Chiniquodon is an extinct genus of carnivorous cynodonts, which lived during the Late Triassic (Carnian) in South America and Africa. Chiniquodon was closely related to the genus Aleodon, and close to the ancestry of mammals.
A fossil track or ichnite is a fossilized footprint. This is a type of trace fossil. A fossil trackway is a sequence of fossil tracks left by a single organism. Over the years, many ichnites have been found, around the world, giving important clues about the behaviour of the animals that made them. For instance, multiple ichnites of a single species, close together, suggest 'herd' or 'pack' behaviour of that species.
An animal track is an imprint left behind in soil, snow, or mud, or on some other ground surface, by an animal walking across it. Animal tracks are used by hunters in tracking their prey and by naturalists to identify animals living in a given area.
The Otjihaenamparero dinosaur tracks are a set of different fossil tracks located at the Otjihaenamparero farmstead, 23 kilometres (14 mi) east of the small town of Kalkfeld in the Otjozondjupa Region in central Namibia. The tracks were first reported as dinosaur imprints in 1925 and the site has in 1951 been declared a national monument.
Stahleckeria is an extinct genus of Middle Triassic (Ladinian) dicynodonts. It lived about 240 million years ago in what is now Brazil and Namibia. As a member of the group Kannemeyeriiformes, it was similar to the genus Kannemeyeria. The genus is known from the type species Stahleckeria potens, which was first collected from the Ladinian-age Santa Maria Formation in the Paleorrota fossil site of Brazil. Stahleckeria was named in honor of Rudolf Stahlecker, who discovered the first specimens during a 1935 expedition led by paleontologist Friedrich von Huene to the Chiniquá fossil site.
The Clarens Formation is a geological formation found in several localities in Lesotho and in the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, and Eastern Cape provinces in South Africa. It is the uppermost of the three formations found in the Stormberg Group of the greater Karoo Supergroup rocks and represents the final phase of preserved sedimentation of the Karoo Basin.
The Elliot Formation is a geological formation and forms part of the Stormberg Group, the uppermost geological group that comprises the greater Karoo Supergroup. Outcrops of the Elliot Formation have been found in the northern Eastern Cape, southern Free State, and in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa. Outcrops and exposures are also found in several localities in Lesotho such as Qacha's Neck, Hill Top, Quthing, and near the capital, Maseru. The Elliot Formation is further divided into the lower (LEF) and upper (UEF) Elliot formations to differentiate significant sedimentological differences between these layers. The LEF is dominantly Late Triassic (Norian-Hettangian) in age while the UEF is mainly Early Jurassic (Sinemurian-Pliensbachian) and is tentatively regarded to preserve a continental record of the Triassic-Jurassic boundary in southern Africa. This geological formation is named after the town of Elliot in the Eastern Cape, and its stratotype locality is located on the Barkly Pass, 9 km north of the town.
Dinosaur Ridge is a segment of the Dakota Hogback in the Morrison Fossil Area National Natural Landmark located in Jefferson County, Colorado, near the town of Morrison and just west of Denver.
Microgomphodon is an extinct genus of therocephalian therapsid from the Middle Triassic of South Africa and Namibia. Currently only one species of Microgomphodon, M. oligocynus, is recognized. With fossils present in the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone (CAZ) of the Burgersdorp Formation in South Africa and Omingonde Formation of Namibia and ranging in age from late Olenekian to Anisian, it is one of the most geographically and temporally widespread therocephalian species. Moreover, its occurrence in the upper Omigonde Formation of Namibia makes Microgomphodon the latest-surviving therocephalian. Microgomphodon is a member of the family Bauriidae and a close relative of Bauria, another South African bauriid from the CAZ. Like other bauriids, it possesses several mammal-like features such as a secondary palate and broad, molar-like postcanine teeth, all of which evolved independently from mammals.
The Canon del Colorado Formation is an Early Jurassic geologic formation in the San Juan Province of Argentina. The formation comprises conglomerates and claystones and is exposed in the Sierra de Mogna. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation; Adeopapposaurus.
The Stormberg Group is one of the four geological groups that comprises the Karoo Supergroup in South Africa. It is the uppermost geological group representing the final phase of preserved sedimentation of the Karoo Basin. The Stormberg Group rocks are considered to range between Lower Triassic (Olenekian) to Lower Jurassic (Pliensbachian) in age. These estimates are based on means of geological dating including stratigraphic position, lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic correlations, and palynological analyses.
The Etjo Sandstone is an Early Jurassic geologic formation in northern Namibia. The formation overlies the Omingonde Formation in the Waterberg Basin and the Doros and Gai-As Formations in the Huab Basin and has a total thickness of 140 metres (460 ft). Fossil theropod tracks of Prosauropoda indet., Theropoda indet., Tetrapodium elmenhorsti, Saurichnium anserinum, S. damarense, S. parallelum and S. tetractis have been reported from the formation, deposited in an aeolian environment.
Titanogomphodon is an extinct genus of diademodontid cynodonts from the Middle Triassic Omingonde Formation of Namibia. It is known from a single partial skull that was described in 1973 from the Omingonde Formation. The type and only species is Titanogomphodon crassus. At about 40 centimetres (16 in), the skull of Titanogomphodon was significantly larger than that of its closest relative, Diademodon. Its teeth are similar to those of another group of cynodonts called Traversodontidae, but the similarities are likely the result of convergent evolution. Aside from its larger size, Titanogomphodon differs from Diademodon in having a bony projection on the postorbital bar behind the eye socket.
The 19th century in ichnology refers to advances made between the years 1800 and 1899 in the scientific study of trace fossils, the preserved record of the behavior and physiological processes of ancient life forms, especially fossil footprints. The 19th century was notably the first century in which fossil footprints received scholarly attention. British paleontologist William Buckland performed the first true scientific research on the subject during the early 1830s.
Aleodon is an extinct genus of cynodonts that lived from the Middle to the Late Triassic. Relatively few analyses have been conducted to identify the phylogenetic placement of Aleodon, however those that have place Aleodon as a sister taxon to Chiniquodon. Two species of Aleodon are recognized: A. brachyramphus which was discovered in Tanzania, and A. cromptoni which was discovered most recently in Brazil.
The geology of Namibia encompasses rocks of Paleoproterozoic, Mesoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic to Cenozoic age. About 46% of the countryʼs surface are bedrock exposure, while the remainder is covered by the young overburden sediments of the Kalahari and Namib deserts.
The Omingonde Formation is an Early to Middle Triassic geologic formation, part of the Karoo Supergroup, in the western Otjozondjupa Region and northeastern Erongo Region of north-central Namibia. The formation has a maximum thickness of about 600 metres (2,000 ft) and comprises sandstones, shales, siltstones and conglomerates, was deposited in a fluvial environment, alternating between a meandering and braided river setting.
The Bemaraha Formation is a Middle Jurassic geological formation of the Morondava Basin of Madagascar. The lime mudstones, grainstones and limestones of the formation were deposited in lagoonal and reefal environments. Fossils of groups of invertebrates and theropod and sauropod tracks have been found in the formation. The Sahalaly River tracksite yielded a single trackway belonging to a quadrupedal dinosaur, possibly a sauropod. Sauropod tracks are rare, making up as little as 1 percent of the present sample. The best-preserved tracks are assigned to the ichnogenus Kayentapus.
Etjoia is an extinct genus of traversodontid cynodonts that lived during the Middle Triassic or Late Triassic period in southern Africa. This medium-sized omnivorous cynognathian provides important information on the dental evolution of early diverging gomphodonts and traversodontids.
