2019/11/02 by Helke Mocke, Leandro C. Gaetano, Fernando Abdala · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Ichthyology and Marine Biology
paper · doi:10.1080/02724634.2019.1754231
openalex publication_date 2019/11/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Chiniquodontidae is a family of Triassic carnivorous cynodonts well represented in the Middle–Upper Triassic of Argentina and Brazil and, more recently, discovered in Madagascar and central Namibia. The Namibian specimen was found in the uppermost levels of the upper Omingonde Formation and is represented by the skull and partial skeleton. In this contribution, we provide a diagnosis for Chiniquodon omaruruensis, sp. nov., describe the postcranial material, and compare it with that of South American Chiniquodon specimens. Chiniquodon omaruruensis provides the first evidence of elements from the pes in Chiniquodon, and one of the few for non-mammaliaform cynodonts. Chiniquodon omaruruensis has a remarkably large calcaneus with an incipiently differentiated tuber, metatarsal II lateromedially robust but remarkably shorter than metatarsal IV, and an almost quadrangular basal phalanx in digit III. Similar to other Chiniquodon species, it lacks costal plates on ribs and shows a tall and slender scapular blade, a large acromion process positioned well above the scapular neck, and the absence of disc-like phalanges in the autopodium.