Cranial anatomy of the Early Triassic stereospondylLydekkerina huxleyi(Tetrapoda: Temnospondyli) and the taxonomy of South African lydekkerinids

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Abstract
The cranial anatomy of Lydekkerina huxleyi, a lydekkerinid stereospondyl from the Lower Triassic Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone (Beaufort Group; Karoo Basin) of South Africa, is redescribed in detail following additional preparation of the poorly known holotype specimen. Whereas previous studies failed to identify any uniquely derived characteristics of L. huxleyi, three autapomorphies are identified herein: the presence of paired, anterodorsal projections within the anterior palatal vacuity, vomerine shagreen, and a series of thickened ridges on the ventral surface of the skull roof. The low ridge on the quadrate ramus of the pterygoid in L. huxleyi, previously identified as the crista obliqua homologous to that of mastodonsauroids, is reinterpreted in light of new observations on rhinesuchids. The mandible is described in detail for the first time and is shown to possess an extensive denticle shagreen on all three coronoid elements (as in primitive stereospondyls), and a distinctly elongated, pro...

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