In 2013, the PaleoMoz (previously PalNiassa) team published its first study describing a new species of dicynodont discovered in Mozambique: Niassodon mfumukasi. The fossil was found by Ricardo Araújo on the last day of the first PalNiassa field campaign in the Niassa province in Northen Mozambique, a region very rich in vertebrate fossils from the Permian that remains mostly unexplored. The specimen is well preserved and includes an isolated skull with some vertebrae.
Reconstruction of Niassodon living in its environment (by Fernando Correia).
The fossil was analysed using tube-based tomography, allowing the visualisation of the interior of the fossil with very high resolution and without damaging it. The researchers made a detailed reconstruction of the brain endocast, including details such as the vasculature and cranial nerve paths.
3D-reconstruction of the Niassodon skull found by the PalNiassa team. This specimen is a new dicynodont (Therapsida, Anomodontia). The holotype ML1620 was collected from the Late Permian K5 formation, Metangula Graben, Niassa Province in Northern Mozambique. Synchrotron radiation-based micro-computed tomography, combined with a phylogenetic analysis, demonstrates a set of characters shared with Emydopoidea.
Schematic diagram of Niassodon.
Fossil specimen of Niassodon.