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We assessed the effects of an outdoor education programme (Tihoi) with no access to electronic media among 14 year-old boys. We compared creative thinking, socio-emotional wellbeing, and materialism with their peers attending regular classes at their normal school. Students at both locations were assessed in the second week of term and after 15 weeks. Boys in the Tihoi programme outperformed those in regular classes on a creative thinking task at both time points. Although the Tihoi group initially had lower scores on some well-being measures, they had small but significant improvements in wellbeing at 15 weeks, which were not observed among those attending normal school. No differences were observed for materialism. A programme of outdoor activity and reduced media exposure may improve creative thinking and wellbeing in adolescents. Encouraging adolescents to replace indoor time with outdoor activities is unlikely to cause persistent psychological harm and may be beneficial.

Palacrodon, a near-crown stem reptile, is known from several Triassic sites across the globe, and is easily recognized by its dentition characterized by labiolingually expanded molariform teeth coupled with acrodont tooth implantation. Here we explore the nature of tooth implantation and attachment in specimens of Palacrodon from South Africa and Arizona, U.S.A. using µCT. We note the presence of unusual ridges located underneath the tooth crowns in Palacrodon browni. Such ridges are not present in specimens from Arizona, which warrants the naming of a new species P. parkeri. We conducted a broad survey of internal tooth morphology across extant and extinct pan-reptiles (n = 212), and we conclude that homologous ridges like those we observe in P. browni are not present in any other species of reptile. As such, our ability to determine the function of the ridges is limited, though we hypothesize it is related to tooth attachment via unmineralized soft tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Triassic dicynodont Sangusaurus is poorly known because the holotype of the first species to be described (S. edentatus from Zambia) is fragmentary, and the description of the second species (S. parringtonii from Tanzania) is extremely brief. Nevertheless, the genus has played a role in Triassic biostratigraphy by linking the Ntawere Formation and the Manda Beds. Here, we redescribe Sangusaurus, including a new, nearly complete skull from Tanzania. The incomplete holotype of S. edentatus results in few characters diagnosing the genus. The skull of S. parringtonii, however, is highly autapomorphic. The snout is telescoped, with only a thin strip of frontals separating the nasals and the parietals. The external surfaces of the premaxilla, the maxillae, the nasals, and the prefrontals are extremely rugose; a sharp median crest extends from the premaxilla to the frontals, terminating in a thickened boss. The occiput is broader than the skull is long, and the adductor fossa on the squamosal is nearly vertical. Our phylogenetic analysis shows that Sangusaurus is not a kannemeyeriid but instead is a stahleckeriid. The feeding system of Sangusaurus emphasizes an orthal jaw motion. The articular surfaces of the jaw joint form a single posteroventrally sloping surface; translating the quadrate and the articular results in a primarily orthal movement of the jaw symphysis. The internal and external jaw adductors provide a strong, dorsally-directed component to the power stroke. Adductor mechanical advantage is similar to Stahleckeria, but Sangusaurus likely had a stronger transverse component of jaw movement because of the very lateral placement of M. adductor mandibulae externus lateralis. SUPPLEMENTAL DATA—Supplemental materials are available for this article for free at www.tandfonline.com/UJVP Citation for this article: Angielczyk, K. D., P. J. Hancox, and A. Nabavizadeh. 2018. A redescription of the Triassic kannemeyeriiform dicynodont Sangusaurus (Therapsida, Anomodontia), with an analysis of its feeding system; pp. 189-227 in C. A. Sidor and S. J. Nesbitt (eds.), Vertebrate and Climatic Evolution in the Triassic Rift Basins of Tanzania and Zambia. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Memoir 17. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 37(6, Supplement). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Late Triassic to Early Jurassic Molteno, Elliot and Clarens formations of the uppermost part of the Karoo Supergroup in the main Karoo Basin of South Africa form a distinct tectono-sedimentary sequence. A major problem with the modeling of this part of the Karoo basinal fill is that the nature of the Molteno-Elliot contact is poorly understood. Previously the contact has been defined on a mix of lithological and palaeontological criteria, and has been considered to be gradational or transitional in nature, with the Elliot considered the distal equivalent of the upper Molteno Formation. Recent field investigations demonstrate that the boundary can be defined on lithologic changes, including the gross and internal geometries of the sandstone units and contained lithofacies associations, the presence/absence of coal seams and paleosols, and on palaeocurrent patterns, sandstone composition and grain-size variations. This boundary represents a regional unconformity throughout the basin and the recognition of this cryptic second order sequence boundary invalidates previous interpretations of an interfingering stratigraphic relationship between the two formations. Stacking patterns in the upper Karoo Supergroup, and the tectonic framework of their development, suggest that the southern margin of the Kaapvaal Craton acted as a regional control on sequence development during Late Triassic -- Early Jurassic times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on regional palaeocurrent pattern analysis and petrographic studies, the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic Elliot Formation (Karoo Supergroup, South Africa) is divisible into a Lower and an Upper Elliot Formation. Laterally, along a north-south section, the lower unit displays both changes in the sediment supply pattern and petrological composition, whereas the upper unit lacks significant petrological variations. A break in sedimentation took place after the deposition of the Lower Elliot Formation, and a regional subaerial unconformity is detected between the Lower and Upper Elliot formations. This unconformity is emphasized by marked differences in the sedimentological and palaeontological composition of the deposits below and above the surface. Prevailing northerly sediment supply patterns of the Lower Elliot Formation are replaced by mainly easterly-northeasterly transportation directions in the Upper Elliot Formation, trends which were mentioned, but not accounted for by earlier researchers of the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic Elliot Formation. Simultaneously with the reorganization of the sediment supply patterns, the origin of the sandstones also shifted from recycled-orogen provenance, to a transitional continental source situated between craton interior and basement uplift provenances. This paper presents the contrast in palaeocurrent trends and sandstone composition across this surface, and reports, for the first time, the basin-wide presence of outsized quartzite pebbles and boulders, sourced from the Cape Fold Belt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integrated results of a facies analysis and provenance study of the Late Trissic to Early Jurassic Elliot Formation (Karoo Supergroup) provide some new insights into the development of the main Karoo foreland system of South Africa. Based on changes in the fluvial style, palaeocurrent pattern, provenance, isopach trends and fossil content, a regional lithostratigraphic subdivision of the Elliot Formation is proposed. In addition, the boundary between the Lower and Upper Elliot formations appears to be a second order sequence boundary. This unconformity was probably generated by the last stage of orogenic loading of the Cape Fold Belt, which interrupted the overall, first order orogenic unloading of the system, suggesting that tetonically controlled flexural subsidence existed in the main Karoo Basin until at least the end of Triassic. The magnitude of this pre-Upper Elliot Formation suggest that the first stages of inversion from a compressional to extensional tectonic regime began only in the Early Jurrasic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A proximal caudal vertebra from the upper Elliot Formation (Early Jurassic) of the main Karoo Basin is identified as a sauropod dinosaur more derived than basal forms such as Antetonitrus and Blikanasaurus from the lower Elliot Formation (Late Triassic). The caudal displays an ambiguous autapomorphy with the Early-Middle Jurassic Vulcanodon from Zimbabwe and may be closely re- lated to that genus. This is the first record of a sauropod dinosaur from the upper Elliot Formation and indicates that the sauropodomorph fauna of the Massospondylus Range Zone is more diverse than previously appreciated. In particular, it demonstrates that large, robust sauropodomorphs are not restricted to the lower Elliot Formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]