SOUTH AFRICAN FOSSILS AND
THE RUSSIAN CONNECTION
B.S. R ubidge
Fossilized rem ains of reptiles w h ic h roam ed the Karoo more th a n 2 0 0 m illio n years ago have long been kn o w n to scie n tis ts and studied by them . C ertain of these reptiles seem to be the ancestors of m a m m a ls w h ic h firs t appeared o n e a rth about
165 m illio n years ago.
A fu rth e r in te re stin g p o in t is th a t scie n tis ts have long supposed th a t the ancestors of these p re h is to ric S ou th A fric a n reptiles a c tu a lly came fro m Russia, and th a t they m igrated to so u th e rn A fric a w h e n all the c o n tin e n ts of the n o rth e rn and so u th e rn hem ispheres w ere linked together. However, c e rta in ty on th is fa c t has never been reached because, a lth o u g h the R ussian reptiles are more p rim itiv e and older th a n the S ou th A fric a n form s, there is a m o rp h o lo g ica l gap betw een the tw o form s.
In 1 9 6 4 M r Roy O osthuizen, a fa rm e r and a m a te u r p a la e o n to lo g ist fro m Prince A lb ert, fo u n d a fossilized reptile sku ll on his farm w h ic h , he believed, w a s older th a n a n y th in g pre viou sly discovered in so u th e rn A fric a . He su bsequently b ro u g h t th is e xcitin g discovery to the a tte n tio n of the a u th o ritie s at the S ou th A fric a n M u se um in Cape T ow n. M r O osthuizen w a s honoured by h a v in g th is n e w ly fo u n d sp ecies nam ed
E odicynodon o o s th u iz e n i a fte r him . T his fin d
cam e fro m the Ecca g ro up of rocks in w h ic h nobody had p re viou sly fo u n d any fossils.
The p alaeontology d e p a rtm e nt at the N ational M u se um has em barked on a project to discover and study m ore of th is p re h is to ric re p tilia n fau n a s o th a t more m ig h t be kn o w n of the o rig in s of the K aroo reptiles. Fortune has sm iled fa v o u ra b ly on th is project so fa r and at least 3 0 fo s s ils are n ow kn o w n fro m the Ecca rocks w h ic h w ere pre viou sly considered barren of fossils.
The m a jo rity of these p rim itiv e fo s s ils belong to a fa m ily k n o w n as the d icyn o d o n ts and w ere the m ost com m on p la n t-e a tin g reptiles w h ic h once roam ed the Karoo. A lth o u g h the s k u lls of these a n im a ls are sm a ll ( ± 9 cm long) and hence
A w e ll preserved s k u ll o f EODICYNODON OOSTHUIZENI in the possession o f the N a tio n a l M useum .
u n im p o s in g to the laym an, to the sc ie n tis t they are extrem ely fa s c in a tin g as they s h o w some fea tu re s w h ic h are not present in any of the p reviously kn o w n S ou th A fric a n d icynodonts, but are present in the older R ussian form s. T his fact, a lth o u g h it does not c o n firm e a rlie r beliefs th a t the K aroo reptiles are descended fro m the R ussian fo rm s, c e rta in ly adds tre m e nd o us w e ig h t to these theories. F u rthe r c o n firm a tio n of these ideas can o n ly be achieved if lots more of these old and scarce fo s s ils co uld be discovered and studied.
Research on the m is progressing w e ll at the m useum , b u t the w o rk is u n fo rtu n a te ly g re atly ham pered because the rock enca sin g these precious fo s s ils is extrem ely hard and takes a long tim e to remove before a fo s s il can be studied. However, it is hoped th a t in the not too d is ta n t fu tu re w e sh all k n o w fa r more about the o rig in s of the p re h is to ric reptiles w h ic h once roam ed the Karoo, and th e ir R ussian conn e ction .
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