Tetrapod fauna of Jurassic-Cretaceous Purbeck Limestone of England + Pareiasaurus from Late Permian of Tanzania
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Ben Creisler
Apr 24, 2026, 4:17:49 PM (2 days ago) Apr 24
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Ben Creisler
Raheem Butt, Kirsty M. Edgar, Susannah C.R. Maidment, Luke E. Meade, Christopher Reedman & Richard J. Butler (2026)
A Comprehensive Review of the Tetrapod Fauna of the Purbeck Limestone Group (Tithonian–Berriasian) of Dorset, southern England
Journal of the Geological Society jgs2025-232 (MS version)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2025-232
https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsl/jgs/article/doi/10.1144/jgs2025-232/729246/A-Comprehensive-Review-of-the-Tetrapod-Fauna-of
The Purbeck Limestone Group of Dorset, in southern England, records one of the richest mid-Mesozoic tetrapod assemblages in the world. Since the first documented excavations in the mid-1850s, the Purbeck has produced a diverse micro- and macrofauna of more than 60 species of both small and large-bodied tetrapods. Here we provide an overview of the lithostratigraphy of the Purbeck Limestone Group of Dorset, a review of the tetrapod fauna currently known from the assemblage, and the stratigraphic ranges of tetrapod species within the sequence. We find that the stratigraphic distribution of major taxa are largely restricted to the Marly and Cherty Freshwater Beds of the traditional “middle” Purbeck in the earliest Cretaceous, which we attribute to a combination of anthropogenic, taphonomic and palaeoenvironmental biases. We reaffirm that the Dorset outcrop of the Purbeck Limestone Group documents an important Berriasian fauna, and highlight poorly- and potentially fossil-rich non-sampled layers in both the “lower” and “upper” Purbeck sequence that have the potential to extend the stratigraphic range of the fauna into the Jurassic, and which should be the primary focus for future collection efforts.
Michael W. Maisch (2026)
Pareiasaurus serridens Owen, 1876 (Reptilia: Pareiasauria) from the Usili-Formation (Late Permian) of Kingori, Ruhuhu Basin, Tanzania and its biochronological significance
Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen (advance online publication)
DOI: 10.1127/njgpa/1315
https://www.schweizerbart.de/papers/njgpa/detail/prepub/108322/Pareiasaurus_serridens_Owen_1876_Reptilia_Pareiasauria_from_the_Usili_Formation_Late_Permian_of_Kingori_Ruhuhu_Basin_Tanzania_and_its_biochronological_significance
A partial pareiasaurian mandible with dentition from the Usili Formation of Kingori (Ruhuhu Basin, SW-Tanzania) can be confidently identified as Pareiasaurus serridens Owen, 1876 via detailed apomorphy-based morphological comparison. This is the first definite record of the taxon from the Ruhuhu Basin. Its biochronological significance is discussed, and it is concluded that it provides further confirmation to the formerly proposed correlation of the Usili Formation at Kingori with the lower Daptocephalus Assemblage Zone of the South African Karoo Basin (Beaufort Group). This is also supported by available data from dicynodont, gorgonopsian and therocephalian synapsids that were found at the same stratigraphic level as the Pareiasaurus serridens specimen at Kingori. There is no definite evidence for older faunas corresponding to the South African Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone at the Kingori locality. The recent announcement of inostranceviine gorgonopsians from the lowermost Usili Formation also supports this assignment, which nevertheless must not be necessarily applicable to the entire formation, which probably contains faunal assemblages of variable age.
====
New papers:
Free pdf:
Raheem Butt, Kirsty M. Edgar, Susannah C.R. Maidment, Luke E. Meade, Christopher Reedman & Richard J. Butler (2026)
A Comprehensive Review of the Tetrapod Fauna of the Purbeck Limestone Group (Tithonian–Berriasian) of Dorset, southern England
Journal of the Geological Society jgs2025-232 (MS version)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2025-232
https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsl/jgs/article/doi/10.1144/jgs2025-232/729246/A-Comprehensive-Review-of-the-Tetrapod-Fauna-of
The Purbeck Limestone Group of Dorset, in southern England, records one of the richest mid-Mesozoic tetrapod assemblages in the world. Since the first documented excavations in the mid-1850s, the Purbeck has produced a diverse micro- and macrofauna of more than 60 species of both small and large-bodied tetrapods. Here we provide an overview of the lithostratigraphy of the Purbeck Limestone Group of Dorset, a review of the tetrapod fauna currently known from the assemblage, and the stratigraphic ranges of tetrapod species within the sequence. We find that the stratigraphic distribution of major taxa are largely restricted to the Marly and Cherty Freshwater Beds of the traditional “middle” Purbeck in the earliest Cretaceous, which we attribute to a combination of anthropogenic, taphonomic and palaeoenvironmental biases. We reaffirm that the Dorset outcrop of the Purbeck Limestone Group documents an important Berriasian fauna, and highlight poorly- and potentially fossil-rich non-sampled layers in both the “lower” and “upper” Purbeck sequence that have the potential to extend the stratigraphic range of the fauna into the Jurassic, and which should be the primary focus for future collection efforts.
=====
Michael W. Maisch (2026)
Pareiasaurus serridens Owen, 1876 (Reptilia: Pareiasauria) from the Usili-Formation (Late Permian) of Kingori, Ruhuhu Basin, Tanzania and its biochronological significance
Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen (advance online publication)
DOI: 10.1127/njgpa/1315
https://www.schweizerbart.de/papers/njgpa/detail/prepub/108322/Pareiasaurus_serridens_Owen_1876_Reptilia_Pareiasauria_from_the_Usili_Formation_Late_Permian_of_Kingori_Ruhuhu_Basin_Tanzania_and_its_biochronological_significance
A partial pareiasaurian mandible with dentition from the Usili Formation of Kingori (Ruhuhu Basin, SW-Tanzania) can be confidently identified as Pareiasaurus serridens Owen, 1876 via detailed apomorphy-based morphological comparison. This is the first definite record of the taxon from the Ruhuhu Basin. Its biochronological significance is discussed, and it is concluded that it provides further confirmation to the formerly proposed correlation of the Usili Formation at Kingori with the lower Daptocephalus Assemblage Zone of the South African Karoo Basin (Beaufort Group). This is also supported by available data from dicynodont, gorgonopsian and therocephalian synapsids that were found at the same stratigraphic level as the Pareiasaurus serridens specimen at Kingori. There is no definite evidence for older faunas corresponding to the South African Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone at the Kingori locality. The recent announcement of inostranceviine gorgonopsians from the lowermost Usili Formation also supports this assignment, which nevertheless must not be necessarily applicable to the entire formation, which probably contains faunal assemblages of variable age.
====
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