Meitianoceras

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Meitianoceras
Temporal range: Late Permian
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Meitianoceras

Zheng,1984
Species
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Meitianoceras is a genus of ammonites in the ceratitid family Paraceltitidae that lived during the final stage of the Permian, from about 254 to 251 million years ago. The shell of Meitianoceras is small and evolute. All whorls being clearly visible. The outer rim (venter) is angular. The surface of the shell has growth lines or plications. The suture is of the Paraceltites type with 8 unserrated lobes and long, anteriorly, contracted club-shaped external saddles.

The type species Meitianoceras meitianense, named by Zheng, 1984, one of three species recognized, was first discovered in the Upper Permian Changhsingian Upper Coal Series Formation, in Hunan, China. It has also been found in the Dalong Formation of the same age in Hubei. M. paulum and M. sphaelobatum, named by Yang and Yang in 1992, were both first found also in the Dalong Formation in Hubei, China.

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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 (Ma) ago, to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Ma ago. It is the 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.

Ammonoidea Extinct subclass of cephalopod molluscs

Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids than they are to shelled nautiloids such as the living Nautilus species. The earliest ammonites appeared during the Devonian, and the last species either vanished in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, or shortly after, during the Danian epoch of the Paleocene.

In the geologic time scale, the Changhsingian or Changxingian is the latest age or uppermost stage of the Permian. It is also the upper or latest of two subdivisions of the Lopingian Epoch or Series. The Changhsingian lasted from 254.14 to 251.902 million years ago (Ma). It was preceded by the Wuchiapingian and followed by the Induan.

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Phratochronis is an extinct genus of chroniosuchid reptiliomorph from upper Permian mudstone deposits of Dashankou locality, Xidagou Formation of China. It was first named by Jin-Ling Li and Zheng-Wu Cheng in 1999, from a maxilla and premaxilla with almost complete dentition. The type species is Phratochronis qilianensis. The generic name means “brothers of a clan” + “late” in reference to its taxonomic position, and the specific name referring to the chain of mountains where the type specimen was found.

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Kingoceras is a genus of ammonoids in the order Ceratitida and family Paraceltitidae which lived during the Late Permian from about 265 to about 254 million years ago. The shell is thinly lenticular, sutures are goniatitic and have only eight fully distinct lobes.

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Kunpania is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid from the Quanzijie Formation of Xinjiang, China. The type and only species is K. scopulusa, and it is known only by a single incomplete specimen including parts of the skull and forelimb. Since its initial description in 1978 by palaeontologist Ailing Sun, it has sometimes been considered to be another species of Dicynodon by other researchers, or potentially undiagnostic. However, a redescription in 2021 reaffirmed its distinctiveness, including a uniquely well developed muscle attachment on the humerus. Kunpania is perhaps the oldest known member of the derived dicynodont group Dicynodontoidea, potentially dating to the Middle Permian period during the Capitanian, and so may fill a knowledge gap in the history of dicynodont evolution.

Jiyuanitectum is an extinct genus of chroniosuchian tetrapod from the Late Permian Shangshihezi Formation of China. It is known from a single bony scute from Jiyuan in Henan province, ascribed to the type species Jiyuanitectum flatum in 2014. Plate-like scutes, which formed armor-like coverings on the backs of chroniosuchians, are the most commonly found chroniosuchian remains. They are also the most informative when it comes to distinguishing between species due to small variations in scute anatomy between different taxa. For example, a shallow groove along the midline of the scute is unique to Jiyuanitectum. The flatness of the scute is another unusual characteristic, giving it the species name flatum. Jiyuanitectum shares several features in common with the chroniosuchians Synesuchus and Bystrowiella, including the upper surface of the scute being covered in ridges that are mostly oriented perpendicular to the midline, and the absence of a bony projection on the front of the scute called the anteromedial articular processes, which is seen in other chroniosuchians. These features suggest that Jiyuanitectum belongs to the family Bystrowianidae. The narrowness of the scute suggests that it may be one of the most basal members of the group.

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