Cyclotosaurus cf. PosthumusFraas (Capitosauridae,Stereospondyli) from the Huai Hin Lat Formation (Upper Triassic), Northeastern Thailand: With a note on capitosaurid biogeography

Part of a large capitosaurid skull, similar to that of Cyclotosaurus posthumus from the Upper Triassic of Germany, has been discovered in the upper part of the Huai Hin Lat Formation near Chulabhorn (Nam Phrom) Dam. This discovery is consistent with the presumed Norian age of this formation. Although the phylogeny of the Capitosauridae is still unclear, the group of Upper Triassic Cyclotosaurus species to which C. posthumus belongs is monophyletic and seems to be known only from Laurasia or Northwestern Gondwana (Morocco). The occurrence of C. cf. posthumus in Thailand is consistent with the hypothesis previously put forward, that this part of Southeast Asia was bound to Laurasia in Mesozoic times.     

Late Norian (Triassic) Radiolaria from the Kotel’nyi Island (New Siberian Islands,Arctic, Russia)

Two radiolarian assemblages were recovered from upper Norian strata of the Kotel’nyi Island (Russia); the first assemblage, from the Monotis zabaikalica Subzone (lower part of Upper Norian), is represented by Betraccium inornatum Blome, Dumitricaella (?) parva Sugiyama, Ferresium titulense Blome and 24 other species; the second assemblage, from the Monotis subcircularis Subzone (upper part of Upper Norian), is represented by Crucella sp. cf. C. angulosa Carter, Kahlerosphaera acris Bragin, K. sp. cf. K. parvispinosa Kozur & Mostler, Pseudohagiastrum crassum (Carter) and 11 other species. Both assemblages have common taxa with Upper Norian and Rhaetian radiolarian assemblages of British Columbia and they display clear Boreal features: low taxonomic diversity, abundance of taxa known from high-latitude regions, absence or rare presence of taxa known from low-latitude areas. The presence of early representatives of nassellarian genera Droltus and Parahsuum is very distinctive. Six new species are described: Pseudohagiastrum spinosum nov. sp., Cantalum boreale nov. sp., Plafkerium carteri nov. sp., Droltus guttaeformis nov. sp., Laxtorum blomei nov. sp., L. glacialis nov. sp.     

Extremely distal fluvial sandstone within the playa system of Arnstadt Formation (Norian,Late Triassic), Central Germany

The Wachsenburg Sandstone of Thuringia (Central Germany) occurs within playa deposits of the Arnstadt Formation (Late Triassic, Norian) and furnishes an example of ephemeral river metamorphosis under dryland conditions. Characterized by high flow regime features, the sand-dominated lithofacies constitution exhibits sedimentation by channel processes under the influence of recurring flash floods. Bearing signatures of subaerial exposures, the fining-upward lithofacies cycles are bound by low-angle lateral accretion elements suggesting deposition in a meandering stream. Channel migration in response to point bar expansion and active bank erosion, led to the development of four laterally shifting point bar events. Unimodal palaeocurrent patterns with low variance and azimuthal dispersion support the point bar origin of the Wachsenburg Sandstone. With reduced water budget under largely semi-arid climate, the river progressively became smaller, highly sinuous and ultimately abandoned. The resulting point bar succession was finally covered with sheet flow deposits of over bank origin. The sandstone was deposited during a period of low base-level when the playa system temporarily fell dry.     

Upper Triassic (Norian) hypercalcified sponges from the Musandam Peninsula (United Arab Emirates and Oman)

Supercalcified sponges, including sphinctozoans, inozoans, chaetetids, spongiomorphids, occurring in Upper Triassic (Norian-Rhaetian) shallow-marine limestones of Musandam Mountains in United Arab Emirates (UAE), are described. The following taxa were determined: sphinctozoans: Hajarispongia osmani Senowbari-Daryan and Yancey, Nevadathalamia arabica n. sp., Nevadathalamia conica n. sp., Fanthalamia milahaensis n. sp., Iranothalamia incrustans (Boiko), Cinnabaria regularis n. sp.; inozoans: Cavsonella triassica n. sp., Molengraaffia regularis Vinassa de Regny, Peronidella? sp., Circopora cf. caucasica Moiseev, Circopora? sp.; spongiomorphids: Spongiomorpha sp.; chaetetids: Lovcenipora chaetetiformis Vinassa de Regny, Lovcenipora musandamensis n. sp., Lovcenipora sp., chaetetid sponge gen. et sp. indet. The most abundant sponge in the studied material is Nevadathalamia arabica n. sp. The described sponge association of the Arabian shelf (Musandam Mountains) shows close affinity to the sponge association known from age-equivalent terranes in the Panthalassa Ocean (Sonora Mountains in Mexico; Pilot Mountains in Nevada, USA), but is remarkably different from sponge associations in carbonates bordering the Tethys. This difference goes along with the biogeography of wallowaconchid bivalves and is most likely attributed to climatic, palaeogeographic or oceanographic factors.     

Late Triassic (Late Norian) gastropods from the Wallowa Terrane (Idaho,USA)

A diverse Late Triassic (Late Norian) gastropod fauna is described from the Mission Creek Limestone of the Wallowa terrane (Idaho, USA). Sample standardization by rarefaction analysis indicates that the fauna is even more diverse than the Late Triassic gastropod fauna from the Pucara Formation (Peru) which represents the most diverse gastropod fauna from South America. The gastropod fauna consists of 66 species; several genera are reported for the first time from North America. A high percentage of the species are highly ornamented and several have distinct siphonal canals. This suggests that the appearance of truly Mesozoic elements among the gastropods began before the Mesozoic Marine Revolution in other clades. The fauna is dominated by high-spired strongly ornamented procerithiids, a group more characteristic for the Jurassic. Comparison of the present fauna and the Iranian Nayband Formation gastropod fauna show that the procerithiids underwent a first global radiation in the Late Triassic. The high number of new species in this fauna suggests that sampling of Late Triassic gastropod faunas is still incomplete and hinders palaeobiogeographic considerations. Previous suggesions that gastropod faunas from the Wallowa and Wrangellia terranes resemble each other and are distinct from those of Alexander, Chulitna, and Farewell terranes are basically corroborated. The gastropod fauna of the Mission Creek Limestone differs considerably from that of the western and central Tethys but shares several taxa with the Late Triassic gastropod fauna of the Pucara Formation in Peru. Thus, the Hispanic corridor was probably not present in the Norian but opened only in the Early Jurassic. The subfamily Andangulariinae is introduced and placed in the Zygopleuridae. The generaSpiniomphalus, Nodoconus, Gudrunella, Blodgettella, Idahospira, andSiphonilda and the subgenusCryptaulax (Wallowax) are introduced. 27 species are erected. A lectotype is designated forCryptaulax rhabdocolpoides Haas, 1953.      

The ichnogenous<Emphasis Type="Italic">Palaxius</Emphasis> (crustacean coprolite) and description of<Emphasis Type="Italic">P. hydranensis</Emphasis> n. sp. from the Upper Triassic (Norian part of “Pantokrator” limestone) of Hydra (Greece)

The fossil coprolite ichnogenusPalaxius is known with 22 species from the Permian up to the Tertiary. The diagnostic characteristics and the stratigraphie range of all species is given in this paper. The ichnogenusAgantaxia Kristan-Tollmann is a younger synonym of the ichnogenusPalaxius. The new crustacean coprolitePalaxius hydranensis n. sp. is described from the reef limestones of Norian part of “Pantokrator” limestone of the Island Hydra (Greece). This is the first report of coprolites from Hydra. The organism association of coprolite bearing limestone is mentioned.      

西藏拉萨地区三叠系诺利阶牙形石分带及其国际对比

麦龙岗剖面位于西藏拉萨地区达孜县麦龙岗村 (N2 9°5 6′0 6″ ,E91°2 7′5 5″)。麦龙岗组中共发现牙形石 7属 :Epigondolella ,Hindeodella ,Priniodella ,Xaniognathodus,Lonchodina ,Metalonchodina和Enantiognathus属。其中Epigondolella属有 9种 ,包括 1新种和 1未定种 ,它们是E .primitia ,E .spiculata ,E .cf.spiculata ,E .tozeri,E .violinformissp .nov .,E .cf.triangularisuniformis,E .postera ,E .bidentata ,E .sp .。基于本次发现的化石材料 ,对西藏林周地区麦龙岗组进行新的牙形石带划分。自下而上划分为 :?Epigondolellaprimitia ,E .spiculata ,E .tozer i,E .postera和E .bidentata等带。与毛力等 (1987)、Orchard(1983,1991,1994 )和Krystyn(1977)的划分方案进行对比和讨论     

Norian calcareous Algae from the Matese Mountains (northern Campania,Italy)

The Norian portion of the Costa dei Frascari succession (Matese Mountains, northern Campania) provides an example of a calcareous algae association dominated by the family Pseudoudoteaceae; subordinately, Gymnocodiaceae and Dasycladaceae also occur. The present study deals with the record of Garwoodia maxima Dragastan, Garwoodia toomeyi Dragastan, Pseudoudotea magna Dragastan et al., Jabrianella sp., and Asterocalculus heraki Sokac and Grgasovic, from the open-lagoon carbonate deposits which were referred to the portion of the Norian below the Triasina hantkeni Zone.Riassunto. Vengono presentati i risultati di uno studio sistematico condotto sulle alghe calcaree del Norico dei Monti del Matese (Campania settentrionale), per la prima volta segnalate in Italia. La ricca associazione è composta da prevalenti pseudoudoteacee e precisamente: Garwoodia maxima, Garwoodia toomeji, Pseudoudotea magna, Jabrianella sp., oltre a Asterocalculus heraki, Heteroporella zankli e Probolocuspis espakhensis, recentemente attribuito alle Dasycladales da Senowbari-Daryan and Majidifard. I campioni analizzati provengono dalla porzione inferiore della successione della Costa dei Frascari (versante meridionale dei Monti del Matese) i cui 160 m basali sono costituiti da prevalenti calcari granulo-sostenuti e da rare intercalazioni di calcari fango-sostenuti, talora loferitici, spesso dolomitizzati e stromatolitici. Labbondanza di antozoi, chetetidi, gasteropodi di grandi dimensioni e, in particolare, di resti di echinodermi indica che tali sedimenti si sono deposti in un ambiente di open-lagoon caratterizzato da continui scambi con il mare aperto che garantivano condizioni di salinità e ossigenazione delle acque idonee a questo tipo di organismi. In base allassociazione micropaleontologica e considerata lassenza di Triasina hantkeni e di Griphoporella curvata, la cui comparsa avviene a circa 160 m dalla base della successione, questi sedimenti sono stati riferiti alla porzione di Norico sottostante la Zona a Triasina hantkeni (sensu Marcoux et al. 1993).     

Sedimentological and paleoecological aspects of the Norian–Rhaetian transition (Late Triassic) in the Xuanhan area of the Sichuan Basin,Southwest China

The end-Triassic mass extinction is one of the five big extinction events in the Phanerozoic, and its impact on marine organisms has been extensively studied. However, whether the terrestrial ecosystem had begun to deteriorate or even collapsed prior to the end-Triassic mass extinction remains controversial and the related studies in Asia are very limited. In this study, we provide a comprehensive investigation of the sedimentary environments, their implications for floral changes, and the paleoecology during the Norian–Rhaetian transition in Xuanhan area, northeastern Sichuan Basin, Southwest China. The sedimentary environments and climatic conditions changed coupling the transgression and regression caused by the tectonic movements. Climatic oscillations were identified during the Norian–Rhaetian transition in the Xuanhan area, including a short-term cooling event. The diversity and composition of the plant communities changed through the Norian–Rhaetian transition in Xuanhan area, but the terrestrial ecosystem as a whole didn’t collapse or deteriorate prior to the end-Triassic mass extinction.     

New dasycladalean algae from the Middle Norian (Upper Triassic) of northern Italy (Mt. Pramaggiore, Carnic Prealps)

In the Eastern Southern Alps of northern Italy (Carnic Prealps, Friuli region), the shallow-water carbonate platform deposits of the Dolomia Principale Fm. (Norian–Rhaetian, Upper Triassic) show best-preserved platform to basin facies transition. The palaeontological study of an algal-rich level recovered from the platform margin facies (Mt. Pramaggiore) has displayed a very interesting association of Dasycladales. Two new genera (Bystrickyella and Elliottporella) and four new species (Bystrickyella ottii, Elliottporella morelloae, Palaeodasycladus lorigae and Holosporella conradii) have been described. These new data suggest that the Norian represents a period of turnover in the evolutionary history of the green algae community. This stage, placed between two extinctions, end-Ladinian and end-Norian, is here interpreted as a re-organization period of the evolutionary schemes of Dasycladales. The new lineages originated in the Norian developed further and characterized the Early Jurassic scenery. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.