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.
Ticinepomis is an extinct genus of coelacanth lobe-finned fish which lived during the Middle Triassic period in what is now Switzerland. It contains two species, T. peyeri and T. ducanensis.
Daedalichthys is an extinct genus of prehistoric freshwater ray-finned fish that lived during the Early Triassic epoch. It contains a single species, D. formosa from the Olenekian-aged Cynognathus Assemblage Zone of South Africa. It was previously classified in Dictyopyge.
Brookvalia is an extinct genus of prehistoric freshwater ray-finned fish that lived during the Middle Triassic epoch.
Eosaurichthys is an extinct genus of saurichthyid ray-finned fish that lived during the late Permian epoch in what is now China.
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 marine ray-finned fish that lived during the Middle Triassic epoch of Europe, in the former Tethys Ocean.
Habroichthys is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived during the early Ladinian stage of the Middle Triassic epoch, 242 to 232 million years ago. It has been found in Austria, China, Italy, Slovenia, and Switzerland. It was a small fish measuring 26 cm (10 in) long.
Heptanema is an extinct genus of prehistoric coelacanth from the Middle Triassic (Ladinian) of northern Italy and southern Switzerland.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ohmdenia is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived from the Toarcian stage of the Early Jurassic period. Ohmdenia was first described in 1953 by Bernhard Hauff, based on a fossil found in the well-known Posidonia Shale in Holzmaden, Germany. For a long time this animal has been considered a close relative of Birgeria, a great predator typical of the Triassic period with an uncertain systematic position. Further studies have shown similarities with the Pachycormiformes, a group considered close to the origin of teleosts and also including giant forms and planktives. Some studies have erroneously indicated Ohmdenia as a synonym of Saurostomus, other studies have instead placed Ohmdenia as an important evolutionary passage between the basal pachicormiforms and the more derived planktivore pachicormiformes.
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.
Brazilichthys is an extinct genus of prehistoric freshwater ray-finned fish that lived during the Cisuralian epoch in what is now Maranhão, Brazil. The type and only species, B. macrognathus, is known from a single partially complete skull, which was recovered from the Pedra de Fogo Formation near Pastos Bons, Maranhão, Brazil.
