https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0309908

Abstract

The Horned Serpent panel at La Belle France (Free State Province, South
Africa) was painted by the San at least two hundred years ago. It
pictures, among many other elements, a tusked animal with a head that
resembles that of a dicynodont, the fossils of which are abundant and
conspicuous in the Karoo Basin. This picture also seemingly relates to a
local San myth about large animals that once roamed southern Africa and
are now extinct. This suggests the existence of a San geomyth about
dicynodonts. Here, the La Belle France site has been visited, the
existence of the painted tusked animal is confirmed, and the presence of
tetrapod fossils in its immediate vicinity is supported. Altogether,
they suggest a case of indigenous palaeontology. The painting is dated
between 1821 and 1835, or older, making it at least ten years older than
the formal scientific description of the first dicynodont, Dicynodon
lacerticeps, in 1845. The painting of a dicynodont by the San would also
suggest that they integrated (at least some) fossils into their belief
system.

Modern depictions of Dicynodonts show a bizarre creature unlike anything
alive today. It makes me wonder of these depictions might also be a
suprise if we could see these creatures as they were. They were
remarkable in somehow surviving the end-Permian extinction and
continuing until the end of the Triassic. It looked ungainly, but had a
long, successful run.

On 2024-09-19 15:27:03 +0000, erik simpson said:

> https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0309908
>
> Abstract
>
> The Horned Serpent panel at La Belle France (Free State Province, South
> Africa) was painted by the San at least two hundred years ago. It
> pictures, among many other elements, a tusked animal with a head that
> resembles that of a dicynodont, the fossils of which are abundant and
> conspicuous in the Karoo Basin. This picture also seemingly relates to
> a local San myth about large animals that once roamed southern Africa
> and are now extinct. This suggests the existence of a San geomyth about
> dicynodonts. Here, the La Belle France site has been visited, the
> existence of the painted tusked animal is confirmed, and the presence
> of tetrapod fossils in its immediate vicinity is supported. Altogether,
> they suggest a case of indigenous palaeontology. The painting is dated
> between 1821 and 1835, or older, making it at least ten years older
> than the formal scientific description of the first dicynodont,
> Dicynodon lacerticeps, in 1845. The painting of a dicynodont by the San
> would also suggest that they integrated (at least some) fossils into
> their belief system.
>
> Modern depictions of Dicynodonts show a bizarre creature unlike
> anything alive today. It makes me wonder of these depictions might
> also be a suprise if we could see these creatures as they were. They
> were remarkable in somehow surviving the end-Permian extinction and
> continuing until the end of the Triassic. It looked ungainly, but had
> a long, successful run.

When were the fossils described in 1845 excavated? Perhaps the artists got
some information from the scientinsts before the publication.

--
Mikko

On 9/21/24 2:30 AM, Mikko wrote:
> On 2024-09-19 15:27:03 +0000, erik simpson said:
>
>> https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0309908
>>
>> Abstract
>>
>> The Horned Serpent panel at La Belle France (Free State Province,
>> South Africa) was painted by the San at least two hundred years ago.
>> It pictures, among many other elements, a tusked animal with a head
>> that resembles that of a dicynodont, the fossils of which are abundant
>> and conspicuous in the Karoo Basin. This picture also seemingly
>> relates to a local San myth about large animals that once roamed
>> southern Africa and are now extinct. This suggests the existence of a
>> San geomyth about dicynodonts. Here, the La Belle France site has been
>> visited, the existence of the painted tusked animal is confirmed, and
>> the presence of tetrapod fossils in its immediate vicinity is
>> supported. Altogether, they suggest a case of indigenous
>> palaeontology. The painting is dated between 1821 and 1835, or older,
>> making it at least ten years older than the formal scientific
>> description of the first dicynodont, Dicynodon lacerticeps, in 1845.
>> The painting of a dicynodont by the San would also suggest that they
>> integrated (at least some) fossils into their belief system.
>>
>> Modern depictions of Dicynodonts show a bizarre creature unlike
>> anything alive today.  It makes me wonder of these depictions might
>> also be a suprise if we could see these creatures as they were.  They
>> were remarkable in somehow surviving the end-Permian extinction and
>> continuing until the end of the Triassic.  It looked ungainly, but had
>> a long, successful run.
>
> When were the fossils described in 1845 excavated? Perhaps the artists got
> some information from the scientinsts before the publication.
>
I'm not sure which 1845 excavations you mean. The San people of two
hundred years ago had no contact with paleontologists elsewhere.
Probablaby very few San people today have much contact, although I'm
sure some do. Bravo for the San "paleotologists" who made the
paintings. Western scientists of the same time also had pretty
distorted ideas of what fossil animals looked like.