Extinct genus of reptiles
Kitchingnathus (Kitchings' mandible) is an extinct genus of basal procolophonid parareptile from Early Triassic (early Olenekian stage) deposits of Eastern Cape Province , South Africa . It is known from the holotype BP /1/1187, skull and partial postcranium , which was first assigned to the more derived Procolophon trigoniceps . It was collected by the South African palaeontologist, James W. Kitching in October 1952 from Hobbs Hill, west of Cathcart . It was found in the middle or upper part of the Katberg Formation of the Beaufort Group (Karoo Basin ) and referred to the uppermost Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone . It was first named by Juan Carlos Cisneros in 2008 and the type species is Kitchingnathus untabeni . The generic name honours James W. Kitching, and "gnathus", from Greek gnathos meaning mandible . The specific name meaning "from the hill", in isiZulu , is in reference to the locality where the fossil was found.[ 1]
Phylogeny
Cladogram after Cisneros, 2008:[ 1]
References