Woznikella triradiata n. gen., n. sp. – a new kannemeyeriiform dicynodont from the Late Triassic of northern Pangea and the global distribution of Triassic dicynodonts

Abstract

Despite nearly two centuries of intensive research of dicynodont diversity and distribution, the progress of the last two decades makes the early 21st century a dicynodont renaissance. Here we introduce Woznikella triradiata n. gen., n. sp., a Late Triassic European kannemeyeriiform with stahleckeriid affinities that may represent an early diverging lineage of that family, preceding its split into Placeriinae King, 1988 and Stahleckeriinae Lehman, 1961. Woznikella triradiata n. gen., n. sp. is distinguished from other dicynodonts by its autapomorphic, slender scapula with distinctly expanded dorsal and ventral parts, acromion directed anterodorsally, and inconspicuous scapular spine. Furthermore, we review reported global occurrences of Triassic dicynodonts, including fragmentary, indeterminate finds that may capture cryptic diversity, and analyze the biogeography of the Permian and Triassic Dicynodontia. According to our results, the region of southeastern Africa (Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia) throughout the Permian and Triassic served as a hotspot of dicynodont diversity and origin point for lineages migrating north and west. Multiple taxa independently migrated to the Americas and Eurasia, indicating open passages between the regions of Southern and Northern Hemisphere. Southern migrations from the Northern Hemisphere appear to be very rare, however.

A new early‐diverging probainognathian cynodont and a revision of the occurrence of cf. Aleodon from the Chañares Formation, northwestern Argentina: New clues on the faunistic composition of the latest Middle–?earliest Late Triassic Tarjadia Assemblage Zone

“…However, the material from the Quebrada de los Fósiles has been recently referred to Tetragonias sp., so Vinceria is currently considered as a taxon endemic of the Cuyo Basin (Kammerer & Ordoñez, 2021). Recent phylogenetic analyses (Angielczyk et al, 2018; Escobar et al, 2023; Kammerer & Ordoñez, 2021; Liu, 2022; Szczygielski & Sulej, 2023) have recovered Vinceria in a grade at the base of Kannemeyeriiformes, together with the remaining taxa traditionally included in “Shansiodontidae”: Shansiodon from the upper Ermaying Formation and possibly Cynognathus AZ of the Karoo Basin, Tetragonias from the Manda Beds and the Quebrada de los Fósiles Formation, and Rhinodicynodon from the Donguz Gorizont (Cruickshank, 1967; Hancox et al, 2013; Kalandadze, 1970; Yeh, 1959). Radiometric dates from the Cuyo Basin (Ávila et al, 2006; Spalletti et al, 2008) suggested that the fossil association from the Cerro de Las Cabras Formation does appear to be Anisian (Middle Triassic), in age.…”