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DiegoOA — Lower Fremouw: Temnospondyls (II) and Dicynodonts

#fremouw #antarctica #fossils #triassic #lystrosaurus #dicynodont #temnospondyls
Published: 2019-02-15 17:49:23 +0000 UTC; Views: 2732; Favourites: 48; Downloads: 0
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Description Second part of the Lower Fremouw Formation series! Recently I took a look at recent papers about the fauna of this region, which made me change the distribution of the creatures across the pages. Reptiles were the next in line to depict, but due to the discovery of a new genus of archosauromorph, Antarctanax, I changed my mind and decided to depict synapsids first.

In the first part of the series one temnospondyl was left out of the page: remains of a temnospondyl similar to those of the family Lapillopsidae were found and published in 2013. Lapillopsids were small temnospondyls (around 10 cm long) which were more closely related to modern amphibians than to other temnospondyls such as brachyopsids or lydekkerinid. This restoration is based on Lapillopsis, while the colouration takes inspiration from a bunch of modern salamander species.

The next restorations depict the three species of Lystrosaurus known from the formation. This dicynodont was one of the most successful survivors of Permian mass extinction, diversifying into several species and expanding through all Pangea after the catastrophic event that wiped out most of the life on Earth. In Early Triassic deposits Lystrosaurus remains are usually the most abundant fossils, and that's also true for the Fremouw Formation. The species depicted here are L. murrayi, L. maccagai and L. curvatus. There are rumors about (yet) unpublished Lystrosaurus material which indicate that it was a hairless animal, with the body covered in warts and a tortoise-like head. I tried to restore these Lystrosaurus so that they could fit into that description, although time will say whether they are inaccurate or not.

The last two restorations represent two small dicynodonts: Myosaurus and Kombuisia, which have also been found in south african deposits. These creatures may have had a burrowing lifestyle, making a living out of underground tubercles and roots. I decided to leave these dicynodonts without hair, as that is a common posture among synapsid researchers. The Kombuisia restoration is mostly based on its better known relative Dicynodontoides.

Fish and temnospondyls I:  fav.me/dcya74c
Therocephalians and cynodonts: fav.me/dd16y2f
Reptiles: fav.me/dd35mya
Sketches: fav.me/dd9vuc7
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