DicynodontâTheropod association

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A dicynodontâtheropod association in the latest Triassic of Poland

Jerzy Dzik, Tomasz Sulej, Grzegorz NiedÅwiedzki, 2008. Acta 
Palaeontologica Polonica 53(4): 733-738

Abstract

It is generally accepted that during the Triassic the composition of 
tetrapod faunas underwent a series of fundamental transformations, 
mainly as a result of diversification of archosaurs and decline of 
therapsids (Benton 1994, 2004, 2006). The last herbivorous basal 
synapsids, dicynodonts, disappeared from the record in the early Norian 
of the Americas, about 220 Ma (Langer et al. 2007), being unknown from 
the Late Triassic of Europe. Here, we report a partially articulated 
skeleton and isolated bones of a giant rhinoâsize dicynodont in the 
Upper Triassic fluvial sediments at Lisowice (Lipie ÅlÄskie clayâpit) in 
southern Poland. Paleobotanical data indicate an early Rhaetian age for 
the fauna (Dzik et al. 2008; NiedÅwiedzki and Sulej 2008). The 
dicynodont bones are associated with bones of carnivorous dinosaurs, 
pterosaurs, as well as capitosaur and plagiosaur amphibians. Dicynodonts 
were represented in the Germanic Basin throughout the Late Triassic, as 
proven by findings of smaller dicynodonts in older deposits in the same 
area, associated there with temnospondyl amphibians. It appears, thus, 
that the fossil record of tetrapod succession in the Late Triassic was 
strongly controlled by ecological factors and biased by uneven 
representation of particular environments. The Lisowice assemblage 
proves that faunas dominated by dicynodonts did not entirely disappear 
at least until the end of the Triassic.


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