Biostratigraphy of the Endothiodon Assemblage Zone (Beaufort Group, Karoo Supergroup), South Africa

Abstract

Abstract The Endothiodon Assemblage Zone is the third oldest tetrapod biozone of the Beaufort Group (Adelaide Subgroup, Karoo Supergroup). It is situated between the underlying Tapinocephalus and overlying Cistecephalus assemblage zones and in the southwestern part of the basin corresponds to the majority of the Poortjie and Hoedemaker members of the Teekloof Formation. It is characterised by the dicynodont genus Endothiodon, especially in the lower part of assemblage zone, and records early ecosystem recovery from the Capitanian mass extinction. It also contains the lowest occurrence in the Karoo Basin of cynodont therapsids, eutherocephalians, bidentalian dicynodonts, and diapsids. The biozone reaches a maximum thickness of around 250 m in the southwestern part of the basin. We propose a two-fold subdivision into a lower Lycosuchus - Eunotosaurus Subzone (equivalent to the upper two-thirds of the former Pristerognathus Assemblage Zone) and an upper Tropidostoma - Gorgonops Subzone (equivalent to the former Tropidostoma Assemblage Zone), with the contact defined by the first appearance of Tropidostoma dubium. The Endothiodon Assemblage Zone is terminated by the first appearance of Aulacephalodon bainii.