The emblematic South African therocephalian Euchambersia in China: a new link in the dispersal of late Permian vertebrates across Pangea

Therapsids were widely distributed in Pangea in the late Permian. South Africa in Gondwana, and Russia in Laurasia are the principal areas recording tetrapods (including therapsids) of this age. More recent field explorations have increased the importance of Chinese late Permian fossil assemblages. This is clearly reflected in the discovery of several new therocephalians from the Naobaogou Formation in Nei Mongol. Here we report a therocephalian from that unit identified as a new species of the emblematic South African taxon Euchambersia. The new species, E. liuyudongi, is represented by a well-preserved skull and mandible showing a well-developed maxillary fossa and absence of postcanine teeth. This is the third akidnognathid recovered from the Naobaougou Formation, but oddly, the two basal Chinese akidnognathids previously known were recovered from a younger unit of the formation than the derived E. liuyudongi. This is the first time that the same therocephalian genus is recorded in n...