The tetrapod fauna of the upper Permian Naobaogou Formation of China: 5. Caodeyao liuyufengi gen. et sp. nov., a new peculiar therocephalian

Jun Liu; Fernando Abdala

doi:10.7717/peerj.9160

The tetrapod fauna of the upper Permian Naobaogou Formation of China: 5. Caodeyao liuyufengi gen. et sp. nov., a new peculiar therocephalian

PeerJ. 2020 May 28:8:e9160. doi: 10.7717/peerj.9160. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Jun Liu^{1

2

3}, Fernando Abdala^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
² College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
³ CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, China.
⁴ Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
⁵ Unidad Ejecutora Lillo (CONICET-Fundación Miguel Lillo), Tucuman, Argentina.

Abstract

The upper Permian Naobaogou Formation has been the goal of recent contributions that notably increased the knowledge of its terrestrial vertebrate fauna and unravelled a hidden late Permian therocephalian diversity in China. Two very different species of therocephalians have been documented in the Naobaogou Formation and they were recovered as basal akidnognathids in cladistic analyses. In this contribution we describe Caodeyao liuyufengi gen. et sp. nov., represented by a partial skull and mandible, and a humerus. The new taxon features a short, high snout and a wide temporal opening with the coronoid process of the mandible separated by a wide space medially to the zygomatic arch. The latter feature is only recognized in the Russian therocephalian Purlovia maxima and it is also characteristic of non-mammaliaform cynodonts. Phylogenetic analysis indicates a close relationship of the new Chinese taxon with Purlovia maxima, producing a monophyletic Laurasian group in therocephalian phylogeny. With the representation of three different species, the Naobaogou Formation is now the most prolific unit documenting therocephalian late Permian diversity in China.

Keywords: Naobaogou Formation; Upper Permian; Therocephalia.

Grants and funding

Jun Liu was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDB26000000), the International Partnership Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. 132311KYSB20190010), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41572019). Fernando Abdala was supported by the Conicet of Argentina, NRF of South Africa, and a research trip to China funded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences President’s International Fellowship Initiative Grant (2016VBB054). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.