The Permian Basin is a large sedimentary basin in the southwestern part of the United States. The basin contains the Mid-Continent Oil Field province. This sedimentary basin is located in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico. It reaches from just south of Lubbock, past Midland and Odessa, south nearly to the Rio Grande River in southern West Central Texas, and extending westward into the southeastern part of New Mexico. It is so named because it has one of the world's thickest deposits of rocks from the Permian geologic period. The greater Permian Basin comprises several component basins; of these, the Midland Basin is the largest, Delaware Basin is the second largest, and Marfa Basin is the smallest. The Permian Basin covers more than 86,000 square miles (220,000 km2), and extends across an area approximately 250 miles (400 km) wide and 300 miles (480 km) long.
Dimetrodon is an extinct genus of non-mammalian synapsid that lived during the Cisuralian, around 295–272 million years ago (Mya). It is a member of the family Sphenacodontidae. The most prominent feature of Dimetrodon is the large neural spine sail on its back formed by elongated spines extending from the vertebrae. It walked on four legs and had a tall, curved skull with large teeth of different sizes set along the jaws. Most fossils have been found in the Southwestern United States, the majority coming from a geological deposit called the Red Beds of Texas and Oklahoma. More recently, fossils have been found in Germany. Over a dozen species have been named since the genus was first erected in 1878.
Dissorophidae is an extinct family of medium-sized, temnospondyl amphibians that flourished during the late Carboniferous and early Permian periods. The clade is known almost exclusively from North America.
Hindeodus is an extinct genus of conodonts in the family Anchignathodontidae. The generic name Hindeodus is a tribute to George Jennings Hinde, a British geologist and paleontologist from the 1800s and early 1900s. The suffix -odus typically describe's the animal's teeth, essentially making Hindeodus mean Hinde-teeth.
Captorhinus is an extinct genus of captorhinid reptiles that lived during the Permian period. Its remains are known from Oklahoma, Texas, Europe, India, the Pedra de Fogo Formation, Parnaíba Basin, Brazil and the Madumabisa Mudstone, Zambia.
Trematopidae is a family of dissorophoid temnospondyl spanning the late Carboniferous to the early Permian. Together with Dissorophidae, the family forms Olsoniformes, a clade comprising the medium-large terrestrial dissorophoids. Trematopids are known from numerous localities in North America, primarily in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, and from the Bromacker quarry in Germany.
Broiliellus is an extinct genus of dissorophoid temnospondyl within the family Dissorophidae. Broiliellus is most closely related to the genus Dissorophus, and both have been placed in the subfamily Dissorophinae. Broiliellus is known from five species from the Early Permian: the type species is Broiliellus texensis, and the other species are Broiliellus brevis,Broiliellus olsoni, Broiliellus arroyoensis, and Broiliellus reiszi. An additional species, Broiliellus novomexicanus, which was originally named Aspidosaurus novomexicanus, is now thought to fall outside the genus as a member of the subfamily Eucacopinae.
Trimerorhachis is an extinct genus of dvinosaurian temnospondyl within the family Trimerorhachidae. It is known from the Early Permian of the southwestern United States, with most fossil specimens having been found in the Texas Red Beds. The type species of Trimerorhachis, T. insignis, was named by American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope in 1878. Cope named a second species from Texas, T. mesops, in 1896. The species T. rogersi and T. greggi are also from Texas, and the species T. sandovalensis is from New Mexico.
Eosyodon is a dubious genus of extinct non-mammalian synapsids from the Permian of Texas. Its type and only species is Eosyodon hudsoni. Though it was originally interpreted as an early therapsid, it is probably a member of Sphenacodontidae, the family of synapsids that includes Dimetrodon.
Brachystelechidae is an extinct family of Early Permian microsaurs. The family was first named by Robert L. Carroll and Pamela Gaskill in 1978, with the only member being Brachystelechus fritschi. Brachystelechus fritschi has since been reassigned to the genus Batropetes. Three genera are currently assigned to the family: Batropetes, from Germany; Carrolla, from Texas; and Quasicaecilia, also from Texas.
Exovasa is an extinct genus of sea sponge in the family Guadalupiidae, that existed during the Permian Period in what is now Texas, United States. It was named by Robert M. Finks in 2010, and the type species is Exovasa cystauletoides.
Incisimura is an extinct genus of sea sponges in the family Guadalupiidae, that existed during the Permian period in what is now Texas, United States. It was described by Robert M. Finks in 2010, and the type species is Incisimura bella.
Guadalupia is an extinct genus of sea sponges. It includes a number of extinct species including: Guadalupia auricula, G. cupulosa, G. ramescens, G. microcamera, and G. vasa.
Gagrellopsis nodulifera is a species of harvestmen in a monotypic genus in the family Sclerosomatidae from Japan.
Guadalupiidae is an extinct family of fossil sponges that lived from the Pennsylvanian (Carboniferous) until the Norian. It includes the following taxa:
Parioxys is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian from the Early Permian of Texas.
Tappenosaurus is an extinct genus of synapsids from the Middle Permian of Texas. American paleontologists Everett C. Olson and James Beerbower described the genus in 1953 based on three specimens that were uncovered from the San Angelo Formation. It was named for Dr. Neil Tappen, who found the type specimen in 1951 as a member of the field party. The first specimen is a fragmentary skeleton including parts of the back of the skull, pieces of teeth and ribs, an axis vertebra, a dorsal vertebra, three neural spines, the ends of both humeri and a partial hip. The second specimen includes cervical vertebrae, a rib, and a scapulocoracoid. The third specimen is only represented by ribs. These bones are larger than comparable parts of the largest skeletons of Dimetrodon, a closely related and much better known sail-backed synapsid. Olson and Beerbower designated the type species Tappenosaurus magnus in reference to its large size, and also placed it in its own family, Tappenosauridae. Olson later estimated the total length of Tappenosaurus to be 18 feet (5.5 m), comparing it in size with the largest of the dinocephalians, a more advanced group of synapsids that lived later in the Permian.
Paleontology in Oklahoma refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Oklahoma has a rich fossil record spanning all three eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Oklahoma is the best source of Pennsylvanian fossils in the United States due to having an exceptionally complete geologic record of the epoch. From the Cambrian to the Devonian, all of Oklahoma was covered by a sea that would come to be home to creatures like brachiopods, bryozoans, graptolites and trilobites. During the Carboniferous, an expanse of coastal deltaic swamps formed in areas of the state where early tetrapods would leave behind footprints that would later fossilize. The sea withdrew altogether during the Permian period. Oklahoma was home a variety of insects as well as early amphibians and reptiles. Oklahoma stayed dry for most of the Mesozoic. During the Late Triassic, carnivorous dinosaurs left behind footprints that would later fossilize. During the Cretaceous, however, the state was mostly covered by the Western Interior Seaway, which was home to huge ammonites and other marine invertebrates. During the Cenozoic, Oklahoma became home to creatures like bison, camels, creodonts, and horses. During the Ice Age, the state was home to mammoths and mastodons. Local Native Americans are known to have used fossils for medicinal purposes. The Jurassic dinosaur Saurophaganax maximus is the Oklahoma state fossil.
Clarkina is an extinct genus of conodonts. It is considered to be an offshore, outer shelf or basinal, deep-water taxon.
The Goat Seep Formation is a geologic formation found in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico. It is a fossilized reef dating to the Guadalupian Age of the Permian period.
