A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 2014. / Anteosaurs (Therapsida: Dinocephalia: Anteosauria) were the dominant terrestrial predators during the late Middle Permian period and became extinct at the close of the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone. Only two genera of anteosaurs, Australosyodon and Anteosaurus, are recognised from the Karoo rocks of South Africa. A newly discovered small anteosaurid skull from the Abrahamskraal Formation is fully described. Because of its relatively large orbits, the unfused nature of its sutures, and the lack of replacement teeth in the dental alveoli, the specimen is considered to be a juvenile Anteosaurus magnificus. A full computer-aided 3-D reconstruction of the skull enabled cranial measurements to be taken for an allometric analysis which included twenty-three measurements and eleven specimens. Positive allometry was found for four of the measurements suggesting fast growing in the temporal region, and a significant difference in the development of the postorbital bar and suborbital bar between juveniles and adults. Phylogenetic research shows that the Russian anteosaurids to be forerunners to Anteosaurus, and because the juvenile Anteosaurus (BP/1/7074) manifests many features of both Syodon and Titanophoneus, it is suggested that ontogenetic growth of Anteosaurus follows Haeckel’s Law.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/14939 |
| Date | 21 July 2014 |
| Creators | Kruger, Ashley |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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