The most basal anomodont therapsid and the primacy of Gondwana in the evolution of the anomodonts

A new specimen from the base of the Beaufort Group, Upper Permian of South Africa, represents a new therapsid ('mammal-like reptile') which has been i dentified as the most basal ('primitive') member of the Anomodontia. Anomoc ephalus africanus gen. et sp. nov: is based upon a partial skull that exhib its several characteristic anomodont synapomorphies including the presence of isodont marginal teeth and a dorsally bowed zygoma, but is distinguished from other anomodonts by the possession of peg-like marginal dentition wit h oblique wear facets on the tips of the teeth. Anomocephalus is excluded f rom a clade comprised of all other anomodonts as (i) the snout is relativel y long, (ii) the vertically aligned zygomatic process of the squamosal is b lade-like, and (iii) the squamosal does not contact the ventral tip of the postorbital. The basal position of Anomocephalus, together with its South A frican occurrence, strongly supports the postulate that a Gondwanan distrib ution was ancestral for anomodonts.