Kembawacela

Kem-bah-wah-sel-ah.
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Benjamin Gutierrez

Vertebrate Paleontologist

Benjamin Gutierrez is a leading expert on dinosaurs, particularly the mighty theropods. His fieldwork in South America has uncovered new species and provided insights into dinosaur social structures.

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Name

Kembawacela ‭(‬iron digger‭)‬.

Phonetic

Kem-bah-wah-sel-ah.

Named By

K.‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Angielczyk,‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Benoit‭ & ‬B.‭ ‬S.‭ ‬Rubidge‭ ‬-‭ ‬2019.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Therapsida,‭ ‬Dicynodontia,‭ ‬Cistecephalidae.

Diet

Herbivore.

Species

K.‭ ‬kitchingi‭

Size

Skull about‭ ‬5‭ ‬centimetres long.

Known locations

Zambia‭ ‬-‭ ‬Madumabisa Mudstone Formation.

Time Period

Wuchiapingian/Changhsingian of the Permian.

Fossil representation

Remains of several individuals.

In Depth

       Kembawacela is a genus of burrowing dicynodont that lived in Africa during the late Permian.‭ ‬Aside from living in burrows,‭ ‬Kembawacela would have roamed around looking for plants to eat.‭ ‬There is some evidence for sexual dimorphism in Kembawacela due to not all of the fossil skulls having tusks.‭ ‬The large development of some of the skulls lacking tusks suggests that a lack of tusks is not a juvenile feature.‭

Further Reading

-‭ ‬A new tusked cistecephalid dicynodont‭ (‬Therapsida,‭ ‬Anomodontia‭) ‬from the upper Permian upper Madumabisa Mudstone Formation,‭ ‬Luangwa Basin,‭ ‬Zambia.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Papers in Palaeontology.‭ ‬-‭ ‬K.‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Angielczyk,‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Benoit‭ & ‬B.‭ ‬S.‭ ‬Rubidge‭ ‬-‭ ‬2019. – Kembawacela yajuwayeyi n. sp., a new cistecephalid species (Dicynodontia: Emydopoidea) from the Upper Permian of Malawi. – Journal of African Earth Sciences. 196: Article 104726. – R. Ara�jo, Z. Macungo, V. Fernandez, E.G. Chindebvu, L.L. Jacobs – 2022.

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