A new large gomphodont from the Triassic of South Africa and its implications for Gondwanan biostratigraphy

A partial skull (BP/1/7976) of a very large cynodont from the Middle Triassic <i>Cynognathus</i> Assemblage Zone (<i>Cricodon-Ufudocyclops</i> subzone) of South Africa is described. The specimen represents a new gomphodont taxon, <i>Impidens hancoxi</i>, gen. et sp. nov., diagnosed by five sectorial teeth constituting just over half of the length of the upper postcanine tooth row, and enlarged canine and incisor teeth. BP/1/8123, a skull fragment also from the <i>Cricodon-Ufudocyclops</i> subzone, and AMNH FARB 24421, a partial skull from the upper Fremouw Formation of Antarctica, are also referred to the new species. The presence of this taxon in both the upper Fremouw Formation and <i>Cricodon-Ufudocyclops</i> subzone strengthens evidence of biostratigraphic correlation between these units. <i>Impidens hancoxi</i>, with an inferred skull length of up to 460 mm, was a large-bodied and likely omnivorous gomphodont, and may have played the role of apex predator within the tetrapod fauna of the <i>Cricodon-Ufudocyclops</i> subzone.