Fossil Record 18(1): 43-55, doi: 10.5194/fr-18-43-2015
Redescription of Digalodon rubidgei, an emydopoid dicynodont (Therapsida, Anomodontia) from the Late Permian of South Africa
expand article infoC. F. Kammerer‡, K. D. Angielczyk§, J. Fröbisch‡
‡ Museum für Naturkunde, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany§ Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605, United States of America
© C. F. Kammerer, K. D. Angielczyk, J. Fröbisch.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation: Kammerer CF, Angielczyk KD, Fröbisch J (2015) Redescription of Digalodon rubidgei, an emydopoid dicynodont (Therapsida, Anomodontia) from the Late Permian of South Africa. Fossil Record 18(1): 43-55. https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-18-43-2015
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Abstract
The Late Permian dicynodont Digalodon rubidgei Broom and Robinson, 1948, is redescribed basedon reanalysis of the holotype and newly recognized referable specimens.Digalodon can be diagnosed by the presence of a long "beak" sharply demarcated fromthe caniniform process; an extremely tall zygomatic ramus of the squamosal,with a thickened, "folded-over" dorsal margin; raised parietal "lips" alongthe lateral edges of the pineal foramen; and a broad posterolateralexpansion of the parietal, excluding the postorbital from the back of theskull roof. Inclusion of Digalodon in a recent analysis of anomodont phylogenyrecovers it as a kistecephalian emydopoid, specifically as the sister taxonto the clade containing the remaining kistecephalians. Four definitespecimens of Digalodon are known, but several additional specimens lacking tusks, theswollen pineal "lips", and a thickened zygoma may represent sexuallydimorphic females or juveniles. Specimens of Digalodon are restricted to the centralportion of the Karoo Basin, in the area around Graaff-Reinet, and are partof a characteristic fauna probably representing a limited time span.