Kembawacela

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.
Species: K.‭ ‬kitchingi‭ (‬type‭), K. yajuwayeyi‬.
Diet: Herbivore.
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.

       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. Araújo, Z. Macungo, V. Fernandez, E.G. Chindebvu, L.L. Jacobs - 2022.

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