Monte San Giorgio is a Swiss mountain and UNESCO World Heritage Site near the border between Switzerland and Italy. It is part of the Lugano Prealps, overlooking Lake Lugano in the Swiss Canton of Ticino.
Birgeria is a genus of carnivorous marine ray-finned fish from the Triassic period. Birgeria had a global distribution, with fossil known from Madagascar, Spitsbergen, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, China, Russia, Canada and Nevada, United States. The oldest fossils are from Griesbachian aged beds of the Wordie Creek Formation of East Greenland. Birgeria existed throughout the entire Triassic period, from the very beginning just after the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, up to the very end with its extinction during the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction.
Serpianosaurus is an extinct genus of pachypleurosaurs known from the Middle Triassic deposits of Switzerland and Germany. It was a small reptile, with the type specimen of S. mirigiolensis measuring 75 cm (2.46 ft) long.
Luganoia is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived during the Anisian and Ladinian ages of the Middle Triassic epoch. Fossils were recovered from the Besano Formation of Monte San Giorgio and Besano area and from the Zhuganpo Member of Guizhou, South China. It was also reported from the Ladinian of Spain.
Besania is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish that lived during the Anisian and Ladinian ages of the Middle Triassic epoch in what is now southern/southeastern Switzerland and northern Italy. Fossils were recovered from the Besano Formation of Monte San Giorgio area and the Prosanto Formation of canton Graubünden, Switzerland.
Ctenognathichthys is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived during the Anisian and Ladinian ages of the Middle Triassic epoch in what is now southern/southeastern Switzerland and northern Italy.
Acentrophorus is an extinct genus of prehistoric freshwater and marine ray-finned fish from the Roadian to the Wuchiapingian of England, Germany (Kupferschiefer), Italy and Russia. There may also be a Triassic occurrence in Australia.
Colobodus is an extinct genus of marine Triassic ray-finned fish of the family Colobodontidae and order Perleidiformes. Fossils have been found in Europe and China, encompassing the former Tethys Ocean. It could reach body lengths of about 70 cm.
Dipteronotus is an extinct genus of stem-neopterygian ray-finned fish that existed during the Middle and Late Triassic epochs in what is now Europe and Morocco. As a typical feature, it had several ridge scales in front of its dorsal fin that created a spine-like structure.
Prohalecites is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish from the Ladinian and possibly Carnian (Triassic) of Italy. It is the oldest known teleosteomorph, a group that includes extant teleosts and their close fossil relatives.
Meridensia is an extinct genus of prehistoric ray-finned fish that lived during the Anisian and Ladinian ages of the Middle Triassic epoch in what is now southern Switzerland and northern Italy. Fossils were recovered from the Besano Formation of Monte San Giorgio and Besano area at the Swiss-Italian boundary.
Placopleurus is an extinct genus of prehistoric ray-finned fish from the Middle Triassic epoch of Italy, Slovenia, and Switzerland.
Wimanius is a genus of ichthyosaur from the Middle Triassic of Switzerland, containing a single species, Wimanius odontopalatus. It was described by Michael Maisch and Andreas Matzke in 1998 based on an incomplete skull from Monte San Giorgio, a mountain on the Swiss-Italian border. Wimanius possesses teeth on its palate, though whether they were located on the palatine or pterygoid is disputed. Other features of Wimanius include a large orbit and jugals with two rami of similar lengths. Different phylogenetic placements of Wimanius have been recovered by different studies, including it being a mixosaurid relative or a merriamosaur, and a monotypic family, Wimaniidae has been named for it. However, its validity has also been questioned, and synonymy with various other genera has been proposed. The only specimen of Wimanius come from the Besano Formation. During the Anisian, this region was a lagoon populated by a wide variety of marine life, including a variety of other ichthyosaurs.
Sinosaurichthys is an extinct genus of saurichthyid ray-finned fish, which existed in southwestern China during the Middle Triassic. Fossils have been found in the Upper Member of the Guanling Formation of two localities: Yangjuan of Panxian County, Guizhou Province, and Dawazi of Luoping, Yunnan Province, China.
Saurichthyiformes is an extinct order of ray-finned fish which existed in Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe and North America, during the late Permian to early Middle Jurassic. Saurichthyiiformes comprise two families, Saurichthyidae and Yelangichthyidae. Yelangichthyidae is monotypic, containing only the genus Yelangichthys. The gar or needlefish-like Saurichthyidae is primarily known from the genus Saurichthys. Additionally, the subgenera SaurorhynchusCostasaurichthys, Eosaurichthys, Lepidosaurichthys, and Sinosaurichthys are frequently used to group species, and are sometimes considered separate genera. Species are known from both marine end freshwater deposits. They had their highest diversity during the Early and Middle Triassic. Their phylogenetic position is uncertain, while they have often been considered members of Chondrostei, and thus related to living sturgeons and paddlefish, phylogenetic analysis of well-preserved remains has considered this relationship equivocal. They may actually belong to the stem-group of Actinopterygii, and thus not closely related to any living group of ray-finned fish.
Helveticosauridae is an extinct family of basal marine reptiles known from the Middle Triassic of southern Switzerland and northern Italy.
The Besano Formation is a geological formation in the southern Alps of northwestern Italy and southern Switzerland. This formation, a thin but fossiliferous succession of dolomite and black shale, is famous for its preservation of Middle Triassic (Anisian–Ladinian) marine life including fish and aquatic reptiles. It is exposed in the Monte San Giorgio and Besano area. It is among the formations responsible for the area being designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In Switzerland, it is also known as the Grenzbitumenzone. The Anisian-Ladinian boundary lies in the upper part of the Besano Formation.
Teffichthys is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish from the Early Triassic epoch. Fossils have been found in Madagascar and China, and possibly also in Angola, Canada, Greenland, and Svalbard.
Colobodontidae is an extinct family of marine stem-neopterygian fish known from the Middle to Late Triassic of Asia and Europe. As currently defined, it contains three genera: Colobodus, Crenilepis and Feroxichthys. The colobodontids were medium-sized, somewhat deep-bodied fishes with a durophagous diet. Like many other stem-neopterygians, they have traditionally been placed in the order Perleidiformes, which is now thought to be paraphyletic.
Redfieldiiformes is an extinct order of ray-finned fish (actinopterygians) which lived from the Middle Triassic to Early Jurassic. Redfieldiiforms were fairly typical Triassic fish in overall anatomy. They had a fusiform body shape with thick, ganoine-covered scales. The dorsal and anal fins were large, positioned opposite from each other, and shifted back, close to the tail. The caudal fin was hemiheterocercal, with the vertebral column and body scales extending into an upper lobe equal in size and shape to the lower lobe. They also had several characteristic skeletal traits, such as a hatchet-shaped preopercle, a series of fulcra fringing the fins, a reduced number of branchiostegal rays, and a snout ornamented with tubercles.
