=GPZ0VExccc3hj0SiDKlINCMD5Z__67178PYOxlC__7A&s=t95t28o9yZr_HBYGUTn9wCcxMpImT_jWhbl-CI_cymw&e= 

HIGHLIGHTS

We identify fossils of 'rauisuchians' from South Africa’s Elliot Formation.
This is the first record of large carnivores from the lower Elliot
Formation.
The five specimens represent at least two distinct taxa.
They are among the youngest and highest palaeolatitude record of the group.
This research provides insight into the Late Triassic ecosystems of South
Africa.

Abstract

'Rauisuchians' are non-crocodylomorph pseudosuchian archosaurs that played
important roles in terrestrial Triassic ecosystems. Because they are
generally considered to have gone extinct in the end-Triassic mass
extinction, they are potentially useful for relative dating of terrestrial
strata. Despite the abundance of fossils of this group in South America,
East Africa and Laurasia, there is currently no published definitive
rauisuchian fossil record from southern Africa. However, several
fragmentary archosaurian remains representing potential members of this
grade have been recovered from the latest Triassic lower Elliot Formation
of South Africa. Here, we critically review this material and show that it
represents a modest diversity of rauisuchians. These records are the
southernmost palaeolatitudes that these animals are known to have occurred
and the first definitive remains from southern Africa.

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