Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T01:22:26.515Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sedimentology and palaeontology of the Upper Karoo Group in the Mid-Zambezi Basin, Zimbabwe: new localities and their implications for interbasinal correlation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2020

Lara Sciscio Open the ORCID record for Lara Sciscio [Opens in a new window] ,
Pia A. Viglietti Open the ORCID record for Pia A. Viglietti [Opens in a new window] ,
Paul M. Barrett ,
Timothy J. Broderick ,
Darlington Munyikwa ,
Kimberley E.J. Chapelle Open the ORCID record for Kimberley E.J. Chapelle [Opens in a new window] ,
Kathleen N. Dollman ,
Steve F. Edwards ,
Michel Zondo  and
Jonah N. Choiniere Open the ORCID record for Jonah N. Choiniere [Opens in a new window]
Lara Sciscio*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Johannesburg, Kingsway and Auckland Park, 2006Johannesburg, South Africa
Pia A. Viglietti
Affiliation:
Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Private Bag 3 Wits 2050, South Africa Field Museum of Natural History, Negaunee Integrative Research Center, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL60605, USA
Paul M. Barrett
Affiliation:
Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Private Bag 3 Wits 2050, South Africa Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK
Timothy J. Broderick
Affiliation:
Makari, 19 Jenkinson Road, Chisipite, Harare, Zimbabwe
Darlington Munyikwa
Affiliation:
National Museums and Monuments, 107 Rotten Row, Harare, Zimbabwe
Kimberley E.J. Chapelle
Affiliation:
Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Private Bag 3 Wits 2050, South Africa
Kathleen N. Dollman
Affiliation:
Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Private Bag 3 Wits 2050, South Africa
Steve F. Edwards
Affiliation:
Musango Safari Camp, Musango Island, Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe
Michel Zondo
Affiliation:
Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Private Bag 3 Wits 2050, South Africa The Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe, Park Road, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Jonah N. Choiniere
Affiliation:
Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Private Bag 3 Wits 2050, South Africa
*
Author for correspondence: Lara Sciscio, Email: l.sciscio@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Triassic–Jurassic Upper Karoo Group of the Mid-Zambezi Basin (MZB; Zimbabwe) includes a thick succession of terrestrial sediments with high palaeontological potential that has been neglected since the 1970s. Here, we review the Upper Karoo Group stratigraphy, present detailed sedimentological work and identify new vertebrate-bearing sites at several measured sections along the southern shore of Lake Kariba. These fossil-bearing sites fall within the Pebbly Arkose and Forest Sandstone formations, and are the first to be recorded from the region since the discovery of Vulcanodon karibaensis nearly 50 years ago. The unique and diverse assemblage of aquatic and terrestrial fauna reported includes phytosaurs, metoposaurid amphibians, lungfish, non-dinosaurian archosauromorphs and non-sauropod sauropodomorph dinosaurs. This improvement of Upper Karoo Group biostratigraphy is important in refining its temporal resolution, and impacts both regional and global studies. Finally, the new fossil sites demonstrate the palaeontological importance of the MZB and its role in providing a holistic understanding of early Mesozoic ecosystems in southern Gondwana.

Keywords

Pebbly Arkose FormationLate TriassicJurassicRed BedsVulcanodonPhytosauriaDinosauria
Type
Original Article
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 158 , Issue 6 , June 2021 , pp. 1035 - 1058
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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

Ait-Kaci Ahmed, A (2018) The geology of the country between Chireya and Goredema, Gokwe North and Gokwe South Districts. Zimbabwe Geological Survey Bulletin 105, 1–86.Google Scholar
Alexander, J and Leeder, MR (1987) Active tectonic control on alluvial architecture. In Recent Developments in Fluvial Sedimentology (eds Ethridge, FG, Flores, RM and Harvey, MD), pp. 243–52. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Tulsa, Special Publication no. 39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, HM and Anderson, JM (1970) A preliminary review of the biostratigraphy of the uppermost Permian, Triassic and lowermost Jurassic of Gondwanaland. Palaeontologia Africana 13, 39–59.Google Scholar
Anderson, JM and Anderson, HM (1983) Palaeoflora of Southern Africa, Molteno Formation (Triassic) Part 1. Introduction; Part 2. Dicroidium. Rotterdam: Balkema, 227 pp.Google Scholar
Anderson, JM and Anderson, HM (1984) The fossil content of the Upper Triassic Molteno Formation, South Africa. Palaeontologia Africana 25, 39–59.Google Scholar
Anderson, HM, Barbacka, M, Bamford, MK, Holmes, WK and Anderson, JM (2020) Dicroidium (foliage) and affiliated wood Part 3 of a reassessment of Gondwana Triassic plant genera and a reclassification of some previously attributed. Alcheringa 44, 64–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Attridge, JA (1963) The Upper Triassic Karroo deposits and fauna of southern Rhodesia. South African Journal of Science 59, 242–47.Google Scholar
Bamford, MK (2004) Diversity of the woody vegetation of Gondwanan Southern Africa. Gondwana Research 7, 153–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banks, NL, Bardwell, KA and Musiwa, S (1995) Karoo rift basins of the Luangwa Valley, Zambia. In Hydrocarbon Habitat in Rift Basins (ed. Lambiase, JJ), pp. 285–95. Geological Society of London, Special Publication no. 80.Google Scholar
Barale, G, Bamford, MK, Gomez, B, Broderick, TJ, Raath, MA and Cadman, A (2006) A fossil peat deposit from the Late Triassic (Carnian) of Zimbabwe with preserved cuticle of Pteridospermopsida and Ginkgoales, and its geological setting. Palaeontologia Africana 41, 89–100.Google Scholar
Barber, B (2018) Review of the geology and summary of the known fossil fuel potential of the Karoo and younger rocks in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe Geological Survey Bulletin 107, 1–99.Google Scholar
Barbolini, N, Bamford, MK and Tolan, S (2016) Permo-Triassic palynology and palaeobotany of Zambia: a review. Palaeontologia Africana 50, 18–30.Google Scholar
Barrett, PM, Chapelle, KEJ, Staunton, CK, Botha, J and Choiniere, JN (2019) Postcranial osteology of the neotype specimen Massospondylus carinatus Owen, 1854 (Dinosauria: Sauropodomorpha) from the upper Elliot formation of South Africa. Palaeontologia Africana 53, 114–78.Google Scholar
Barrett, PM, Sciscio, L, Viglietti, PA, Broderick, TJ, Suarez, CA, Sharman, GR, Jones, AS, Munyikwa, D, Edwards, SF, Chapelle, KEJ, Dollman, KN, Zondo, M and Choiniere, JN (2020) The age of the Tashinga Formation (Karoo Supergroup) in the Mid-Zambezi Basin, Zimbabwe and the first phytosaur from sub-Saharan Africa. Gondwana Research 80, 445–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bond, G (1952) The Karroo System in Southern Rhodesia. In Symposium of Gondwana Stratigraphy, International Geological Congress (ed. Anonymous), pp. 209–222. Algiers: International Union of Geological Sciences.Google Scholar
Bond, G (1955) A note on dinosaur remains from the Forest Sandstone (Upper Karroo). Occasional Papers of the National Museum of Rhodesia 2, 795–800.Google Scholar
Bond, G (1967) A review of Karroo sedimentation and lithology in Southern Rhodesia. In IUGS Reviews Prepared for the 1st Symposium on Gondwana Stratigraphy (ed Anonymous), pp. 173–195. Haarlem, Netherlands: International Union of Geological Sciences.Google Scholar
Bond, G (1972) Milestones in Rhodesian palaeontology (1901–1971). South African Journal of Geology 75, 149–58.Google Scholar
Bond, G (1974) The stratigraphic distribution of plant and animal macro-fossils in the Karoo System of the Mid-Zambezi region. Arnoldia 7, 1–6.Google Scholar
Bond, G and Falcon, R (1973) The palaeontology of Rhodesia, with a section on the palynology of the Middle Zambezi Valley. Rhodesia Geological Survey Bulletin 70, 1–121.Google Scholar
Bond, G, Wilson, JF and Raath, MA (1970) Upper Karroo pillow lava and a new sauropod horizon in Rhodesia. Nature 227, 1339–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bordy, EM, Abrahams, M, Sharman, GR, Viglietti, PA, Benson, RBJ, Mcphee, BW, Barrett, PM, Sciscio, L, Condon, D, Mundil, R, Rademan, Z, Jinnah, Z, Clark, JM, Suarez, CA, Chapelle, KEJ and Choiniere, JN (2020) A chronostratigraphic framework for the upper Stormberg Group: implications for the Triassic-Jurassic boundary in southern Africa. Earth-Science Reviews 203, 103120, doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bordy, EM and Catuneanu, O (2001) Sedimentology of the upper Karoo fluvial strata in the Tuli Basin, South Africa. Journal of African Earth Sciences 33, 605–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bordy, EM and Catuneanu, O (2002a) Sedimentology and palaeontology of upper Karoo aeolian strata (Early Jurassic) in the Tuli Basin, South Africa. Journal of African Earth Sciences 35, 301–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bordy, EM and Catuneanu, O (2002b) Sedimentology of the lower Karoo Supergroup fluvial strata in the Tuli Basin, South Africa. Journal of African Earth Sciences 35, 503–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bordy, EM, Hancox, PJ and Rubidge, BS (2004) A description of the sedimentology and palaeontology of the Late Triassic–Early Jurassic Elliot Formation in Lesotho. Palaeontologia Africana 40, 43–58.Google Scholar
Brassey, JM (1951) Geological map of the country between the Bumi and Sanyati rivers, Zambezi Valley. Southern Rhodesia Geological Survey, published map, scale 1:100,000.Google Scholar
Broderick, TJ (1984) A geological interpretation across a portion of the mid-Zambezi Valley lying between the Mkanga and Hunyani Rivers, Guruve District. Annals of the Geological Survey of Zimbabwe 9, 59–79.Google Scholar
Broderick, TJ (1990) An interpretation of the geology of the Cabora Bassa Basin, mid-Zambezi Valley. Annals of the Geological Survey of Zimbabwe 14, 1–11.Google Scholar
Catuneanu, O, Wopfner, H, Eriksson, PG, Cairncross, B, Rubidge, BS, Smith, RMH and Hancox, PJ (2005) The Karoo basins of south-central Africa. Journal of African Earth Sciences 43, 211–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, MR (1981) The prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus carinatus Owen from Zimbabwe: its biology, mode of life and phylogenetic significance. Occasional Papers National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe 6, 690–840.Google Scholar
Cooper, MR (1982) A mid-Permian to earliest Jurassic tetrapod biostratigraphy and its significance. Arnoldia 9, 77–104.Google Scholar
Cooper, MR (1984) A reassessment of Vulcanodon karibaensis Raath (Dinosauria: Saurischia) and the origin of the Sauropoda. Palaeontologia Africana 25, 203–31.Google Scholar
Cox, CB (1969) Two new dicynodonts from the Triassic Ntawere Formation, Zambia. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Geology 17, 257–94.Google Scholar
Cox, LR (1932) Lamellibranchia from the Karroo beds of the Ruhuhu coalfields, Tanganyika Territory. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 88, 623–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
d’Engelbronner, ER (1996) New palynological data from Karoo sediments, Mana Pools basin, northern Zimbabwe. Journal of African Earth Sciences 23, 17–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Datta, D, Ray, S and Bandyopadhyay, S (2019) Cranial morphology of a new phytosaur (Diapsida, Archosauria) from the Upper Triassic of India: implications for phytosaur phylogeny and biostratigraphy. Papers in Palaeontology, published online 5 December 2019, doi: 10.1002/spp2.1292.Google Scholar
Dixey, F (1937) The geology of part of the upper Luangwa Valley, north-eastern Rhodesia. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 93, 52–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drysdall, AR and Kitching, JW (1962) The Karroo succession of the upper Luangwa Valley, northern Rhodesia. South African Journal of Geology 65, 75–91.Google Scholar
Drysdall, AR and Kitching, JW (1963) A re-examination of the Karroo succession and fossil localities of part of the Upper Luangwa Valley. Northern Rhodesia Geological Survey Memoir 1, 1–62.Google Scholar
Duncan, RA, Hooper, PR, Rehacek, J, Marsh, J and Duncan, AR (1997) The timing and duration of the Karoo igneous event, southern Gondwana. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 102, 18127–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Einsele, G (2000) Sedimentary Basins: Evolution, Facies, and Sediment Budget, second edition. Berlin and Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, 792 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ezcurra, MD, Trotteyn, MJ, Fiorelli, LE, Von Baczko, MB, Taborda, JR, Iberlucea, M and Desojo, JB (2014) The oldest rhynchosaur from Argentina: a Middle Triassic rhynchosaurid from the Chañares Formation (Ischigualasto–Villa Unión Basin, La Rioja Province). Paläontologische Zeitschrift 88, 453–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fielding, CR and Alexander, J (2001) Fossil trees in ancient fluvial channel deposits: evidence of seasonal and longer-term climatic variability. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 170, 59–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gair, HS (1959) The Karroo System and coal resources of the Gwembe District, north-east section. Bulletin of Geological Survey of Northern Rhodesia 1, 1–88.Google Scholar
Gow, CE and Raath, MA (1977) Fossil vertebrate studies in Rhodesia: sphenodontid remains from the Upper Triassic of Rhodesia. Palaeontologia Africana 20, 121–22.Google Scholar
Grant, D (1970) A red-bed facies in the Upper Karoo of the Middle Zambezi Valley and its lithological correlation. Detritus 5, 21–26.Google Scholar
Hancox, PJ, Neveling, J and Rubidge, BS (2020) Biostratigraphy of the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone (Beaufort Group, Karoo Supergroup), South Africa. South African Journal Geology 123, 217–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hiller, K and Shoko, U (1995) The hydrocarbon potential of the Zambezi Valley in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe Geological Survey, Special Paper, 1–27.Google Scholar
Irmis, RB (2005) The vertebrate fauna of the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation in northern Arizona. Mesa Southwest Museum Bulletin 9, 63–88.Google Scholar
Johnson, MR, Van Vuuren, CJ, Hegenberger, WF, Key, R and Shoko, U (1996) Stratigraphy of the Karoo Supergroup in southern Africa: an overview. Journal of African Earth Sciences 23, 3–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, DL, Duncan, RA, Briden, JC, Randall, DE and Macniocaill, C (2001) Age of the Batoka basalts, northern Zimbabwe, and the duration of Karoo Large Igneous Province magmatism. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 2, 2000GC000110, doi: 10.1029/2000GC000110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jourdan, F, Féraud, G, Bertrand, H, Watkeys, MK and Renne, PR (2007) Distinct brief major events in the Karoo large igneous province clarified by new 40Ar/39Ar ages on the Lesotho basalts. Lithos 98, 195–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khadkikar, AS, Merh, SS, Malik, JN and Chamyal, LS (1998) Calcretes in semi-arid alluvial systems: formative pathways and sinks. Sedimentary Geology 116, 251–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitching, JW and Raath, MA (1984) Fossils from the Elliot and Clarens formations (Karoo sequence) of the northeastern Cape, Orange Free State, and Lesotho, and a suggested biozonation based on tetrapods. Palaeontologia Africana 25, 111–25.Google Scholar
Knoll, F (2004) Review of the tetrapod fauna of the “Lower Stormberg Group” of the main Karoo Basin (southern Africa): implication for the age of the Lower Elliot Formation. Bulletin de la Societe géologique de France 175, 73–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knoll, F (2005) The tetrapod fauna of the Upper Elliot and Clarens formations in the main Karoo Basin (South Africa and Lesotho). Bulletin de la Société géologique de France, 176, 81–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kraus, MJ (1999) Paleosols in clastic sedimentary rocks: their geologic applications. Earth-Science Reviews 47, 41–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lacey, WS (1961) Studies in the Karroo floras of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Part 1. A geological account of the plant-bearing deposits. Proceedings of Transactions of the Rhodesian Science Association 49, 26–53.Google Scholar
Lacey, WS (1970) Some new records of fossil plants in the Molteno Stage of Rhodesia. Arnoldia 4, 1–4.Google Scholar
Lacey, WS (1974) Some new African Gondwana plants. Symposium of Morphological and Stratigraphical Paleobotany: Papers 2, 34–41.Google Scholar
Lacey, WS (1976) Further observations on the Molteno flora of Rhodesia. Arnoldia 7, 1–14.Google Scholar
Lacey, WS and Smith, CS (1972) Studies in Karroo Floras. Part 4. Karroo floras from the Upper Luangwa Valley, Zambia. In Proceedings of the Second International Gondwana Symposium, South Africa, pp. 571–74.Google Scholar
Lepper, J (1992) Lower Karoo in the Mid-Zambezi Basin (Zimbabwe). Geologisches Jahrbuch. Reihe B, Regionale Geologie Ausland 82, 3–38.Google Scholar
Lepper, J, Raath, MA and Rubidge, BS (2000) A diverse dinocephalian fauna from Zimbabwe. South African Journal of Science 96, 403–05.Google Scholar
Lucas, SG (1998) Global Triassic tetrapod biostratigraphy and biochronology. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 143, 347–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lucas, SG (2018) The Late Triassic Timescale. In The Late Triassic World: Earth in a Time of Transition (ed Tanner, LH), pp. 1–25. Cham: Springer, Topics in Geobiology, no. 46.Google Scholar
Lucas, SG and Tanner, LH (2018) The missing mass extinction at the Triassic–Jurassic boundary. In The Late Triassic World: Earth in a Time of Transition (ed Tanner, LH), pp. 721–85. Cham: Springer, Topics in Geobiology, no. 46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macgregor, AM (1941) Geology of the Mafungabusi Gold Belt. Southern Rhodesia Geological Survey Bulletin 35, 1–26.Google Scholar
Mancuso, AC, Benavente, CA, Previtera, E, Arcucci, AB and Irmis, RB (2018) Carnivore coprolites from the lower Carnian (Upper Triassic) Chañares Formation, northwestern Argentina. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 489, 15–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marsh, A and Jackson, A (1974) The geology of the area south west of the Bumi Hills. Detritus 9, 15–20.Google Scholar
Martinelli, AG, Eltink, E, Da Rosa, ÁA and Langer, MC (2017) A new cynodont from the Santa Maria formation, south Brazil, improves Late Triassic probainognathian diversity. Papers in Palaeontology 3, 401–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martz, JW, Irmis, RB and Milner, AR (2014) Lithostratigraphy and biostratigraphy of the Chinle Formation (Upper Triassic) in southern Lisbon Valley, southeastern Utah. Utah Geological Association Publications 43, 397–448.Google Scholar
Martz, J, Kirkland, J, Milner, A, Parker, W and Santucci, V (2017) Upper Triassic lithostratigraphy, depositional systems, and vertebrate paleontology across southern Utah. Geology of the Intermountain West 4, 99–180, doi:10.31711/giw.v4.pp99-180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miall, AD (1977) A review of the braided-river depositional environment. Earth-Science Reviews 13, 1–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miall, AD (1996) The Geology of Fluvial Deposits: Sedimentary Facies, Basin Analysis, and Petroleum Geology. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 582 pp.Google Scholar
Miall, AD (2006) The Geology of Fluvial Deposits: Sedimentary Facies, Basin Analysis, and Petroleum Geology. Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, 582 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miall, AD (2014) Fluvial Depositional Systems. Heidelberg: Springer International, Springer-Verlag, 316 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moulin, M, Fluteau, F, Courtillot, V, Marsh, J, Delpech, G, Quidelleur, X and Gérard, M (2017) Eruptive history of the Karoo lava flows and their impact on Early Jurassic environmental change. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 122, 738–72.Google Scholar
Nesbitt, SJ, Butler, RJ, Ezcurra, MD, Barrett, PM, Stocker, MR, Angielczyk, KD, Smith, RMH, Sidor, CA, Niedźwiedzki, G, Sennikov, AG and Charig, AJ (2017) The earliest bird-line archosaurs and the assembly of the dinosaur body plan. Nature 544, 484–87.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nyambe, IA (1999) Tectonic and climatic controls on sedimentation during deposition of the Sinakumbe Group and Karoo Supergroup, in the mid-Zambezi Valley Basin, southern Zambia. Journal of African Earth Sciences 28, 443–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nyambe, IA and Utting, J (1997) Stratigraphy and palynostratigraphy, Karoo Supergroup (Permian and Triassic), mid-Zambezi Valley, southern Zambia. Journal of African Earth Sciences 24, 563–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oesterlen, PM (1998) The geology of the Dande West area Lower Zambezi Valley. Bulletin of the Zimbabwe Geological Survey 98, 1–85.Google Scholar
Oesterlen, PM (1999) Some new results from the Mid-Zambezi Basin. Annals of the Zimbabwe Geological Survey 19, 16–20.Google Scholar
Oesterlen, PM (2003) Geological summary of the Karoo basins of Zimbabwe. Annals of the Zimbabwe Geological Survey 21, 1–20.Google Scholar
Oesterlen, PM and Millsteed, BD (1994) Lithostratigraphy, palaeontology, and sedimentary environments of the western Cabora Bassa Basin, lower Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe. South African Journal of Geology 97, 205–24.Google Scholar
Ottone, EG, Monti, M, Marsicano, CA, Marcelo, S, Naipauer, M, Armstrong, R and Mancuso, AC (2014) A new Late Triassic age for the Puesto Viejo Group (San Rafael depocenter, Argentina): SHRIMP U–Pb zircon dating and biostratigraphic correlations across southern Gondwana. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 56, 186–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, WG and Irmis, RB (2005) Advances in Late Triassic vertebrate paleontology based on new material from Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Bulletin 29, 45–58.Google Scholar
Peecook, BR, Steyer, JS, Tabor, NJ and Smith, RMH (2018) Updated geology and vertebrate paleontology of the Triassic Ntawere Formation of northeastern Zambia, with special emphasis on the archosauromorphs. Memoir of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 17, 8–38.Google Scholar
Raath, MA (1967) Notes on the occurrence of fossil bone in the Sipolilo Musengezi Area, Rhodesia. Detritus 2, 18–20.Google Scholar
Raath, MA (1969) A new coelurosaurian dinosaur from the Forest Sandstone of Rhodesia. Arnoldia 4, 1–25.Google Scholar
Raath, MA (1972a) The succession of life in the Rhodesian Gondwana period. Detritus 7, 11–19.Google Scholar
Raath, MA (1972b) Fossil vertebrate studies in Rhodesia: a new dinosaur (Reptilia: Saurischia) from near the Trias-Jurassic boundary. Arnoldia 30, 1–37.Google Scholar
Raath, MA (1981) A protosuchid crocodilian from the Forest Sandstone Formation (Upper Karoo) of Zimbabwe. Palaeontologia Africana 24, 169–74.Google Scholar
Raath, MA, Oesterlen, PM and Kitching, JW (1992) First record of Triassic Rhynchosauria (Reptilia: Diapsida) from the Lower Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe. Palaeontologia Africana 29, 1–10.Google Scholar
Raath, MA, Smith, CC and Bond, G (1970) A new Upper Karoo fossil locality on the lower Angwa River, Sipolilo District, Rhodesia. Arnoldia 4(35), 1–10.Google Scholar
Rayfield, EJ, Barrett, PM and Milner, AR (2009) Utility and validity of Middle and Late Triassic ‘land vertebrate faunachrons’. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29, 80–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Retallack, GJ (1977) Reconstructing Triassic vegetation of eastern Australasia: a new approach for the biostratigraphy of Gondwanaland. Alcheringa 1, 247–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Retallack, GJ (2001) Soils of the Past: An Introduction to Paleopedology. Oxford: Blackwell Science.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ridgway, KD and Decelles, PG (1993) Stream-dominated alluvial fan and lacustrine depositional systems in Cenozoic strike-slip basins, Denali fault system, Yukon Territory, Canada. Sedimentology 40, 645–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rogers, RR, Rogers, KC, Munyikwa, D, Terry, RC and Singer, BS (2004) Sedimentology and taphonomy of the upper Karoo-equivalent Mpandi Formation in the Tuli Basin of Zimbabwe, with a new 40Ar/39Ar age for the Tuli basalts. Journal of African Earth Sciences 40, 147–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roopnarine, PD, Angielczyk, KD, Olroyd, SL, Nesbitt, SJ, Botha-Brink, J, Peecook, BR, Day, MO and Smith, RMH (2018) Comparative ecological dynamics of Permian-Triassic communities from the Karoo, Luangwa, and Ruhuhu basins of southern Africa. Memoir of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 17, 254–72.Google Scholar
Rubidge, BS (2005) 27th Du Toit Memorial Lecture: re-uniting lost continents–fossil reptiles from the ancient Karoo and their wanderlust. South African Journal of Geology 108, 135–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rust, IC (1973) Tectonic and sedimentary framework of Gondwana Basins in Southern Africa. In Gondwana Geology (ed. Campbell, KSW), pp. 537–64. Canberra: Australian National University Press.Google Scholar
Sciscio, L and Bordy, EM (2016) Palaeoclimatic conditions in the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic of southern Africa: a geochemical assessment of the Elliot Formation. Journal of African Earth Sciences 119, 102–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sidor, CA (2011) New information on the Middle Triassic cynodonts of Tanzania and Zambia. Ameghiniana 48, R113.Google Scholar
Sidor, CA, Angielczyk, KD, Smith, RMH, Goulding, AK, Nesbitt, SJ, Peecook, BR, Steyer, JS and Tolan, S (2014) Tapinocephalids (Therapsida, Dinocephalia) from the Permian Madumabisa Mudstone Formation (Lower Karoo, Mid-Zambezi Basin) of southern Zambia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34, 980–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sidor, CA and Hopson, JA (2018) Cricodon metabolus (Cynodontia: Gomphodontia) from the Triassic Ntawere Formation of northeastern Zambia: patterns of tooth replacement and a systematic review of the Trirachodontidae. Memoir of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 17, 39–64.Google Scholar
Smith, R and Kitching, J (1997) Sedimentology and vertebrate taphonomy of the Tritylodon acme zone: a reworked palaeosol in the Lower Jurassic Elliot Formation, Karoo Supergroup, South Africa. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 131, 29–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, RMH, Eriksson, PG and Botha, WJ (1993) A review of the stratigraphy and sedimentary environments of the Karoo-aged basins of southern Africa. Journal of African Earth Sciences 16, 143–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, RMH, Sidor, CA, Angielczyk, KD, Nesbitt, SJ and Tabor, NJ (2018) Taphonomy and paleoenvironments of Middle Triassic bone accumulations in the Lifua Member of the Manda Beds, Songea Group (Ruhuhu Basin), Tanzania. Memoir of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 17, 65–79.Google Scholar
Stagman, JG (1978) An outline of the geology of Rhodesia. Rhodesia Geological Survey Bulletin 80, 1–126.Google Scholar
Stocker, MR and Butler, RJ (2013) Phytosauria. In Anatomy, Phylogeny and Palaeobiology of Early Archosaurs and their Kin (eds Nesbitt, SJ, Desojo, JB and Irmis, RB), pp. 91–117. Geological Society of London, Special Publication no. 379.Google Scholar
Stowe, CW (1974) Notes on the Karoo succession at Sinamwenda, Kariba. Detritus 9, 20–24.Google Scholar
Sutton, ER (1979) The geology of the Mafungabusi Area. Rhodesia Geological Survey Bulletin 81, 1–318.Google Scholar
Tanner, LH, Lucas, SG and Alonso-Zarza, AM (2006) Calcareous paleosols of the Upper Triassic Chinle Group, Four Corners region, southwestern United States: climatic implications. Geological Society of America, Special Papers 416, 53–74.Google Scholar
Tavener-Smith, R (1958) The development of the Mid-Zambezi Valley in Northern Rhodesia since early Karroo times. Geological Magazine 95, 105–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tavener-Smith, R (1960) The Karroo System and coal resources of the Gwembe District. South-western Section. Northern Rhodesia Geological Survey Bulletin 4, 1–84.Google Scholar
Tavener-Smith, R (1962) Karroo sedimentation in a part of the Mid-Zambezi Valley. South African Journal of Geology 65, 43–74.Google Scholar
Taylor, AM and Goldring, R (1993) Description and analysis of bioturbation and ichnofabric. Journal of the Geological Society 150, 141–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, AO (1975) The Karoo rocks in the Mazunga Area, Beitbridge District. Rhodesia Geological Survey Bulletin, Short Report 40, 1–79.Google Scholar
Viglietti, PA, Barrett, PM, Broderick, TJ, Munyikwa, D, MacNiven, R, Broderick, L, Chapelle, K, Glynn, D, Edwards, S, Zondo, M, Broderick, P and Choiniere, JN (2018) Stratigraphy of the Vulcanodon type locality and its implications for regional correlations within the Karoo Supergroup. Journal of African Earth Sciences 137, 149–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Viglietti, PA, McPhee, BW, Bordy, EM, Sciscio, L, Barrett, PM, Benson, RBJ, Wills, S, Chapelle, KEJ, Dollman, KN, Mdekazi, C and Choiniere, JN (2020a) Biostratigraphy of the Massospondylus Assemblage Zone (Stormberg Group, Karoo Supergroup), South Africa. South African Journal of Geology 123, 249–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Viglietti, PA, McPhee, BW, Bordy, EM, Sciscio, L, Barrett, PM, Benson, RBJ, Wills, S, Tolchard, F and Choiniere, JN (2020b) Biostratigraphy of the Scalenodontoides Assemblage Zone (Stormberg Group, Karoo Supergroup), South Africa. South African Journal of Geology 123, 239–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Visser, JNJ (1984) A review of the Stormberg Group and Drakensberg volcanics in southern Africa. Palaeontologia Africana 25, 5–27.Google Scholar
Watkeys, MK (1979) Explanation of the geological map of the country west of Beitbridge. Rhodesia Geological Survey Short Report 45, 62–65.Google Scholar
Watson, RLA (1960) The geology and coal resources of the country around Wankie, Southern Rhodesia. Southern Rhodesia Geological Survey Bulletin 48, 1–55.Google Scholar
Wynd, BM, Sidor, CA, Whitney, MR and Peecook, BR (2018) The first occurrence of Cynognathus in Tanzania and Zambia, with biostratigraphic implications for the age of Triassic strata in southern Pangea. Memoir of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 17, 228–39.Google Scholar
Zerfass, H, Chemale, F JR, Schultz, CL and Lavina, E (2004) Tectonics and sedimentation in southern South America during Triassic. Sedimentary Geology 166, 265–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Sciscio et al. supplementary material

Tables S1-S3

Download Sciscio et al. supplementary material(File)
File 27.2 KB
Supplementary material: File

Sciscio et al. supplementary material

Sciscio et al. supplementary material

Download Sciscio et al. supplementary material(File)
File 19.7 KB