A New Basal Sphenacodontid Synapsid from the Late Carboniferous of the Saar-Nahe Basin, Germany

Abstract

A new basal sphenacodontid synapsid, represented by an anterior portion of a mandible, demonstrates for the first time the presence of amniotes in the largest European Permo-Carboniferous basin, the Saar-Nahe Basin. The new taxon, Cryptovenator hirschbergeri gen. et sp. nov., is autapomorphic in the extreme shortness and robustness of the lower jaw, with moderate heterodonty, including the absence of a greatly reduced first tooth and only a slight caniniform development of the second and third teeth. Cryptovenator shares with Dimetrodon, Sphenacodon, and Ctenospondylus, but notably not with Secodontosaurus, enlarged canines and a characteristic teardrop outline of the marginal teeth in lateral view, possession of a deep symphyseal region, and a strongly concave dorsal margin of the dentary. The new find shows that sphenacodontids were present in the Saar-Nahe Basin by the latest Carboniferous, predating the record of sphenacodontid tracks from slightly younger sediments in this region.