A double-tusked dicynodont and its biostratigraphic significance

A new specimen of Eodicynodon oosthuizeni, discovered near Prince Albert Road in the Western Cape province of South Africa, has a double distinction. Of stratigraphic importance is the fact that it is the only specimen of Eodicynodon known from above the first maroon mudrocks of the Beaufort Group, a feature which has important implications for understanding the development of the earliest terrestrial environments of Gondwana during the middle Permian. Of anatomical significance is the presence of two canines on the left maxilla. This rare condition, known in only three dicynodonts, is here considered to be pathological and not the result of tooth replacement.