Isoetales, sometimes also written Isoëtales, is an order of plants in the class Lycopodiopsida.
The Early Triassic is the first of three epochs of the Triassic Period of the geologic timescale. It spans the time between 251.9 Ma and 247.2 Ma. Rocks from this epoch are collectively known as the Lower Triassic Series, which is a unit in chronostratigraphy.
In the geologic timescale, the Olenekian is an age in the Early Triassic epoch; in chronostratigraphy, it is a stage in the Lower Triassic series. It spans the time between 251.2 Ma and 247.2 Ma. The Olenekian is sometimes divided into the Smithian and the Spathian subages or substages. The Olenekian follows the Induan and is followed by the Anisian.
Coelophysidae is a family of primitive carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. Most species were relatively small in size. The family flourished in the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic periods, and has been found on numerous continents. Many members of Coelophysidae are characterized by long, slender skulls and light skeletons built for speed. One member genus, Coelophysis, displays the earliest known furcula in a dinosaur.
Xenacanthida is a super-order of extinct shark-like chondrichthyans known from the Carboniferous to Triassic. They were native to freshwater, marginal marine and shallow marine habitats. Some xenacanths may have grown to lengths of 5 m (16 ft). Most xenacanths died out at the end of the Permian in the End-Permian Mass Extinction, with only a few forms surviving into the Triassic.
Blikanasaurus is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur from the late Triassic of South Africa. The generic name Blikanasaurus is derived from Greek, meaning "lizard from Blikana". The species name cromptoni is taken from the surname of A.W. “Fuzz” Crompton, an American paleontologist who led numerous field expeditions in Elliot Formation outcrop localities in South Africa. Blikanasaurus is only known from partial hindlimb bones that were recovered from the lower Elliot Formation (LEF) in the Eastern Cape.
Pleuromeia is an extinct genus of lycophytes related to modern quillworts (Isoetes). Pleuromeia dominated vegetation during the Early Triassic all over Eurasia and elsewhere, in the aftermath of the Permian–Triassic extinction event. During this period it often occurred in monospecific assemblages. Its sedimentary context in monospecific assemblages on immature paleosols, is evidence that it was an opportunistic pioneer plant that grew on mineral soils with little competition. It spread to high latitudes with greenhouse climatic conditions.
Gleichenia is a genus of ferns. Its closest relative is the genus Stromatopteris, restricted to New Caledonia.
Tetragonias is an extinct genus of dicynodont from the Anisian Manda Beds of Tanzania. With tetra meaning “four,” and goni meaning “angle,” the name references the square shape of the Tetragonias skull when viewed dorsally. Not to be confused with the plant Tetragonia,Tetragonias were dicynodont anomodonts discovered in the late 1960s by paleontologist A. R. I. Cruickshank in the Manda Formation. Only the type species, T. njalilus, has been recognized.
Vinceria is an extinct genus of kannemeyeriiform dicynodont in the family Shansiodontidae. Fossils of the genus have been found in the Anisian Cerro de las Cabras Formation and Carnian Río Seco de la Quebrada Formation of Argentina. One species, V. argentinensis, named in 1966, was moved to its own genus, Acratophorus, in 2021. Another species, V. vieja, was merged with Acratophorus argentinensis in 2021, leaving V. andina as the only species in the genus.
Cylostrobus is genus of Lycopsida most like Pleuromeia, but with very compact and round cones. It is known from the Early Triassic of Australia, coincident with a marked greenhouse spike at the end of the Early Triassic. The genus Cylostrobus was erected for the compact cone only, in the paleobotanical system of form genera, but these small plants are well enough understood that the name Cylostrobus sydneyensis is used for the whole plant, rather than the old name Pleuromeia longicaulis. Other species of Pleuromeia have attached cones that are less compact and produce different spores.
This article records new taxa of fossil plants that are scheduled to be described during the year 2020, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleobotany that are scheduled to occur in the year 2020.
This list of fossil reptiles described in 2020 is a list of new taxa of fossil reptiles that were described during the year 2020, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to reptile paleontology that occurred in 2020.
Acratophorus is an extinct genus of dicynodont that lived during the Anisian age of the Middle Triassic-aged Río Seco de la Quebrada Formation in what is now Argentina. The type species, A. argentinensis, was originally placed in the genus Kannemeyeria by Jose Bonaparte in 1966, and later sometimes referred to Vinceria, before being transferred to a new, distinct genus, Acratophorus, in 2021 by Christian Kammerer and Angi Ordoñez. The species Vinceria vieja was also made a synonym of A. argentinensis in 2021. The holotype is PVL 3645, a partial skeleton discovered near a farm house in Puesto Viejo.
Tirolites is an extinct genus of ammonites. Its first appearance defines the Smithian-Spathian boundary of the Early Triassic, and it is prominent in the Paris biota.
Czekanowskiales, also known as Leptostrobales, are an extinct group of seed plants. Members of the family are distinguished by persistent leaves borne on deciduous short shoots, subtended by scale-like leaves. The leaves are highly dissected. They likely grew as trees and shrubs. The main ovulate structure of Czekanowskiales, Leptostrobus, consists of bivalved seed-bearing round capsule-like structures arranged along a long axis. The fossil record of Czekanowskiales is largely confined to the Northern Hemisphere, and they inhabited warm-temperate and temperate climates under humid conditions. The oldest possible records of the group are ovulate cones from the Late Permian of Italy, but the group is primarily known from the Late Triassic onwards, and were abundant during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. Only a handful of species are known from the Late Cretaceous, confined to the northern Russian Far East, corresponding to the decline of other seed plant groups during the explosive radiation of flowering plants. The affinites of Czekanowskiales to other seed plants are obscure. A close relationship to the Ginkgoales have been proposed, based on similar preserved molecular signatures of fossil cuticles.
This list of fossil molluscs described in 2022 is a list of new taxa of fossil molluscs that were described during the year 2022, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to molluscan paleontology that occurred in 2022.
This paleobotany list records new fossil plant taxa that were to be described during the year 2022, as well as notes other significant paleobotany discoveries and events which occurred during 2022.
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 2023.
This list of fossil molluscs described in 2023 is a list of new taxa of fossil molluscs that were described during the year 2023, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to molluscan paleontology that occurred in 2023.
