IMPORTANT NEW FOSSILS
AT THE MUSEUM
B .S . R ubidge
The rocks of the K aroo are in te rn a tio n a lly kn o w n fo r the w e a lth o f fo s s il reptiles w h ic h have been fo u n d in them . M o st o f these fo s s ils com e fro m rocks w h ic h are g e o lo g ically kn o w n as the B eaufort G roup. H ow ever, up u n til recently, no fo s s il reptiles had ever been fo u n d in the older rocks of the u n d e rly in g Ecca G roup. The P alaeontology D epartm ent at the N a tio na l M u se um has n o w em barked on a project to discover and stu d y m ore of these Ecca fo s s ils and to date at least 3 5 fo s s ils fro m the Ecca are housed at the N a tio n a l M useum .
A m o n g s t the m ost e xcitin g new discoveries are t w o d in o c e p h a lia n s k u lls . T h e s e w e r e im p re ssive ly large and s tro n g ly b u ilt reptiles w h ic h once roam ed the Karoo a lm o st 2 5 0 m illio n years ago. The head alone o f one o f these
a n im a ls is a lm o st a m etre in length. D inocephalian s k u ll in e a rly stage o f preparation.
DRAKENSBERG FORMATION "STORMBERG" BEAUFORT GROUP ECCA GROUP DWYKA FORMATION
The Karoo Supergroup.
Technicians carefully chipping away the rock surrounding the skulls.
Advanced stage o f p re p a ratio n - One o f the dinocephalian s k u lls s h o w in g teeth.
D in o ce p h a lia n s are k n o w n fro m rocks of the lo w e r B eaufort G roup and because the y are re la tive ly scarce, it is a s tim u la tin g challenge to a p a la e o n to lo g is t to fin d a w e ll preserved sk u ll of o n e o f th e s e h u g e b e a s ts . T h ese tw o d in o c e p h a lia n s fro m the Ecca G ro up are th u s fin d s o f extrem e im p o rta nce as they are not o n ly reasonably w e ll preserved, but also the oldest
d in o c e p h a lia n s yet discovered in S ou th A fric a . A t th is stage it is not yet ce rta in if they are the same species as have been fo u n d in the B ea u fort G roup. T his w ill o n ly be clear in a bo u t tw o years w h e n all th e rock s u rro u n d in g the s ku lls has been chipped a w a y so th a t these p re c io u s e x tin c t m on ste rs can be studied.
