Abstract
Diversified assemblages of non-mammalian synapsids (or mammal-like reptiles) have long been known from the Upper Permian of southern Africa1 and the Russian Platform2. In contrast, Upper Permian deposits in central and western Europe have rarely yielded remains of terrestrial vertebrates. The German Kupferschiefer (basal Zechstein 1) and its English equivalent, the Marl Slate, have yielded several reptiles: the gliding diapsid Coelurosauravus3 (also known from the Lower Sakamena Formation of Madagascar3−4), the archosauromorph Protorosaurus5, and the pareiasaur Parasaurus6. The Cuttie's Hillock Sandstone of northern Scotland has yielded the pareiasaur Elginia and two dicynodont synapsids and is regarded as equivalent to the Daptocephalus zone of southern Africa7−8. We report here the discovery of an incomplete left dentary of Procynosuchus from a fissure-filling in limestones, the so-called Randkalk, of the lower Zechstein in the Fisseler quarry, 1 km south of Korbach, northern Hessen (West Germany). This cynodont mammal-like reptile has previously only been known from the uppermost Permian of sub-Saharan Africa1−9. Its presence supports a latest Permian (Tatarian) age for the European Zechstein and, together with other tetrapods common to Europe and Africa/Madagascar, indicates a wide distribution of Late Permian terrestrial vertebrates.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Kitching, J. W. Mem. Bernard Price Inst. Palaeont. Res. 1, 1–131 (1977).
Tatarinov, L. P. Trudy Paleont. Inst. Akad. Nauk. SSSR 143, 5–250 (1974).
Evans, S. E. & Haubold, H. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 90, 275–303 (1987).
Carroll, R. L. Palaeonl. afr. 21, 143–159 (1978).
Benton, M. J. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 84, 97–164 (1985).
Wild, R. Geol. Bl. NO-Bayem 34–35, 897–920 (1984).
Walker, A. D. Scon. J. Geol. 9, 177–183 (1973).
Rowe, T. in Aspects of Vertebrate History (ed. Jacobs, L. L.) 269–294 (Museum of Northern Arizona Press, Flagstaff, 1980).
Kemp, T. S. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B285, 73–122 (1979).
Kulick, J. & Paul, J. in Internationales Symposium Zechstein 1987, Exkursionsführer I, 25–34 (Wiesbaden, 1987).
Kulick, J. in Internationales Symposium Zechstein 1987, Exkursionsführer II, 141–169 (Wies-baden, 1987).
Ziegler, A. M., Scotese, C. R., McKerrow, W. S., Johnson, M. E. & Bambach, R. K. ARev. Earth planet. Sci. 7, 473–502 (1979).
Vozenin-Serra, C. Mém. Soc. geol. Fr. 147, 169–181 (1985).
Menning, M. Z. geol. Wiss. 14, 395–404 (1986).
Visscher, H. Mem. Can. Soc. Petrol. Geol. 2, 200–219 (1973).
Richter-Bernburg, G. Geol. Rdsch. 49, 132–148 (1960).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sues, HD., Boy, J. A procynosuchid cynodont from central Europe. Nature 331, 523–524 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/331523a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/331523a0
This article is cited by
-
New cynodont record from the lower Triassic Panchet Formation, Damodar valley
Journal of the Geological Society of India (2012)
-
A remarkable assemblage of terrestrial tetrapods from the Zechstein (Upper Permian: Tatarian) near Korbach (northwestern Hesse)
Paläontologische Zeitschrift (1996)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.