Magnetostratigraphy of Permian/Triassic boundary sequences in the Cis-Urals, Russia : no evidence for a major temporal hiatus

During the last five years there has been considerable doubt over the age of the continental uppermost Permian Russian stages, the Kazanian and Tatarian. Traditionally they have been regarded as Late Permian but were re-dated as Middle Permian in the 2004 international time scale, despite fossil evidence that the Tatarian, at least, is Late Permian. These debated ages are tested by magnetostratigraphic study of five sections spanning the Permian Triassic Boundary (PTB) of the SE Urals in the Orenburg region of Russia. The Upper Permian and Lower Triassic of this region have a well documented vertebrate fauna whose evolution has a significant bearing on our understanding of the PTB mass extinction event. If the Tatarian is viewed as Mid Permian, then the Late Permian in Russia is marked by a 9–10 Ma stratigraphic gap. The palaeomagnetic data yield a distinct series of polarity zones that provide clear local and regional correlation and are readily tied to a recently compiled global magnetostratigraphic record. On the basis of this correlation the sampled sections span the upper Guadalupian to Induan stages without any obvious break, so confirming the traditional view that the Tatarian is Late Permian in age. Anomalies in the magnetic inclination are consistent with sediment compaction (inclination shallowing, a common phenomenon of red beds) but declination anomalies between these sites and elsewhere in Russia may suggest localised vertical axis rotation

On the Validity and Phylogenetic Position of Eubrachiosaurus browni, a Kannemeyeriiform Dicynodont (Anomodontia) from Triassic North America

The large dicynodont Eubrachiosaurus browni from the Upper Triassic Popo Agie Formation of Wyoming is redescribed. Eubrachiosaurus is a valid taxon that differs from Placerias hesternus, with which it was previously synonymized, by greater anteroposterior expansion of the scapula dorsally and a very large, nearly rectangular humeral ectepicondyle with a broad supinator process. Inclusion of Eubrachiosaurus in a revised phylogenetic analysis of anomodont therapsids indicates that it is a stahleckeriid closely related to the South American genera Ischigualastia and Jachaleria. The recognition of Eubrachiosaurus as a distinct lineage of North American dicynodonts, combined with other recent discoveries in the eastern USA and Europe, alters our perception of Late Triassic dicynodont diversity in the northern hemisphere. Rather than being isolated relicts in previously therapsid-dominated regions, Late Triassic stahleckeriid dicynodonts were continuing to disperse and diversify, even in areas like western North America that were otherwise uninhabited by coeval therapsids (i.e., cynodonts)