Heritage Cases

THIS IS THE ARCHIVE FOR SAHRIS 1.0


THIS SITE IS NOW AN ARCHIVE AND IS NOT SUITABLE FOR MAKING APPLICATIONS

Please be aware that no content and application creation or changes to information on this version of SAHRIS will be retained.

To make applications or utilise SAHRIS for the creation of information, please use the new site:

https://sahris.org.za

Changes to SAHRIS!

The South African Heritage Resources Information System (SAHRIS) has undergone a generational upgrade and restructure. These changes to the site include, but are not limited to:

  • A new & modernised look and layout
  • Improved site usage flows with respect to applications and content creation
  • Improved site performance and stability

Launch for the new version of SAHRIS occurred on Monday the 30th of October 2023.

The new site can be found here:

SAHRIS | SAHRIS

SAHRA Application Closure

Please note the following concerning applications submitted to the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) during the December 2023 to January 2024 period.

The full notice is available here: Notice

Special Notice

Following comments received on the proposed Revised Schedule of Fees for applications made to the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA), made in terms of Section 25(2)(l) of the National Heritage Resources Act No. 25 of 1999 (NHRA) and published in the Government Gazette of 22 July 2022, SAHRA hereby publishes the final Revised Schedule of Fees for Applications made to SAHRA. Applications for provision of services submitted to the South African Heritage Resources Authority (SAHRA), in terms of the National Heritage Resources Act, No. 25 of 1999 (NHRA) must be accompanied by a payment of the appropriate fee, taking effect from 1 January 2023

Revised Schedule of Fees for Applications made to the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA)

Synchrotron study of some Permo-Triassic Karoo fossils

CaseViews

CaseHeader

HeritageAuthority(s): 

Case Type: 

ProposalDescription: 

This is an application to export and scan some middle Permian fossil vertebrates at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble (France). The specimens are: BP/1/8010, BP/1/8033, and 149-11-2019. They will be carried as hand luggage in a secured case by one of the applicants, Dr. Jakata to the ESRF on the 16th of August 2020. The synchrotron scanning will be performed by Dr. Jakata himself, with the assistance of Dr. Tafforeau. Synchrotron scanning is a non-invasive, non-destructive technique based on X-rays, and is harmless to the fossils. The specimens will be carried back to South Africa by Dr. Jakata when the experiment is over by the 31st of July 2021.

Expanded_Motivation: 

Rationale for BP/1/8010: Parareptilia is the basal-most group of amniotes and is likely involved in the ancestry of several modern reptilian families (including turtles) (Tsuji and Muller, 2009). Because they might be ancestral to many different groups of reptiles (in particular, the possible origin of modern turtles and tortoises), the phylogeny and taxonomy of parareptiles is still hotly debated and not well understood yet (Tsuji and Muller, 2009; Bever et al., 2015). A new partial skeleton that includes the skull and anterior half of the body was discovered in 2017 in the South African Karoo. It might represent an early species of parareptile, maybe belonging to Broomia or a new taxon. However, the fossil is so delicate that any attempt to completely clean the matrix off the bones could damage the skeleton, which precludes further preparation. A digital preparation using regular CT-scanning is impossible since the material is full of iron nodules that preclude low energy X-ray to go through. The aim of this project is thus to scan this skeleton at a high energy beamline of the ESRF in order to prepare it digitally, in a non-destructive manner. This digital preparation will enable us to describe the skeleton and identify this specimen, which may prove crucial in resolving the phylogeny of parareptiles. Rationale for BP/1/8033: BP/1/8033 represents a new cynodont from the lowest part of the Late Permian, making it the oldest cynodont ever found. Cynodonts being the most direct ancestors of mammals among non-mammalian therapsids (Botha et al, 2007), a complete description of this specimen is dramatically important for understanding mammalian origins. Unfortunately, BP/1/8033 is too small to be safely prepared with an air-scribe, and digital preparation using a regular CT-scanning also failed to a large number of metallic nodules blocking low energy X-rays. Therefore, only a synchrotron scan can bring good quality data that this specimen deserves. As it represents a species new to science and possibly the oldest mammalian ancestor, this specimen has the potential to re-write mammalian evolutionary history. Rationale for 149-11-2019: This specimen is a coprolite from the early Triassic of the Oviston Nature Reserve (Eastern Cape). Preliminary CT scanning has revealed that it contains the complete articulated forelimb of a therocephalian (presumably Tetracynodon). As South African coprolites demonstrably preserve hair-like structures (Smith and Botha-Brink, 2011) and since the Oviston coprolite shows evidence of incomplete digestion (i.e. the presence of a completely articulated arm), it is very likely that hair is preserved in this coprolite, presumably belonging to the therocephalian that it contains. To find hair in this specimen would be the first time that direct evidence of hair is found in association with attributable fossil bone, and would demonstrate that hair originated in the last common ancestor of mammals and therocephalians at least 265 million years ago, some 65 million years before the very origin of mammals and 100 million years older than the currently oldest accepted evidence of hair (Ji et al., 2006). The hair-like structures identified by Smith and Botha-Brink (2011) are just a few microns wide. Such a resolution cannot be achieved using regular CT-scanning. Nano-CT-scanning may achieve such high resolution, but the X-rays would not be powerful enough to go through the encasing rock. Synchrotron scanning is the only option that enables a non-destructive study of this coprolite. The only alternative would be thin sectioning, which would be our last resort.

ApplicationDate: 

Wednesday, March 11, 2020 - 10:09

CaseID: 

14990

OtherReferences: 

ReferenceList: 

CitationReferenceType
Bever, G.S., Lyson, T.R., Field, D.J. and Bhullar, B.A.S. 2015. Evolutionary origin of the turtle skull. Nature, 525: 239–242
Tsuji, L. A., and Müller, J. 2009. Assembling the history of the Parareptilia: Phylogeny, diversification, and a new definition of the clade. Fossil Record, 12: 71–81.
Botha J, Abdala F, Smith R. 2007. The oldest cynodont: new clues on the origin and early diversification of the Cynodontia. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 149:477–492.
Smith RMH, Botha-Brink J. 2011. Morphology and composition of bone-bearing coprolites from the Late Permian Beaufort Group, Karoo Basin, South Africa. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 312:40-53.
Ji Q, Luo Z-X, Yuan C-X, Tabrum AR. 2006. A swimming mammaliaform from the Middle Jurassic and ecomorphological diversification of early mammals. Science 311: 1123–1127.
 
 

Search form