Fig 1.
The tusked animal of the Horned Serpent panel compared to the skull of a dicynodont.
A, the tusked animal of the Horned Serpent panel redrawn from Stow and Bleek [13]. B, skull of a Diictodon feliceps (BP/1/8140, Jasfontein, Victoria West District) photographed by the author in situ at the moment of its discovery, before excavation, and unprepared.
Fig 2.
A, general view of the Horned Serpent panel photographed in 2024 by the author. B, close up of the section figured in Stow and Bleek’s [13] plate 39. C, close up of the tusked animal. D, close up of the warriors painted below the Horned Serpent panel. E, close up of the warriors painted to the right of the panel.
Fig 3.
Interpretation of the tusked animal of the Horned Serpent panel and its dicynodont-like traits.
A, Photo of the tusked animal of the Horned Serpent panel. B, interpretive drawing of its head. C, skull of a Lystrosaurus (14-03-2024, Oviston Nature Reserve) showing the prominent tusks, photographed in situ at the moment of its discovery, before excavation, and unprepared. D, complete skeleton of a Lystrosaurus (BP/1/9100, Oviston Nature Reserve) with its vertebral column curved into an opisthotonic "death pose", ex situ, prepared. E, the ‘mummified’ foot of a Lystrosaurus (28-08-2022, Fairydale, Bethulie District) showing the warty aspect of its preserved skin, ex situ, unprepared.
Fig 4.
Pictures of the La Belle France locality.
A, general view of the outcrops, from the west. The paintings are located below the * and the fossils were found where marked B-D. B, a siltstone outcrop. The position of the fossil in panel C is marked by a small C on the picture. C and D, close up views of some of the in-situ bone fragments discovered.
Fig 5.
Excerpt of James Kitching’s wall-sized compilation of 1:250 000 topocadastral maps made in 1972.
The position of La Belle France is marked with a star. Outcrops are marked with coloured pins. The colours correspond to the Assemblage Zones as identified by Kitching [28] based on the fossil fauna.