Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T00:06:09.288Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Revision of the stratigraphic position of cynodonts from the upper part of the Karroo (Gondwana) System in Lesotho

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

B. R. Turner
B. R. Turner
Affiliation:
Bernard Price InstituteUniversity of the WitwatersrandJohannesburg, South Africa
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Cynodonts from two localities in Lesotho have been assigned by earlier workers to the Triassic Molteno beds of the upper part of the Karroo (Gondwana) System. These are important inasmuch as they were thought to represent the only evidence of reptilian remains in an otherwise barren sequence and may help to bridge the palaeontological gap in this part of the Karroo succession. Critical examination of both localities during the course of a regional analysis of the Molteno basin showed discrepancies in stratigraphic interpretation. These discrepancies are pointed out and the stratigraphy revised as a result of which the cynodonts can no longer be assigned to the Molteno beds; one is in the underlying Cynognathus zone (confirmed by further finds of typical Cynognathus zone reptiles) and the other is in the Red beds above. At the Tsoaning River locality a pebble conglomerate resting on an eroded surface provides a good local marker for the base of the Molteno. The implications of this with respect to the fossil flora and fauna at these localities are briefly discussed.

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 109 , Issue 4 , July 1972 , pp. 349 - 360
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1972

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Boonstra, L. D. 1947. Notes on some Stormberg fossils. In Stockley, G. M.: Report on the geology of Basutoland, 94–5.Google Scholar
Broom, R. 1906. The Permian and Triassic faunas of South Africa. Geol. Mag. 5, 29–30.Google Scholar
Charig, A. J., Attridge, J. & Crompton, A. W. 1965. On the origin of the Sauropods and the classification of the Saurischia. Proc. Linn. Soc. Lond. 176, 197–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crompton, A. W. & Ellenberger, F. 1957. On a new Cynodont from the Molteno beds and the origin of the Tritylodontids. Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 44, 1–13.Google Scholar
Dunn, E. J. 1878. Geological Report of the Stormberg Coalfield. Parl. Rep. G.4., Cape Town.Google Scholar
DuToit, A. L. 1903. Geological Survey of Elliot and Xalanga, Tembuland. Rep. geol. Commn Cape Good Hope. G.46., Cape Town.Google Scholar
DuToit, A. L. 1904. Geological Survey of Aliwal North, Herschel Barkly East and part of Wodehouse. Rep. geol. Commn Cape Good Hope. G.26., Cape Town.Google Scholar
DuToit, A. L. 1905. Geological Survey of Glen Grey parts of Queenstown and Wodehouse including the Indwe area. Rep. geol. Commn Cape Good Hope. G.24., Cape Town.Google Scholar
DuToit, A. L. 1910. Report on the Geological Survey of Maclear and portions of Engobo Mount Fletcher Qumbu Mount Frere. Rep. geol. Commn Cape Good Hope. G.31., Cape Town.Google Scholar
DuToit, A. L. 1911. Report on the Geological Survey of part of the Stormbergen. Rep. geol. Commn Cape Good Hope. G.41., Cape Town.Google Scholar
DuToit, A. L. 1912. Geological map of Dordrecht–Barkly East. Cape Sheet 26. Geol. Commn Cape Good Hope, Cape Town.Google Scholar
DuToit, A. L. 1927. The fossil flora of the Upper Karroo Beds. Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 22, 290–420.Google Scholar
DuToit, A. L. 1954. Geology of South Africa. Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh. 585 pp.Google Scholar
Ellenberger, F. 1970. Les niveaux paléontologiques de première apparition des Mammifères primordiaux en Afrique du Sud et leur ichnologie. In Haughton, S. H. (Ed.): Proc. 2nd I.U.G.S. Symposium on Gondwana Stratigraphy and Palaeontology, Cape Town and Johannesburg. C.S.I.R., Pretoria.Google Scholar
Ellenberger, F., Ellenberger, P., Fabre, J., Ginsburg, L. & Mendre, Ch. 1964. The Stormberg Series of Basutoland (South Africa). Proc. Intern. Geol. Congr., New Delhi.Google Scholar
Ellenberger, F., Ellenberger, P., & Ginsburg, L. 1967. The appearance and evolution of dinosaurs in the Trias and Lias: a comparison between South African Upper Karroo and Western Europe based on vertebrate footprints. Proc. I.U.G.S. on Gondwana stratigraphy, Buenos Aires.Google Scholar
Fabre, J. & Greber, C. L. 1960. Présence d'un Dictyophyllum dans la flore Molteno du Basutoland (Afrique Australe). Bull. Soc. géol. Fr. 7, 178–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haughton, S. H. 1969. Geological History of South Africa. Johannesburg. Geol. Soc. S. Africa, 365–6.Google Scholar
Kitching, J. W. 1970. A short review of the Beaufort Zoning in South Africa. In Haughton, S. H. (Ed.): Proc. 2nd I.U.G.S. Symposium on Gondwana Stratigraphy and Palaeontology, Cape Town and Johannesburg. C.S.I.R., Pretoria.Google Scholar
Newell, N. D. 1965. Paraconformities. In Moore, R. C.: Commemorative Volume Essays on Palaeontology and Stratigraphy. Univ. Kansas Press, 349–67.Google Scholar
Stockley, G. M. 1947. Report on the Geology of Basutoland, Maseru. Government Report, 113 pp.Google Scholar
Turner, B. R. 1970. Facies Analysis of the Molteno Sedimentary Cycle. In Haughton, S. H. (Ed.): Proc. 2nd I.U.G.S. Symposium on Gondwana Stratigraphy and Palaeontology, Cape Town and Johannesburg. C.S.I.R., Pretoria.Google Scholar