Joerg W. Schneider

Permo-Carboniferous climate: Early Pennsylvanian to Late Permian climate development of central Europe in a regional and global context

Abstract A well-justified stratigraphical correlation of continental successions and new palaeogeographic reconstruction of Pangaea reveal new insights into the northern Pangaean climate development influenced by palaeogeography, palaeotopography, glacio-eustatic sealevel changes and ocean currents. The overall Permo-Carboniferous aridization trend was interrupted by five wet phases. These are linked to the Gondwana icecap. The aridization and weakening of wet phases over time were not only caused by the drift of northern Pangaea to the arid climatic belt, but also by the successive closure of the Rheic Ocean, which caused the expansion of arid/semi-arid environments in the Lower/Middle Permian. The end of the Gondwana glaciation rearranged ocean circulation, leading to a cold, coast-parallel ocean current west of northern Pangaea, blocking moisture coming with westerly winds. The maximum of aridity was reached during the Roadian/Wordian. The Trans-Pangaean Mountain Belt was non-existent. Its single diachronous parts never exceeded an average elevation of 2000 m. The maximum elevation shifted during time from east to west. The Hercynian orogen never acted as an orographic east-west barrier, and the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone was widely displaced, causing four seasons (dry summer/winter, wet spring/autumn) at the equator and a strong monsoon system.

Non-Marine Permian Biostratigraphy and Biochronology

During the Permian, the single supercontinent Pangaea stretched from pole to pole. Early Permian glacial deposits are found in southern Gondwana. Along the sutures of Pangaea, mountain ranges towered over vast tropical lowlands. Interior areas included dry deserts where dune sands accumulated. Gypsum and halite beds document the evaporation of hot, shallow seas that formed the most extensive salt deposits in the geological record. The Permian period (251 to 299 Ma) encompasses nine ages (stages) arranged into three epochs (series). Most of the Permian marine timescale has been defined by global stratotype sections and points for the stage boundaries. This volume presents new data regarding the biostratigraphy and biochronology of the non-marine Permian and provides a basis for temporally ordering Permian geological and biotic history on land, and correlating that history to events in the marine realm.

Non-marine Permian biostratigraphy and biochronology: an introduction

Abstract The Permian time scale based on marine rocks and fossils is well defined and of global utility, but non-marine Permian biostratigraphy and chronology is in an early phase of development. Non-marine Permian strata are best known from western Europe and the western United States, but significant records are also known from Russia, South Africa, China and Brazil. Global time terms based on non-marine Permian strata, such as Rotliegend, Zechstein, Autunian, Saxonian and Thuringian, are either inadequately defined or poorly characterized and should only be used as lithostratigraphic terms. Macro- and microfloras have long been important in non-marine Permian correlations, but are subject to limitations based on palaeoprovinciality and facies/climatic controls. Charophytes, conchostracans, ostracodes and freshwater bivalves have a potential use in non-marine Permian biostratigraphy but are limited by their over-split taxonomy and lack of well-established stratigraphic distributions of low-level taxa. Tetrapod footprints provide poor biostratigraphic resolution during the Permian, but tetrapod body fossils and insects provide more detailed biostratigraphic zonations, especially in the Lower Permian. Numerous radioisotopic ages are available from non-marine Permian sections and need to be more precisely correlated to the global time scale. The Middle Permian Illawarra reversal and subsequent magnetic polarity shifts are also of value to correlation. There needs to be a concerted effort to develop non-marine Permian biostratigraphy, to correlate it to radio-isotopic and magnetostratigraphic data, and to cross-correlate it to the marine time scale.

The most ancient roach (Blattodea): a new genus and species from the earliest Late Carboniferous (Namurian) of China, with a discussion of the phylomorphogeny of early blattids

The most ancient known roach, Qilianiblatta namurensis gen. et sp. nov. from the earliest Pennsylvanian (Namurian B/C) Qilianshan entomofauna, is described from material excavated in the Qilianshan Mountains of north-western China. The new genus is characterized by a mosaic of plesiomorphic and apomorphic features typical of various Euramerican and Angaran Late Palaeozoic blattid genera. Despite a limited time gap between the age of Q. namurensis and that of the previously known oldest blattids (archimylacrids of Westphalian A age, 1–2 Ma younger), the pattern of main veins and cross venation of Q. namurensis appears in some regards more advanced. This is particularly apparent in the only weakly expressed primary dichotomy of main veins and the relatively modern aspect of the cross venation. The new taxon raises questions regarding the polyphyletic origin of the ‘phyloblattoid groundplan, namely once in the Euramerican biotic province at the end of the Westphalian and stemming from archimylacrids, and earlier in the Cathaysian (–Angaran?) biotic province from forms like Qilianiblatta. Forewings of Q. namurensis are clearly protective wings (tegmina) and probably were not involved directly in the production of lift during flight. These wings are considerably advanced relative to the earliest diversification of the winged insects and the general groundplan for hexapodan wings. It is possible that winged blattids appeared as early as the Devonian. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:85EE542A-5A05-4790-9F67-ABE3FE85FF83

Insect biostratigraphy of the Euramerican continental Late Pennsylvanian and Early Permian

Abstract An insect zonation with a time resolution of 1.5–2 Ma for Late Pennsylvanian to Early Permian (Kasimovian to Artinskian) non-marine deposits is presented. The zonation is based on the directed morphogenetic evolution of colour pattern in the forewings of the blattid (cockroach) family Spiloblattinidae. This evolution is observed in lineages of succeeding species of three genera. All three genera are widely distributed in the palaeo-equatorial zone from Europe to North America, that is, in the Euramerican biota province. Increasing reports of spiloblattinid zone species in condont-bearing, interfingered marine/continental strata of North American Appalachian, Mid-Continent and West Texas basins could be the key to direct biostratigraphical correlations of pure continental profiles, as are present in the most parts of the Hercynides, to the global marine scale.

Amphibian biostratigraphy of the European Permo-Carboniferous

Abstract A revised amphibian zonation for the European Pennsylvanian and Cisuralian (Upper Carboniferous to Lower Permian) with nine amphibian zones is presented. The index fossils belong to species-chronoclines with two or three closely related species. The time resolution of these amphibian zones is about 1.5–3.0 Ma. Biostratigraphical correlations with amphibian zones are applicable to 16 basins in the Czech Republic, Poland, France, Italy and Germany. The biostratigraphical potential of other tetrapods is discussed.

New data on the flora and fauna from the ?uppermost Carboniferous-Lower Permian of Buxieres-les-Mines, Bourbon l'Archambault Basin (Allier, France); a preliminary report

New fossils from the ?uppermost Carboniferous-Lower Permian have been found at Buxieres-les-Mines (Massif central, France). In this preliminary article we report on algae, stromatolites, palynomorphs, macroflora, ostracods, insects, elasmobranchs, acanthodians, actinopterygians and amphibians. Elasmobranchs and amphibians are diversified compared with those of other European localities. Most taxa indicate lacustrine deposits and an Asselian age, and permit us to address the question of the palaeoecosystem evolution of the Bourbon-lArchambault Basin, during the Lower Permian.

Permian scorpions from the Petrified Forest of Chemnitz, Germany

BackgroundPaleozoic scorpions (Arachnida: Scorpiones) have been widely documented from the Carboniferous Period; which hosts a remarkable assemblage of more than sixty species including both putative stem- and crown-group fossils. By contrast the succeeding Permian Period is almost completely devoid of records, which are currently restricted to a trace fossil from the early Permian of New Mexico, USA and some limb fragments from the late Permian of the Vologda Region, Russia.Results?Opsieobuthus tungeri sp. nov. from the Petrified Forest of Chemnitz, Germany represents the first complete body fossils of scorpions from the Permian. Explosive volcanism preserved these remarkable specimens in situ as part of the palaeosol horizon and bedrock of the Petrified Forest, immediately beneath the Zeisigwald tuff horizon. This dates to the early Permian (Sakmarian) or ca. 291 Ma. Intriguingly, the specimens were obtained from a palaeosol horizon with a compacted network of different-sized woody roots and thus have been preserved in situ in their likely life position, even within their original burrows. Differences in the structure of the comb-like pectines in the two fossils offer evidence for sexual dimorphism, and permit further inferences about the ecology and perhaps even the reproductive biology of these animals.ConclusionsAs putative members of a Coal Measures genus, these fossils suggest that at least some Carboniferous scorpion lineages extended their range further into the Permian. This contributes towards a picture of scorpion evolution in which both basal and derived (orthostern) forms coexisted for quite some time; probably from the end of the Carboniferous through to at least the mid Triassic.

First arboreal 'pelycosaurs' (Synapsida: Varanopidae) from the early Permian Chemnitz Fossil Lagerstätte, SE Germany, with a review of varanopid phylogeny

A new fossil amniote from the Fossil Forest of Chemnitz (Sakmarian-Artinskian transition, Germany) is described as Ascendonanus nestleri gen. et sp. nov., based on five articulated skeletons with integumentary preservation. The slender animals exhibit a generalistic, lizard-like morphology. However, their synapsid temporal fenestration, ventrally ridged centra and enlarged iliac blades indicate a pelycosaur-grade affiliation. Using a renewed data set for certain early amniotes with a similar typology found Ascendonanus to be a basal varanopid synapsid. This is the first evidence of a varanopid from Saxony and the third from Central Europe, as well as the smallest varanopid at all. Its greatly elongated trunk, enlarged autopodia and strongly curved unguals, along with taphonomical observations, imply an arboreal lifestyle in a dense forest habitat until the whole ecosystem was buried under volcanic deposits. Ascendonanus greatly increases the knowledge on rare basal varanopids; it also reveals a so far unexpected ecotype of early synapsids. Its integumentary structures present the first detailed and soft tissue skin preservation of any Paleozoic synapsid. Further systematic results suggest a varanodontine position for Mycterosaurus, the monophyly of South African varanopids including Anningia and the distinction of a skeletal aggregation previously assigned to Heleosaurus, now renamed as Microvaranops parentis gen. et sp. nov.KurzfassungBasierend auf fünf artikulierten Skeletten mit Hauterhaltung wird ein neuer, fossiler Amniot aus dem Versteinerten Wald von Chemnitz (Sakmarium–Artinskium-Grenzbereich, Deutschland) beschrieben als Ascendonanus nestleri gen. et sp. nov. Die schlanken Tiere sind von generalistischer, echsenhafter Gestalt. Demgegenüber zeigen die synapsiden Schläfenfenster, ventral gekantete Zentren und vergrößerte Iliumblätter eine Zugehörigkeit zur Pelycosaurier-Stufe an. Unter Anwendung eines erneuerten Datensatzes für ausgewählte frühe Amnioten ähnlicher Typologie wird Ascendonanus zu basalen Varanopiden gestellt. Damit liegt der erste Nachweis eines Varanopiden aus Sachsen und der dritte aus Mitteleuropa vor, zudem der kleinste Varanopide überhaupt. Sein besonders verlängerter Rumpf, vergrößerte Autopodien und stark gekrümmte Krallen sowie taphonomische Beobachtungen legen eine arboreale Lebensweise inmitten eines dichten Waldhabitats nahe, bis das gesamte Ökosystem von vulkanischen Ablagerungen verschüttet wurde. Ascendonanus erweitert die Kenntnis der seltenen basalen Varanopiden enorm, zumal er einen bei frühen Synapsiden bisher unerwarteten Ökotyp aufdeckt. Die Integumentstrukturen stellen die ersten detaillierten und durch Weichteile erhaltenen Hautfunde aller paläozoischen Synapsiden dar. Weitergehende systematische Ergebnisse deuten an: eine varanodontine Position für Mycterosaurus, die Monophylie südafrikanischer Varanopiden einschließlich Anningia, sowie die Unterscheidung einer vormals zu Heleosaurus gestellten Skelettaggregation, nun benannt als Microvaranops parentis gen. et sp. nov.

Late Permian conchostracans (Crustacea, Branchiopoda) from continental deposits in the Moscow Syneclise, Russia

Abstract. The Moscow Syneclise on the East European Platform is an important area for the study of the continental biota of late Permian to Early Triassic age in continuous sections. This study attempts a taxonomic description of the late Permian conchostracan fauna of this area. The rich, new material was collected, bed by bed, during geological and paleontological excavations of lacustrine and fluvial deposits of the Obnora Formation and Vokhma Formation of the late Permian Zhukovian Regional Stage near the towns of Vyazniki and Gorokhovets. The conchostracan fauna of the Zhukovian Regional Stage consists predominantly of Pseudestheria and less frequently of Palaeolimnadiopsis. In the earliest Triassic Vokhmian Regional Stage, a more diverse fauna including Euestheria, Magniestheria, Cornia, Palaeolimnadiopsis, and Rossolimnadiopsis was already recorded. The preliminary taxonomic determination of the pseudestheriids from the Zhukovian Regional Stage is intended to serve as a prerequisite for future studies of late Permian conchostracan biostratigraphy on the regional to interregional scale.