Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone

Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone
Stratigraphic range: Middle Permian to Late Permian[1]
Tapinocephalus atherstonei
Type	Biozone
Unit of	Abrahamskraal Formation of the Beaufort Group
Underlies	Pristerognathus Assemblage Zone
Overlies	Eodicynodon Assemblage Zone
Thickness	up to 6,561.68 feet (2,000 m)
Location
Region	Northern, Western & Eastern Cape
Country	South Africa
Extent	Karoo Basin
Type section
Named for	Tapinocephalus atherstonei
Named by	Watson (1914), Keyser & Smith (1977-78), Kitching (1984)

The Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone is a tetrapod assemblage zone or biozone which correlates to the middle Abrahamskraal Formation, Adelaide Subgroup of the Beaufort Group, a fossiliferous and geologically important geological Group of the Karoo Supergroup in South Africa. The thickest outcrops, reaching approximately 2,000 metres (6,600 ft), occur from Merweville and Leeu-Gamka in its southernmost exposures, from Sutherland through to Beaufort West where outcrops start to only be found in the south-east, north of Oudshoorn and Willowmore, reaching up to areas south of Graaff-Reinet. Its northernmost exposures occur around the towns Fraserburg and Victoria West. The Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone is the second biozone of the Beaufort Group.^[2][3][4]

The name of the biozone refers to Tapinocephalus atherstonei, a large herbivorous tapinocephalid dinocephalian therapsid. It is characterised by the presence of this dinocephalian species along with the appearance of other advanced tapinocephalid dinocephalians, and the large pareiasaur Bradysaurus baini. It is also the first biozone of the series where the dicynodont, Diictodon feliceps, species first appear.