Data from: The tetrapod fauna of the upper Permian Naobaogou Formation of China: a new species of Elginia (Parareptilia, Pareiasauria)

The pareiasaur fossil record in China is poor compared to that of Russia
or South Africa. A new pareiasaur specimen is here reported from the upper
Permian Naobaogou Formation of the Daqing Mountains, Nei Mongol, China. It
is recognized as a new species of Elginia, a taxon otherwise known only
from the upper Permian Cutties Hillock Sandstone of Scotland. Diagnostic
features include a moderately developed cheek flange; prominent otic notch
(formed between squamosal and quadratojugal at the posterior margin of the
temporal plate); enlarged supraorbital bosses on prefrontal, postfrontal,
and postorbital; a hypertrophied supratemporal horn, and squamosal horn
prominently projecting posteriorly from caudal margin of temporal plate.
The new taxon is differentiated from E. mirabilis by a well-developed and
crescentic postfrontal boss, which is the largest among a series of
circumorbital bosses; upper orbital border distinctly domed with a smooth
rather than angled anterodorsal margin; lesser developed cranial bosses,
basal confluence of the transverse process and postzygapophysis produces
at horizontal flange in some dorsal vertebrae. The new discovery
significantly extends the geographic distribution of Elginia and
Elginiidae.