Article: Permian captorhinid reptiles from the Argana Formation, Morocco
Publication: Palaeontology
Volume:
39
Part:
4
Publication Date:
December
1996
Page(s):
907
–
918
Author(s):
Nor-Eddine Jalil and Jean-Michel Dutuit
Abstract
New and previously reported captorhinid material from the upper part of the Permian level T2 of the Argana Formation of Morocco is described. A maxilla bearing three tooth-rows forms the holotype of Acrodonta irerhi. Acrodonta is a medium-sized captorhinid with three rows of long and sharply pointed maxillary teeth, which differs from all other captorhinids in its acrodont tooth implantation. Dental plates and postcranial material are attributed to an unnamed member of the captorhinid subfamily Moradisaurinae. The moradisaurine remains are too poorly preserved to be attributed to either an existing or a new taxon. Nevertheless, together with Acrodonta, they indicate that the Captorhinidae were diverse in the Permian of North Africa. Comparison of the fauna of the upper part of Argana level T2 (diplocaulid nectrideans, the captorhinid Acrodonta and the moradisaurine) with other faunas of Euramerica and Gondwana supports an Upper Permian age (Kazanian) for this part of the Argana Formation.