. Annals of the South African Museum = Annale van die Suid-Afrikaanse Museum. Natural history. 160 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM. Fig. 8. Occipital view of the holotype of Cragievarus kitchingi showing the position of the right post-temporal foramen. Scale in cm. Relative width of the braincase In the original description of Cragievarus kitchingi (Brink 1965: 102), it was stated that 'proportionally the breadth across the braincase is greater than that of Diademodon . At page 99 of the same paper, the maximum anterior and posterior breadths across the parietals were recorded as 17 mm and
. Annals of the South African Museum = Annale van die Suid-Afrikaanse Museum. Natural history. 160 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM. Fig. 8. Occipital view of the holotype of Cragievarus kitchingi showing the position of the right post-temporal foramen. Scale in cm. Relative width of the braincase In the original description of Cragievarus kitchingi (Brink 1965: 102), it was stated that 'proportionally the breadth across the braincase is greater than that of Diademodon . At page 99 of the same paper, the maximum anterior and posterior breadths across the parietals were recorded as 17 mm and 10 mm respectively. However, comparable data for Diademodon upon which this assertion was based were not provided. In the course of measuring Diademodon specimens for biometrical analysis, the present author has recorded the breadth of the parietals at the level of the pineal foramen (in an attempt to standardize this measurement) on a number of crania (Table 2). This measurement ranges between 6 and 25 mm in Diademodon; it is 14 mm in the type, and only specimen of Cragievarus kitchingi. The length of the cranium, from the level of a line tangential to the anterior border of the orbits anteriorly to the level of a line through the occipital condyles posteriorly, was measured also. This measurement, referred to as 'pre-orbital basal length' in previous studies (Grine & Hahn 1978; Grine, Hahn & Gow 1978; Bradu & Grine 1979), ranges between 21 and 158 mm in the present Diademodon sample; it is 61 mm in the type of Cragievarus kitchingi. Comparison of 'pre-orbital' cranial length and parietal breadth in the present Diademodon sample (Fig. 9) indicates that, whilst the skull undergoes considerable ontogenetic elongation, there is little increase in the breadth of the brain-case with age. One Diademodon cranium in this sample ( 3773, one of the four Diademodon crania described by Brink (1963) from the Cragievar fossil pocket) has a 'pre-orbital basal length' which
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booky
