A database of Triassic conodonts from a comprehensive revisión of literature

The revision of a comprehensive amount of bibliography has made possible the development of a database containing the stratigraphic ranges of the conodont species from the uppermost Permian and the Triassic, with a total of 336 species in 52 genera. This database is aimed at biostratigraphy and studies related to biological, evolutional and palaeodiversity dynamics. La revisión de una amplia cantidad de bibliografía ha hecho posible el desarrollo de una base de datos en la que figuran los rangos estratigráficos de las especies de conodontos presentes desde el Pérmico superior y el Triásico, con un total de 336 especies y 52 géneros. Esta base de datos está dirigida a la bioestratigrafía y a estudios relacionados con las dinámicas biológicas, evolutivas y de paleodiversidad

Mapping solar system chaos with the Geological Orrery

The Geological Orrery is a network of geological records of orbitally paced climate designed to address the inherent limitations of solutions for planetary orbits beyond 60 million years ago due to the chaotic nature of Solar System motion. We use results from two scientific coring experiments in Early Mesozoic continental strata: the Newark Basin Coring Project and the Colorado Plateau Coring Project. We precisely and accurately resolve the secular fundamental frequencies of precession of perihelion of the inner planets and Jupiter for the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic epochs (223–199 million years ago) using the lacustrine record of orbital pacing tuned only to one frequency (1/405,000 years) as a geological interferometer. Ex- cepting Jupiter’s, these frequencies differ significantly from present values as determined using three independent techniques yielding practically the same results. Estimates for the precession of perihe- lion of the inner planets are robust, reflecting a zircon U–Pb-based age model and internal checks based on the overdetermined origins of the geologically measured frequencies. Furthermore, although not indicative of a correct solution, one numerical solution closely matches the Geological Orrery, with a very low probability of being due to chance. To determine the secular fundamental frequencies of the precession of the nodes of the planets and the important secular resonances with the precession of perihelion, a contemporaneous high-latitude geological archive recording obliquity pacing of climate is needed. These results form a proof of concept of the Geological Orrery and lay out an empirical framework to map the chaotic evo- lution of the Solar System

Arctic ice and the ecological rise of the dinosaurs

Abundant lake ice-rafted debris in Late Triassic and earliest Jurassic strata of the Junggar Basin of northwestern China (paleolatitude ~71°N) indicates that freezing winter temperatures typified the forested Arctic, despite a persistence of extremely high levels of atmospheric Pco2 (partial pressure of CO2). Phylogenetic bracket analysis shows that non-avian dinosaurs were primitively insulated, enabling them to access rich deciduous and evergreen Arctic vegetation, even under freezing winter conditions. Transient but intense volcanic winters associated with massive eruptions and lowered light levels led to the end-Triassic mass extinction (201.6 Ma) on land, decimating all medium- to large-sized nondinosaurian, noninsulated continental reptiles. In contrast, insulated dinosaurs were already well adapted to cold temperatures, and not only survived but also underwent a rapid adaptive radiation and ecological expansion in the Jurassic, taking over regions formerly dominated by large noninsulated reptiles

Invertebrate Palaeontology and Sequence Stratigraphy: complementary methods and evidence to explain the geological record

The fossil record and the stratigraphic record are two components of the geological record different in nature, and they can be separately interpreted and tested in many cases of Invertebrate Palaeontology. Abundance, diversity and stratigraphic persistence are outstanding features of the fossil invertebrates. Therefore, the complementarity (as the capacity of two contrasted theories together to explain a body of phenomena, although each separately accounts for only some aspects) or the consilience (as the fact or condition of being inferred from different phenomena) between Palaeontology and Sequence Stratigraphy through the study of fossil invertebrates is specially useful for the interpretation of the geological record and the palaeoenvironmental changes

IGCP 632, The Jurassic–Cretaceous transition in North Eastern China (westernLiaoning and Inner Mongolia): An IGCP meeting and field excursion on the continentalJurassic

Exposures of strata spanning the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary occur within several basins in western Liaoning and adjacent Inner Mongolia. These continental successions host world-renowned plant and animal fossils including feathered dinosaurs and the oldest flowering plant, Archaeofructus.Supported by:International Geoscience of Program ofUNESCO-IUGS (IGCP)International Subcommission on Jurassic Stratigraphy (ISJS)National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)Northeastern UniversityDepartment of Education of Liaoning ProvinceDepartment of Land and Resources of Liaoning ProvinceBureau of Fossil Protection and Administration of LiaoningLiaoning Association for Science and TechnologyPaleontological Museum of LiaoningGeological Society of LiaoningBenxi Branch of the Geological Museum of ChinaChina National Committee of StratigraphyGeneral Office of National Paleontological Experts CommitteeChina Fossil Preservation Foundation (CFPF)Nanjing Institute of Geology &amp; Palaeontology, CASInstitute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, CASNanjing UniversityPalaeontological Society of China</p