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Science 2 August 1968:
Vol. 161. no. 3840, pp. 460 - 462
DOI: 10.1126/science.161.3840.460
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Articles

Triassic Amphibian from Antarctica

Peter J. Barrett 1, Ralph J. Baillie 1, and Edwin H. Colbert 2

1 Institute of Polar Studies, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210
2 American Museum of Natural History and Columbia University, New York

A fossil bone fragment—the first record of tetrapod life from Antarctica—was found near Graphite Peak in the upper Beardmore Glacier area (85°3.3'S; 172°19'E). The fragment was embedded in a pebbly quartzose sandstone, probably of fluvial origin, in the lower part of the Triassic Fremouw Formation (as yet undefined), which contains Dicroidium in the upper part. The fossil horizon is only 76 meters, stratigraphically, above the Glossopteris-bearing Buckley Formation, a coal-bearing sequence of Permian age. The bone fragment is the back portion of a left mandibular ramus of a labyrinthodont amphibian. This identification is based on the characteristic labyrinthodont external surface sculpturing, with indications of "mucous grooves," as well as on other osteological features.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Permian-Triassic boundary in the central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica.
J. W. Collinson, W. R. Hammer, R. A. Askin, and D. H. Elliot (2006)
Geological Society of America Bulletin 118, 747-763
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Lystrosaurus Zone (Triassic) Fauna from Antarctica.
J. W. Kitching, J. W. Kitching, J. W. Collinson, D. H. Elliot, and E. H. Colbert (1972)
Science 175, 524-527
   Abstract »    PDF »
Triassic Tetrapods from Antarctica: Evidence for Continental Drift.
D. H. Elliot, D. H. Elliot, E. H. Colbert, W. J. Breed, J. A. Jensen, and J. S. Powell (1970)
Science 169, 1197-1201
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