The Permian is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period 298.9 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the sixth and last period of the Paleozoic Era; the following Triassic Period belongs to the Mesozoic Era. The concept of the Permian was introduced in 1841 by geologist Sir Roderick Murchison, who named it after the region of Perm in Russia.
Approximately 251.9 million years ago, the Permian–Triassicextinction event forms the boundary between the Permian and Triassic geologic periods, and with them the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. It is Earth's most severe known extinction event, with the extinction of 57% of biological families, 83% of genera, 81% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species. It is also the greatest known mass extinction of insects. It is the greatest of the "Big Five" mass extinctions of the Phanerozoic. There is evidence for one to three distinct pulses, or phases, of extinction.
The Permian Basin is a large sedimentary basin in the southwestern part of the United States. It is the highest producing oil field in the United States, producing an average of 4.2 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2019. This sedimentary basin is located in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico.
The Siberian Traps are a large region of volcanic rock, known as a large igneous province, in Siberia, Russia. The massive eruptive event that formed the traps is one of the largest known volcanic events in the last 500 million years.
The Cisuralian is the first series/epoch of the Permian. The Cisuralian was preceded by the Pennsylvanian and followed by the Guadalupian. The Cisuralian Epoch is named after the western slopes of the Ural Mountains in Russia and Kazakhstan and dates between 298.9 ± 0.15 – 272.3 ± 0.5 Ma.
The Early Triassic is the first of three epochs of the Triassic Period of the geologic timescale. It spans the time between 251.9 Ma and 247.2 Ma. Rocks from this epoch are collectively known as the Lower Triassic Series, which is a unit in chronostratigraphy. The Early Triassic is the oldest epoch of the Mesozoic Era. It is preceded by the Lopingian Epoch and followed by the Middle Triassic Epoch. The Early Triassic is divided into the Induan and Olenekian ages. The Induan is subdivided into the Griesbachian and Dienerian subages and the Olenekian is subdivided into the Smithian and Spathian subages.
In the geologic timescale, the Middle Triassic is the second of three epochs of the Triassic period or the middle of three series in which the Triassic system is divided in chronostratigraphy. The Middle Triassic spans the time between 247.2 Ma and 237 Ma. It is preceded by the Early Triassic Epoch and followed by the Late Triassic Epoch. The Middle Triassic is divided into the Anisian and Ladinian ages or stages.
Procynosuchidae is an extinct family of therapsids which, along with Dviniidae, were the earliest cynodonts. They appeared around 260 million years ago, and were most abundant during the latest Permian time, shortly before the Permian-Triassic extinction event. Despite being the basal member of the cynodont clade, they already showed some of the advanced mammalian characteristics, but procynosuchids bore resemblance to the therocephalians.
Cicadomorpha is an infraorder of the insect order Hemiptera which contains the cicadas, leafhoppers, treehoppers, and spittlebugs. There are approximately 35,000 described species worldwide. Distributed worldwide, all members of this group are plant-feeders, and many produce either audible sounds or substrate vibrations as a form of communication. The earliest fossils of cicadomorphs first appear during the Late Permian. Notable extinct members include the "giant cicadas" belonging to Palaeontinidae.
Archegosauridae is a family of relatively large and long snouted temnospondyls that lived in the Permian period. They were fully aquatic animals, and were metabolically and physiologically more similar to fish than modern amphibians. The family has been divided into two subfamilies, the longer-snouted Platyoposaurinae and the shorter-snouted Melosaurinae.
Nigerpeton is an extinct genus of crocodile-like temnospondyls from the late Permian (Changhsingian) period. These temnospondyls lived in modern-day Niger, which was once part of central Pangaea, about 250 million years ago. Nigerpeton is a member of the Cochleosauridae family, a group of edopoid temnospondyl amphibians known from the late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) and early Permian (Cisuralian).
Claraia is an extinct genus of scallop-like bivalve molluscs that lived from the Capitanian stage of the Middle Permian to the Anisian stage of the Middle Triassic, 266-237 million years ago. Fossils have been found worldwide in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. These are common fossils subsequent to the Permian-Triassic boundary, suggesting that the genus experienced rapid diversification during and after the Permian–Triassic extinction event, around 251.9 million years ago, making it a Disaster taxon
Melanerpeton is an extinct genus of prehistoric amphibian that lived during the Permian approximately 285 million years ago in what would become Europe.
Ictidognathus is an extinct genus of therocephalian therapsids that lived in South Africa during the Late Permian. Fossils are found in the Tropidostoma and Cistecephalus Assemblage Zones of the Beaufort Group in the Western Cape.
Bobasatrania is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish that survived the Permian-Triassic extinction event. Fossils of Bobasatrania were found in beds of Changhsingian to Ladinian age. It was most speciose during the Early Triassic.
Archegosauroidea is an extinct superfamily of Permian temnospondyls. The superfamily is assigned to the clade Stereospondylomorpha and is the sister taxon to the suborder Stereospondyli. It includes the families Actinodontidae and Archegosauridae, and possibly the genus Intasuchus, which is placed within the monotypic family Intasuchidae. They were fully aquatic animals, and were metabolically and physiologically more similar to fish than modern amphibians.
The Central Pangean Mountains were an extensive northeast–southwest trending mountain range in the central portion of the supercontinent Pangaea during the Carboniferous, Permian and Triassic periods. They were formed as a result of collision between the large landmasses of Euramerica and Gondwana during the formation of Pangaea. At its greatest elevation during the early part of the Permian period, it was comparable to the present Himalayas. Remnants of this massive mountain range include the Appalachian Mountains and Ouachita Mountains of North America as well as the Bohemian Massif and Massif Central in Europe.
The Washington Formation is a coal, sandstone, and limestone geologic formation located in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It dates back to the Lower Permian period, with its base at or near the Permian/Carboniferous boundary. The Washington formation and the Dunkard Group as a whole was deposited at a time when the continents were in the process of forming the "Super Continent" Pangaea as well as a gradual drop in sea levels. The result during this period was coals being thinner and impure with high ash content. The limestones found with in the formation are exclusively freshwater deposits.
Timonya is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian represented by the type species Timonya anneae from the Early Permian of Brazil. Timonya is a basal member of a clade or evolutionary grouping of temnospondyls called Dvinosauria. It was named in 2015 on the basis of several specimens from the lower part of the Pedra de Fogo Formation in Parnaíba Basin, which is about 278 million years old. It was likely a small aquatic predator that inhabited lakes and wetland areas. During the Early Permian the center of tetrapod diversity was in the equatorial regions of the supercontinent Pangea, and Timonya was part of this fauna.
Sweetognathus is an extinct genus of conodonts in the family Sweetognathidae that evolved at the beginning of the Permian period, in near-equatorial, shallow-water seas.
