Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone
Encyclopedia
The Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone is a geological
stratum
and is the thickest faunal zone
of the Beaufort Group
, in which has been found a rich variety of early therapsids. The name refers to Tapinocephalus
, a genus of large herbivorous
dinocephalia
n synapsid
s that lived during the Middle Permian
Period.
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
stratum
Stratum
In geology and related fields, a stratum is a layer of sedimentary rock or soil with internally consistent characteristics that distinguish it from other layers...
and is the thickest faunal zone
Biozone
Biostratigraphic units or Biozones are intervals of geological strata that are defined on the basis of their characteristic fossil taxa....
of the Beaufort Group
Beaufort Group
The Beaufort Group is the third of the main subdivisions of the Karoo Supergroup of geological strata in Southern Africa. It follows conformably after the Ecca Group and consists essentially of sandstones and shales, deposited in the Karoo Basin from the Middle Permian to the early part of the...
, in which has been found a rich variety of early therapsids. The name refers to Tapinocephalus
Tapinocephalus
Tapinocephalus is a genus of large herbivorous dinocephalian that lived during the Middle Permian Period. These stocky, barrel-bodied animals were characterised by a massive bony skull roof and short weak snout...
, a genus of large herbivorous
Herbivore
Herbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in...
dinocephalia
Dinocephalia
Dinocephalia are a clade of large early therapsids that flourished during the Middle Permian, but became extinct leaving no descendants.-Description:...
n synapsid
Synapsid
Synapsids are a group of animals that includes mammals and everything more closely related to mammals than to other living amniotes. They are easily separated from other amniotes by having an opening low in the skull roof behind each eye, leaving a bony arch beneath each, accounting for their name...
s that lived during the Middle Permian
Permian
The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...
Period.