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The tetrapod fauna of the upper Permian Naobaogou Formation of China: a new species of Elginia (Parareptilia, Pareiasauria)
Author(s) -
Liu Jun,
Bever Gabriel S.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
papers in palaeontology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.827
H-Index - 15
ISSN - 2056-2802
DOI - 10.1002/spp2.1105
Subject(s) - permian , paleontology , anatomy , tetrapod (structure) , geology , biology , french horn , physics , structural basin , acoustics
The pareiasaur fossil record in China is poor compared to that of Russia or South Africa. A new pareiasaur specimen is here reported from the upper Permian Naobaogou Formation of the Daqing Mountains, Nei Mongol, China. It is recognized as a new species of Elginia , a taxon otherwise known only from the upper Permian Cutties Hillock Sandstone of Scotland. Diagnostic features include a moderately developed cheek flange; prominent otic notch (formed between squamosal and quadratojugal at the posterior margin of the temporal plate); enlarged supraorbital bosses on prefrontal, postfrontal and postorbital; a hypertrophied supratemporal horn, and squamosal horn prominently projecting posteriorly from caudal margin of temporal plate. The new taxon is differentiated from E . mirabilis by a well‐developed and crescentic postfrontal boss, which is the largest among a series of circumorbital bosses; upper orbital border distinctly domed with a smooth rather than angled anterodorsal margin; lesser developed cranial bosses, basal confluence of the transverse process and postzygapophysis forms a horizontal flange in some dorsal vertebrae. The new discovery significantly extends the geographical distribution of Elginia and Elginiidae.