 |
| Mambawakale ruhuhu Butler, Fernandez, Nesbitt, Leite & Gower, 2022 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211622 |
Abstract
The Manda Beds of southwest Tanzania have yielded key insights into the early evolutionary radiation of archosaurian reptiles. Many key archosaur specimens were collected from the Manda Beds in the 1930s and 1960s, but until recently, few of these had been formally published. Here, we describe an archosaur specimen collected in 1963 which has previously been referred to informally as Pallisteria angustimentum. We recognize this specimen as the type of a new taxon, Mambawakale ruhuhu gen. et sp. nov. The holotype and only known specimen of M. ruhuhu comprises a partial skull of large size (greater than 75 cm inferred length), lower jaws and fragments of the postcranium, including three anterior cervical vertebrae and a nearly complete left manus. Mambawakale ruhuhu is characterized by several cranial autapomorphies that allow it to be distinguished with confidence from all other Manda Beds archosaurs, with the possible exception of Stagonosuchus nyassicus for which comparisons are highly constrained due to very limited overlapping material. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that M. ruhuhu is an early diverging pseudosuchian, but more precise resolution is hampered by missing data. Mambawakale ruhuhu is one of the largest known pseudosuchians recovered to date from the Middle Triassic.
Keywords: phylogeny, Pseudosuchia, Triassic, Archosauria, Tanzania
 |
| Figure 1. Photographs showing the collection of NHMUK R36620, holotype of Mambawakale ruhuhu, in 1963. Alan Charig is sat in the bottom right of the frame in the top left image, and is accompanied by Alfred ‘Fuzz’ Crompton. The top left and bottom right images also show Tanzanians (names unfortunately not recorded in archival material) who were employed by the 1963 expedition team and were critical to its success, discovering many of the fossil sites, constructing roads and carrying excavated fossils out of the field. Photographs courtesy of Barry Cox and Steve Tolan. Original slides of these photographs are archived at NHMUK. |
 |
| Photographs of the skull of NHMUK R36620, holotype of Mambawakale ruhuhu, in right lateral (a) and left lateral (b) views. |
Systematic Palaeontology
Archosauria 1869–1870
Pseudosuchia 1887–1890
Mambawakale ruhuhu gen. et sp. nov.
Holotype. NHMUK R36620, partial skull including premaxillae, maxillae, vomers, palatines, pterygoids, ectopterygoids and fragments of the jugals and basipterygoid, with associated hemimandibles, hyoids and isolated maxillary or dentary teeth. These cranial remains are associated (see below) with an incomplete postcranium, including an atlantal intercentrum, partial axis and partial third cervical vertebra, a mostly complete left manus, and additional poorly preserved fragments.
Etymology. Mambawakale, from the Kiswahili words mamba, meaning crocodile, and wakale, meaning ancient. The species name refers to the Ruhuhu Basin from which the type specimen and other taxa from the Manda Beds were collected.
Locality and stratigraphy. Field locality U15/1 of Attridge et al. [1964], Lifua Member of the Manda Beds (Middle Triassic: ?Anisian), Ruhuhu Basin, southwest Tanzania. ...
 |
| Life reconstruction of Mambawakale ruhuhu. Only the skull, mandible and a few postcranial elements are known for Mambawakale ruhuhu, so the rest of the body, tail and limbs are reconstructed based on the anatomy of hypothesized close relatives of similar size. Illustration by Gabriel Ugueto, who retains the copyright. |
Richard J. Butler, Vincent Fernandez, Sterling J. Nesbitt, João Vasco Leite and David J. Gower. 2022. A New Pseudosuchian Archosaur, Mambawakale ruhuhu gen. et sp. nov., from the Middle Triassic Manda Beds of Tanzania. Royal Society Open Science. 9: 211622. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211622
