Rubidgea is agenus ofgorgonopsian from the upperPermian ofSouth Africa andTanzania, containing the speciesRubidgea atrox.[1][2] The generic nameRubidgea is sometimes believed to be derived from the surname of renownedKaroo paleontologist, Professor Bruce Rubidge, who has contributed to much of the research conducted ontherapsids of theKaroo Basin. However, this generic name was actually erected in honor of Rubidge's paternal grandfather, Sidney Rubidge, who was a renowned fossil hunter. Its species nameatrox is derived from Latin, meaning “fierce, savage, terrible”.Rubidgea is part of thegorgonopsian subfamilyRubidgeinae, aderived group of large-bodied gorgonopsians restricted to the LatePermian (Lopingian). The subfamilyRubidgeinae first appeared in theTropidostoma Assemblage Zone. They reached their highest diversity in theCistecephalus andDaptocephalus assemblage zones of theBeaufort Group inSouth Africa.[3][4][5]
The firstRubidgeafossil was discovered by C. J. M. "Croonie" Kitching, the father of renowned paleontologistJames Kitching, on the farm Doornberg outside the small townNieu-Bethesda sometime in the 1930s. In a paper published in 1938,Robert Broom named the fossilRubidgea kitchingi.[6] Broom noted the large size of the newgorgonopsidfossil, stating that it was a newspecies.[7] Subsequent discoveries in the following decades confirmed Broom's suspicions that a new subfamily ofgorgonopsians should be categorised, and theRubidgeinae was erected.[8]
Rubidgea wasthe largest Africangorgonopsian[9] and one of the largest gorgonopsians known to have lived. The largest specimens had skulls that measure up to 46 cm (1.51 ft) in length.Rubidgea was a heavily-built, large-bodiedapex predator, and sported a thick skull with long, sabre-likecanines.[10][11] TheRubidgeinae group as a whole were some of the largest gorgonopsians known to have lived, only outsized byInostrancevia, and are characterised by their robust skeletal features, particularly their skulls which are heavily-pachyostosed. The genusRubidgea is composed of three species,R. atrox,R. platyrhina, andR. majora.[9]
^Rubidge, Bruce S.; Sidor, Christian A. (2001). "Evolutionary Patterns Among Permo-Triassic Therapsids".Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics.32 (1):449–480.doi:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.32.081501.114113.
^Viglietti, P.A.; Smith, R.M.; Angielczyk, K.D.; Kammerer, C.F.; Fröbisch, J.; Rubidge, B.S. (January 2016). "TheDaptocephalus Assemblage Zone (Lopingian), South Africa: a proposed biostratigraphy based on a new compilation of stratigraphic ranges".Journal of African Earth Sciences.113:153–164.Bibcode:2016JAfES.113..153V.doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2015.10.011.
^Broom, Robert. "20. On a New Family of Carnivorous Therapsids from the Karroo Beds of South Africa." In Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, vol. 108, no. 3, pp. 527-533. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 1938.
^Jenkins, Ian; Valkenburgh, Blaire Van (2002-10-01). "Evolutionary Patterns in the History of Permo-Triassic and Cenozoic Synapsid Predators".The Paleontological Society Papers.8:267–288.doi:10.1017/S1089332600001121.ISSN1089-3326.
^Kermack, Doris M.; Kermack, Kenneth A. (1984), Kermack, Doris M.; Kermack, Kenneth A. (eds.), "Dentitions, Tooth-Replacement and Jaw Articulation",The Evolution of Mammalian Characters, Springer US, pp. 66–88,doi:10.1007/978-1-4684-7817-4_5,ISBN9781468478174
^Gebauer, Eva V. I. (2014), "Re-assessment of the Taxonomic Position of the Specimen GPIT/RE/7113 (Sauroctonus parringtoni comb. Nov., Gorgonopsia)", in Kammerer, Christian F.; Angielczyk, Kenneth D.; Fröbisch, Jörg (eds.),Early Evolutionary History of the Synapsida, Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology, Springer Netherlands, pp. 185–207,doi:10.1007/978-94-007-6841-3_12,ISBN9789400768413
^Kammerer, Christian F. (2014), "A Redescription ofEriphostoma microdon Broom, 1911 (Therapsida, Gorgonopsia) from theTapinocephalus Assemblage Zone of South Africa and a Review of Middle Permian Gorgonopsians", in Kammerer, Christian F.; Angielczyk, Kenneth D.; Fröbisch, Jörg (eds.),Early Evolutionary History of the Synapsida, Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology, Springer Netherlands, pp. 171–184,doi:10.1007/978-94-007-6841-3_11,ISBN9789400768413
^Kammerer, Christian F.; Smith, Roger M. H.; Day, Michael O.; Rubidge, Bruce S. (2015). "New information on the morphology and stratigraphic range of the mid-Permian gorgonopsianEriphostoma microdon Broom, 1911".Papers in Palaeontology.1 (2):201–221.doi:10.1002/spp2.1012.ISSN2056-2802.S2CID128762256.
^Maisch, M.W., 2002. Observations on Karoo and Gondwana vertebrates. Part 3: Notes on the gorgonopsians from the Upper Permian of Tanzania. Neues Jahrbuch fur Geologie und Palaontologie-Monatshefte, (4), pp.237-251.
^Parrington, F. R. "A new genus of gorgonopsid from East Africa." Annals of the South African Museum 64 (1974): 47-52.
