Khmeriamorpha

Last updated

Khmeriamorpha
Temporal range: Late Permian–Late Triassic
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Tunicata
Class: Ascidiacea
Order: Khmeriamorpha
Wendt, 2018
Genera and species
  • Khmeria
    • K. minima
    • K. problematica
    • K. stolonifera
  • Zardinisoma
    • Z. cassianum
    • Z. japonicum
    • Z. pauciplacophorum
    • Z. polyplacophorum
    • Z. pyriforme

Khmeriamorpha is an order of extinct ascidians, characterized by a composite calcareous exoskeleton. It is known from the Late Permian to Late Triassic, and comprises the genera Khmeria and Zardinisoma . [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triassic</span> First period of the Mesozoic Era 252–201 million years ago

The Triassic is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period of the Mesozoic Era. Both the start and end of the period are marked by major extinction events. The Triassic Period is subdivided into three epochs: Early Triassic, Middle Triassic and Late Triassic.

Stenolaemata are a class of exclusively marine bryozoans. Stenolaemates originated and diversified in the Ordovician, and more than 600 species are still alive today. All extant (living) species are in the order Cyclostomatida, the third-largest order of living bryozoans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Endoskeleton</span> Internal support structure of an animal

An endoskeleton is a structural frame (skeleton) on the inside of an animal, overlaid by soft tissues and usually composed of mineralized tissue. Endoskeletons serve as structural support against gravity and mechanical loads, and provide anchoring attachment sites for skeletal muscles to transmit force and allow movements and locomotion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Early Jurassic</span> First epoch of the Jurassic Period

The Early Jurassic Epoch is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic Period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event, 201.3 Ma, and ends at the start of the Middle Jurassic 174.7 ±0.8 Ma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnian</span> First age of the Late Triassic epoch

The Carnian is the lowermost stage of the Upper Triassic Series. It lasted from 237 to 227 million years ago (Ma). The Carnian is preceded by the Ladinian and is followed by the Norian. Its boundaries are not characterized by major extinctions or biotic turnovers, but a climatic event occurred during the Carnian and seems to be associated with important extinctions or biotic radiations. Another extinction occurred at the Carnian-Norian boundary, ending the Carnian age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Late Triassic</span> Third and final epoch of the Triassic Period

The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch of the Triassic Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between 237 Ma and 201.4 Ma. It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch and followed by the Early Jurassic Epoch. The corresponding series of rock beds is known as the Upper Triassic. The Late Triassic is divided into the Carnian, Norian and Rhaetian ages.

<i>Caviramus</i> Genus of caviramid pterosaur from the Late Triassic

Caviramus is a genus of caviramid pterosaur from the Late Triassic lower Kössen Formation of the Northern Calcareous Alps of Switzerland.

<i>Discoaster</i> Extinct genus of single-celled organisms

Discoaster is a genus of extinct star-shaped marine algae, with calcareous exoskeletons of between 5-40 μm across that are abundant as nanofossils in tropical deep-ocean deposits of Neogene age. Discoaster belongs to the haptophytes. About 100 species can be recognized.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Main Dolomite</span> Rock formation in the Alps of Europe

Main Dolomite is a lithostratigraphic unit in the Alps of Europe. Formation was defined by K.W. Gümbel in 1857.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ctenostomatida</span> Order of moss animals

The Ctenostomatida are an order of bryozoans in the class Gymnolaemata. The great majority of ctenostome species are marine, although Paludicella inhabits freshwater. They are distinguished from their close relatives, the cheilostomes, by their lack of a calcified exoskeleton. Instead, the exoskeleton is chitinous, gelatinous, or composed only of a soft membrane, and always lacks an operculum. Colonies of ctenostomes are often composed of elongated, branch-like stolons, although more compact forms also exist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hochfelln</span> Mountain of Bavaria, Germany

Hochfelln is a mountain of Bavaria, Germany located in the Chiemgau Alps. Its summit is 1,674 meters high. Hochfelln overlooks the lake Chiemsee.

The Carnian pluvial episode (CPE), often called the Carnian pluvial event, was a period of major change in global climate that coincided with significant changes in Earth's biota both in the sea and on land. It occurred during the latter part of the Carnian Stage, a subdivision of the late Triassic period, and lasted for perhaps 1–2 million years.

The Kössen Formation is a Late Triassic (Rhaetian-age) geological formation in the Northern Calcareous Alps of Austria and Germany, in the Tiroler-Lech Nature Park. During the Late Triassic, the area now occupied by the Northern Calcareous Alps was instead a long, passive coastline at the western tip of the Neotethys Ocean. The environment was initially dominated by a wide and shallow carbonate platform within a lagoon between the shore and a string of reefs. This carbonate platform is nowadays preserved as the Carnian to Norian-age Hauptdolomit and Dachstein Formation. The Kössen Formation represents a period of increased siliciclastic clay input into the lagoon, covering up the carbonate platform with marls and marly limestones instead of pure limestone or dolomite. The Eiberg Member of the Kössen Formation was deposited in the Eiberg basin, a narrow strip of deeper water which developed between the carbonate platform and the shoreline in the later part of the Rhaetian.

The Oberrhaet Formation, also known as the Oberrhaet Limestone, is a Late Triassic (Rhaetian-age) geological formation in Austria. It is a unit of massive dark grey bioclastic limestones, found within the Northern Calcareous Alps. The Oberrhaet Limestone was originally a series of reefs which developed on the northwest edge of the Eiberg Basin, a narrow marine waterway extending along the northwestern tip of the Neotethys Ocean. The center of the Eiberg Basin is nowadays preserved as the Eiberg Member of the Kössen Formation, which was deposited southeast of the Oberrhaet Limestone and interfingers with it in many areas. The Oberrhaet Limestone was very similar to the Dachstein Limestone, which represented carbonate platforms and reefs on the southeast edge of the Eiberg Basin. The most prominent components of the reefs were giant frond-like colonies of Retiophyllia, a scleractinian coral.

The geology of Tunisia is defined by the tectonics of North Africa, with large highlands like the Atlas Mountains as well as basins such as the Tunisian Trough. Geologists have identified rock units in the country as much as a quarter-billion years old, although most units date to the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, in the past 250 million years. Tunisia has a small but active mining industry and a significant oil and natural gas sector.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geology of Bosnia and Herzegovina</span>

The geology of Bosnia & Herzegovina is the study of rocks, minerals, water, landforms and geologic history in the country. The oldest rocks exposed at or near the surface date to the Paleozoic and the Precambrian geologic history of the region remains poorly understood. Complex assemblages of flysch, ophiolite, mélange and igneous plutons together with thick sedimentary units are a defining characteristic of the Dinaric Alps, also known as the Dinaride Mountains, which dominate much of the country's landscape.

The geology of Montenegro includes sedimentary and volcanic rocks from the Paleozoic through the Cenozoic, deposited atop poorly understood crystalline basement rock.

The geology of Jordan includes thick sedimentary sequences of sandstone, marl and evaporites atop ancient Precambrian crystalline igneous and metamorphic basement rock.

<i>Oncodella</i> Extinct genus of jawless fishes

Oncodella is an extinct genus of Late Triassic conodont. The genus was given the type species Oncodella idiodentica by Mosher (1968), on the basis of fossils from the Late Triassic of Austria. However, Mosher (1969) later revised the species name to Oncodella paucidentata, since identical fossils from the same area were previously given the name Hindeodella paucidentata by Mostler (1967).

Khmeria is a fossil genus of controversial affiliation, known from the Middle Permian to Late Triassic. Originally described as putative anthozoan corals, it is now believed to be a genus of ascidian tunicates.

References

  1. Wendt, Jobst (July 2018). Hautmann, Michael (ed.). "The first tunicate with a calcareous exoskeleton (Upper Triassic, northern Italy)". Palaeontology. 61 (4): 575–595. doi:10.1111/pala.12356. ISSN   0031-0239.