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| Changhsingian | |||||||||||||
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Bellerophon Formation, Dolomites, Italy | |||||||||||||
| Chronology | |||||||||||||
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| Etymology | |||||||||||||
| Name formality | Formal | ||||||||||||
| Name ratified | 1981 | ||||||||||||
| Alternate spelling(s) | Changxingian | ||||||||||||
| Usage information | |||||||||||||
| Celestial body | Earth | ||||||||||||
| Regional usage | Global (ICS) | ||||||||||||
| Time scale(s) used | ICS Time Scale | ||||||||||||
| Definition | |||||||||||||
| Chronological unit | Age | ||||||||||||
| Stratigraphic unit | Stage | ||||||||||||
| Time span formality | Formal | ||||||||||||
| Lower boundary definition | Meishan, Zhejiang, China | ||||||||||||
| Lower boundary GSSP | FAD of the Conodont Clarkina wangi 31°04′55″N 119°42′23″E / 31.0819°N 119.7064°E | ||||||||||||
| Lower GSSP ratified | 2005[2] | ||||||||||||
| Upper boundary definition | FAD of the Conodont Hindeodus parvus. | ||||||||||||
| Upper boundary GSSP | Meishan, Zhejiang, China 31°04′47″N 119°42′21″E / 31.0798°N 119.7058°E | ||||||||||||
| Upper GSSP ratified | 2001[3] | ||||||||||||
In the geologic time scale, the Changhsingian or Changxingian is the latest age or uppermost stage of the Permian. It is also the upper or latest of two subdivisions of the Lopingian Epoch or Series. The Changhsingian lasted from 254.14 to 251.9 Ma ago. It is preceded by the Wuchiapingian age/stage and is followed by the Induan age/stage (Early Triassic epoch).[4]
The greatest mass extinction in the Phanerozoic eon, the Permian–Triassic extinction event, occurred during this age.
The Changhsingian is named after Changxing (Chinese: 长兴; pinyin: Chángxīng; Wade–Giles: Ch’ang-hsing) in northern Zhejiang, China. The stage was named for the Changhsing Limestone.[5] The name was first used for a stage in 1970[6][7] and was anchored in the international timescale in 1981.[2]
The base of the Changhsingian Stage is at the first appearance of the conodont species Clarkina wangi. The global reference profile is profile D at Meishan, in the type area in Changxing.[2] The top of the Changhsingian (the base of the Induan Stage and the Triassic System is at the first appearance of the conodont species Hindeodus parvus.
The Changhsingian stage contains only one ammonite biozone: that of the genus Iranites.
The Changhsingian ended with the Permian–Triassic extinction event when both global biodiversity and alpha diversity (community-level diversity) were devastated.[8] The world after the extinction was almost lifeless, deserted, hot, and dry. Ammonoids, fishes, insects, and the tetrapods (cynodonts, amphibians, reptiles, therapsids, etc.) remained rare and terrestrial ecosystems did not recover for 30 million years.[8]
Among fishes, the bobasatraniiforms Bobasatrania and Ebenaqua are known from Changhsingian deposits of Greenland and Australia, respectively. Another deep-bodied fish, Sinoplatysomus, is known from Zhejiang province of China, along with the elongate saurichthyiform Eosaurichthys. Several fish genera were described from Changhsingian deposits of Russia and South Africa.[9] The Hambast Formation of Iran yielded chondrichthyan faunas of Wuchiapingian to Changhsingian age.[10]
The Bellerophon Formation in northern Italy documents a pre-extinction bivalve community with 26 species adapted to stressful conditions (high temperatures, high salinity, shallow water depths, low oxygen and high terrigenous input).[11]
Changhsingian aged beds of the Tesero Member of the Werfen Formation produced fossils of a crown group echinoid, Eotiaris teseroensis and other taxa.[12]
* Tentatively assigned to the Changhsingian; age estimated primarily via terrestrial tetrapod biostratigraphy
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