Bruce S. Rubidge

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the Karoo basins sensu stricto of south-central Africa, synthesizing their sedimentological and stratigraphic features in relation to the tectonic and climatic controls on accommodation and sedimentation.

TL;DR: In particular, the enormous palaeontological wealth of the Karoo, covering a period of almost 100 million years from the Permian to the Jurassic, has enhanced understanding of the evolution of important tetrapod lineages, including mammals and dinosaurs as discussed by the authors.

TL;DR: A marine/estuarine fossil lamprey from the Famennian (Late Devonian) of South Africa is reported, the identity of which is established easily because many of the key specializations of modern forms are already in place, evidence that agnathans close to modern lampreys had evolved before the end of the Devonian period.

TL;DR: The authors used U-Pb zircon isotope dilution-thermal ionization mass spectrometry (ID-TIMS) dates for five volcanic ashes interbedded with fossils from the Pristerognathus, Tropidostoma, and Cistecephalus vertebrate biozones of the Beaufort Group.

TL;DR: Synapsids form the bulk of tetrapod diversity from Early Permian to Middle Triassic times and thus can provide critical information on the nature of the Permo-Triassic extinction in the terrestrial realm.