Rubidgea

Rubidgea
Temporal range: Permian 257–254 Ma
↓
Skull of Rubidgea atrox
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Clade: Therapsida
Clade: †Gorgonopsia
Family: †Gorgonopsidae
Tribe: †Rubidgeini
Genus: †Rubidgea
Type species
†Rubidgea atrox
Broom, 1938
Species
  • †R. atrox
  • †R. platyrhina
  • †R. majora
Synonyms

Genus-level

  • Broomicephalus Brink & Kitching, 1953
  • Titanogorgon Maisch, 2002

Species-level

  • Rubidgea kitchingi Broom, 1938
  • Rubidgea laticeps Broom, 1940
  • Gorgonognathus maximus Huene, 1950
  • Broomicephalus laticeps Brink & Kitching, 1953
  • Rubidgea majora Brink & Kitching, 1953
  • Dinogorgon (Broomicephalus) laticeps Watson & Romer, 1956
  • Titanogorgon maximus Maisch, 2002
  • Clelandina laticeps Gebauer, 2007

Rubidgea is a genus of gorgonopsid from the upper Permian of South Africa and Tanzania, containing the species Rubidgea atrox.[1][2] The generic name Rubidgea is sometimes believed to be derived from the surname of renowned Karoo paleontologist, Professor Bruce Rubidge, who has contributed to much of the research conducted on therapsids of the Karoo Basin. However, this generic name was actually erected in honor of Rubidge's paternal grandfather, Sydney Rubidge, who was a renowned fossil hunter. Its species name atrox is derived from Latin, meaning “fierce, savage, terrible”. Rubidgea is part of the gorgonopsian subfamily Rubidgeinae, a derived group of large-bodied gorgonopsians restricted to the Late Permian (Lopingian). The subfamily Rubidgeinae first appeared in the Tropidostoma Assemblage Zone. They reached their highest diversity in the Cistecephalus and Daptocephalus assemblage zones of the Beaufort Group in South Africa.[3][4][5]

  1. ^ Rubidge, Bruce S.; Sidor, Christian A. (2001). "Evolutionary Patterns Among Permo-Triassic Therapsids". Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. 32 (1): 449–480. doi:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.32.081501.114113.
  2. ^ CHINSAMY-TURAN, ANUSUYA (2011-11-18). Forerunners of Mammals: Radiation • Histology • Biology. Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253005335.
  3. ^ Lingham-Soliar, Theagarten (2014). "Mammal-Like Reptiles". In Lingham-Soliar, Theagarten (ed.). The Vertebrate Integument Volume 1: Origin and Evolution. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 193–219. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-53748-6_8. ISBN 9783642537486.
  4. ^ Day Michael O.; Ramezani Jahandar; Bowring Samuel A.; Sadler Peter M.; Erwin Douglas H.; Abdala Fernando; Rubidge Bruce S. (2015-07-22). "When and how did the terrestrial mid-Permian mass extinction occur? Evidence from the tetrapod record of the Karoo Basin, South Africa". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 282 (1811): 20150834. doi:10.1098/rspb.2015.0834. PMC 4528552. PMID 26156768.
  5. ^ Viglietti, P.A.; Smith, R.M.; Angielczyk, K.D.; Kammerer, C.F.; Fröbisch, J.; Rubidge, B.S. (January 2016). "The Daptocephalus Assemblage Zone (Lopingian), South Africa: a proposed biostratigraphy based on a new compilation of stratigraphic ranges". Journal of African Earth Sciences. 113: 153–164. Bibcode:2016JAfES.113..153V. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2015.10.011.