Ruhuhuaria reiszi: a New Procolophonoid Reptile From Anisian Triassic Tanzania

Ruhuhuaria reiszi, a new procolophonoid reptile from the Triassic Ruhuhu Basin of Tanzania

Authors:

Linda Akiko Tsuji, Gabriela Sobral and Johannes Müller

Abstract:

The Middle Triassic Lifua Member of the Manda Formation (Ruhuhu Basin, southwestern Tanzania) hosts a diverse fauna dominated by therapsids and archosauromorphs. Reexamination of fossils from previous expeditions in addition to new field collections has brought many new taxa to light. Discovered in the collections of the Cambridge Museum of Zoology, Ruhuhuaria reiszi gen. et sp. nov. is the first procolophonoid reptile described from the Ruhuhu Basin. Although the fossil is poorly preserved, CT scanning reveals crucial diagnostic morphology, in particular the highly labio-lingually expanded tooth bases and enlarged anterior dentary teeth. A phylogenetic analysis shows Ruhuhuaria is nested within the owenettids, but results in an otherwise poorly resolved tree. The discovery of Ruhuhuaria provides further evidence of the persistence of owenettids into the Middle Triassic, and their coexistence with procolophonids well into the Triassic.