Elliot Formation

Elliot Formation
Stratigraphic range: Norian-Sinemurian
~210–190 Ma
Type Geological formation
Unit of Stormberg Group
Sub-units Upper & Lower Elliot Formations
Underlies Clarens Formation
Overlies Molteno Formation
Lithology
Primary Limestone, sandstone, mudstone
Location
Coordinates 30°30′S 27°24′E / 30.5°S 27.4°E / -30.5; 27.4Coordinates: 30°30′S 27°24′E / 30.5°S 27.4°E / -30.5; 27.4
Approximate paleocoordinates 44°06′S 1°54′W / 44.1°S 1.9°W / -44.1; -1.9
Region Eastern Cape, Orange Free State, Mafeteng, Maseru, Quthing, Qacha's Nek & Mohale's Hoek
Country  Lesotho
 South Africa

The Elliot Formation is a geological formation dating to roughly 210 to 190 million years ago and covering the Norian to Sinemurian stages. The Elliot Formation is found in South Africa and Lesotho and is a member of the Stormberg Group. It consists mainly of limestone, sandstone, and mudstone. Fossils of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus have been recovered from the Upper Elliot Formation.

Stratigraphy

Stratigraphy of the Karoo Supergroup in the Karoo Basin
Period Group Formation west of 24°E Formation east of 24°E Assemblage Zone
Jurassic Drakensberg Hiatus Drakensberg
Stormberg Clarens
Triassic Elliot
Molteno
Beaufort
Burgersdorp Cynognathus
Katberg Lystrosaurus
Balfour
Permian Dicynodon
Teekloof
Cistecephalus
Middleton
Tropidostoma
Pristerognathus
Abrahams-Kraal Koonap
Tapinocephalus
Eodicynodon
Ecca Waterford Waterford
Tierberg / Fort Brown Fort Brown
Laingsburg / Ripon Ripon
Collingham Collingham
Whitehill Whitehill
Prince Albert Prince Albert
Carboniferous Dwyka Elandsvlei Elandsvlei
References: Rubidge (2005),[1] Selden and Nudds (2011).[2]

Vertebrate fauna

Dinosaurs

Unidentified dinosaur eggs have been recovered from the formation.[3]

Ornithischia

An unnamed ornithischian genus has been reported from the Upper Elliot Formation.[3] Geographically it was located in the Mafeteng district, Lesotho.[3] Ornithischian tracks have been reported from the Upper Elliot Formation.[3] Geographically they were located in Leribe District,[4] Mafeteng district, and Mohales Hoek District, Lesotho.[3] Possible indeterminate ornithischian remains have been reported from the Lower and Upper Elliot Formation of Cape Province, South Africa[4] and the Mohales Hoek District, Lesotho.[3]

Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon
 Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.
Ornithischian dinosaurs of the Elliot Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images

Abrictosaurus[3]

A. consors[3]

  • Upper Elliot[3]

"[Two] skulls, [one] associated with fragmentary skeleton; material consisting of either male and female or adult and juvenile."[5]

The Qacha's Nek District remains were once considered Lycorhinus consors.[3]
Abrictosaurus
Heterodontosaurus
Lesothosaurus
Pegomastax

Fabrosaurus[3]

F. australis[3]

  • Upper Elliot[3]

"Fragmentary dentary with teeth."[6]

Its remains are now considered indeterminate ornithischian.[3]

Heterodontosaurus[3]

H. tucki[3]

  • Upper Elliot[3]

Indeterminate[3]

  • Upper Elliot[3]

Lanasaurus

L. scalpridens

  • Upper Elliot

Now regarded as a junior synonym of Lycorhinus.

Lesothosaurus[4]

L. diagnosticus[4]

  • Upper Elliot

"At least [four] skulls and associated skeletal material."[6]

Lycorhinus[3]

L. angustidens[3]

  • Upper Elliot

"Isolated dentary maxillae."[5]

L. consors[3]

  • Upper Elliot[3]

Split off as the type species of the new genus Abrictosaurus.

Pegomastax[7]

P. africana[7]
  • Joe Gqabi District[7]
  • Upper Elliot

Sauropodomorpha

Prosauropod tracks have been found in the Lower and Upper Elliot Formation.[4][3] Geographically, these finds have been located in Leribe District, Mafeteng District, Mohales Hoek district, Quthing District,[3] and Maseru District, Lesotho.[4] Possible prosauropod tracks have been located in the Lower Elliot Formation. Geographically these were located in Cape Province, South Africa.[4]

Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon
 Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.
Sauropodomorph dinosaurs of the Elliot Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images

Aardonyx

A. celestae

  • Upper Elliot
Massospondylus
Massospondylus
Melanorosaurus readi

Aetonyx

A. palustris

  • Upper Elliot[3]

"Cervicals, caudals, partial fore- and hindlimb."[8]

Elliot material formerly referred to this taxon was later concluded to be indeterminate prosauropod remains.[3]

Antetonitrus[4]

A. ingenipes[4]

  • Upper Elliot[9]

Blikanasaurus[4]

B. cromptoni[4]

  • Lower Elliot[4]

"Associated left tibia, fibula, tarsus, [and] pes."[10]

Dromicosaurus

D. gracilis

  • Upper Elliot[3]

Elliot material formerly referred to this taxon was later concluded to be indeterminate prosauropod remains.[3]

Eucnemesaurus

E. fortis

  • Lower Elliot[4]

"Fragmentary skeleton."[8]

Euskelosaurus[4]

E. africanus

  • Lower Elliot[4]

"Vertebrae, ischia, incomplete ilia, tibiae and femora."[8]

Elliot material formerly referred to this taxon was later concluded to be indeterminate prosauropod remains.[4]

E. browni[4]

  • Lower Elliot[4]

Indeterminate[4]

  • Lower Elliot[4]

Gryponyx

G. africanus

  • Upper Elliot[3]

"Vertebrae, both manus, pelvis and hindlimbs."[8]

A valid sauropodomorph genus and species.[11]

G. taylori

  • Upper Elliot[3]

"Sacrals, pelvic girdle."[8]

Elliot material formerly referred to this taxon was later concluded to be indeterminate prosauropod remains.[3]

Hortalotarsus

H. skirtopodus

  • Upper Elliot[3]

Elliot material formerly referred to this taxon was later concluded to be indeterminate prosauropod remains.[3]

Ignavusaurus[12]

I. rachelis[12]

Ledumahadi[13]

L. mafube

  • Upper Elliot

"associated postcranial material"

A giant lessemsaurid sauropod

Leptospondylus

L. capensis

  • Upper Elliot[3]

"Caudals."[8]

Elliot material formerly referred to this taxon was later concluded to be indeterminate prosauropod remains.[3]

Massospondylus[4]

M. browni

  • Upper Elliot[3]

"Cervicals, dorsal, caudals, pedal elements."[8]

Elliot material formerly referred to this taxon was later concluded to be indeterminate prosauropod remains.[3]

M. carinatus[3]

  • Upper Elliot[3]

M. harriesi

  • Upper Elliot[3]

"Forelimb."[8]

Elliot material formerly referred to this taxon was later concluded to be indeterminate prosauropod remains.[3]

M. schwarzi

  • Upper Elliot[3]

Elliot material formerly referred to this taxon was later concluded to be indeterminate prosauropod remains.[3]

Indeterminate[3]

  • Upper Elliot[3]
  • Lower Elliot[4]

Melanorosaurus[4]

M. readi[4]

  • Lower Elliot[4]

"[Three] partial skeletons, adult."[14]

Indeterminate[4]

  • Lower Elliot[4]

Meroktenos[9]

M. thabanensis[9]

  • Lower Elliot[9]

"Femur, adult."[14]

Orinosaurus

O. capensis

  • Lower Elliot[4]

"Proximal tibia."[8]

Elliot material formerly referred to this taxon was later concluded to be indeterminate prosauropod remains.[4]

Pachyspondylus

P. orpenii

  • Upper Elliot[3]

"Fragmentary vertebrae."[8]

Elliot material formerly referred to this taxon was later concluded to be indeterminate prosauropod remains.[3]

Plateosauravus[15][16]

P. cullingworthi[15][16]

  • Lower Elliot[4]

"Partial skeleton."[8]

Plateosaurus

P. stormbergensis

  • Lower Elliot[4]

Elliot material formerly referred to this taxon was later concluded to be indeterminate prosauropod remains.[4]

Thecodontosaurus

T. browni

  • Upper Elliot[3]

Elliot material formerly referred to this taxon was later concluded to be indeterminate prosauropod remains.[3]

T. minor

  • Upper Elliot[3]

Elliot material formerly referred to this taxon was later concluded to be indeterminate prosauropod remains.[3]

Theropoda

Theropod tracks are stratigraphically located in both the Lower and Upper Elliot Formation. Geographically, they are located in the Leribe District, Mafeteng District, Quthing District,[3] Maseru District and Mohales Hoek district,[4][3] Lesotho.[4]

Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon
 Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.
Theropod dinosaurs of the Elliot Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images

Aliwalia[4]

A. rex[4]

  • Lower Elliot[4]

Partial femur and possible maxilla.[17]

Now known to be a chimera of Eucnemesaurus and a theropod mandible.
Coelophysis
Dracovenator

Dracovenator[18]

D. regenti[18]

A dilophosaurid

Coelophysis[3]

C. rhodesiensis[3]

  • Upper Elliot[3]

Former Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis.

Megapnosaurus[3]

M. rhodesiensis[3]

  • Upper Elliot[3]

Note: Referred to as Syntarsus by Weishampel et al.[3]

Syntarsus[3]

S. rhodesiensis[3]

  • Upper Elliot[3]

Cynodonts

Cynodonts of the Elliot Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images

Megazostrodon[19]

M. rudnerae[19]
  • Orange Free County[19]

Upper Elliot Formation[19]

Skull and isolated vertebrae[19]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rubidge, B.S. (2005). "Re-uniting lost continents – Fossil reptiles from the ancient Karoo and their wanderlust". South African Journal of Geology. 108 (1): 135–172. doi:10.2113/108.1.135.
  2. ↑ Selden, P.; and Nudds, J. (2011). "Karoo". Evolution of Fossil Ecosystems (2 ed.). Manson Publishing. pp. 104–122. ISBN 9781840761603.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Early Jurassic, Africa)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 535–536. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Triassic, Africa)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 528–529. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
  5. 1 2 "Table 18.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 394.
  6. 1 2 "Table 14.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 326.
  7. 1 2 3 Sereno, Paul C. (2012). "Taxonomy, morphology, masticatory function and phylogeny of heterodontosaurid dinosaurs". ZooKeys. 226 (226): 1–225. doi:10.3897/zookeys.226.2840. PMC 3491919. PMID 23166462.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Table 12.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 236.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Claire Peyre de Fabrègues and Ronan Allain (2016). "New material and revision of Melanorosaurus thabanensis, a basal sauropodomorph from the Upper Triassic of Lesotho". PeerJ. 4: e1639. doi:10.7717/peerj.1639. PMC 4741091. PMID 26855874.
  10. ↑ "Table 13.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 261.
  11. ↑ C. C. Vasconcelos, A. M. Yates (2004). Sauropodomorph biodiversity of the upper Elliot Formation (Lower Jurassic) of southern Africa. Geoscience Africa, Abstract Volume 2:670.
  12. 1 2 3 Knoll, Fabien (2010). "A primitive sauropodomorph from the upper Elliot Formation of Lesotho". Geological Magazine. 147 (6): 814–829. doi:10.1017/S001675681000018X. Archived from the original on 2012-03-13.
  13. ↑ Blair W. McPhee; Roger B.J. Benson; Jennifer Botha-Brink; Emese M. Bordy; Jonah N. Choiniere (2018). "A giant dinosaur from the earliest Jurassic of South Africa and the transition to quadrupedality in early sauropodomorphs". Current Biology. in press. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.07.063.
  14. 1 2 "Table 12.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 235.
  15. 1 2 Yates, A.M.; Kitching, J.W. (2003). "The earliest known sauropod dinosaur and the first steps towards sauropod locomotion". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. 270 (1525): 1753–1758. doi:10.1098/rspb.2003.2417. PMC 1691423. PMID 12965005.
  16. 1 2 Yates, A.M. (2006). Solving a dinosaurian puzzle: the identity of Aliwalia rex Galton. Historical Biology, iFirst article, 1-30.
  17. ↑ "Table 2.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 26.
  18. 1 2 3 4 A. M. Yates. 2005. A new theropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of South Africa and its implications for the early evolution of theropods. Palaeontologia Africana 41:105-122
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 Gow, C.E. (1986). "A new skull of Megazostrodon (Mammalia, Triconodonta) from the Elliot Formation (Lower Jurassic) of Southern Africa" (PDF). Palaeontologia Africana. 26 (2): 13–23.

Bibliography

  • Geoscienceworld
  • Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. 861 pp.  ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
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