Dinosaurs arose in the early Triassic in the aftermath of the greatest mass extinction ever and became hugely successful in the Mesozoic. Their initial diversification is a classic example of a large-scale macroevolutionary change. Diversifications at such deep-time scales can now be dissected, modelled and tested. New fossils suggest that dinosaurs originated early in the Middle Triassic, duri...

The first Triassic dipteran from South America is described based on an isolated wing from the lower Upper Triassic deposits of Argentina (Mendoza Province, Potrerillos Formation, Quebrada del Durazno locality). Trihennigma zavattierii gen. et sp. nov. is a member of the Mesozoic family Hennigmatidae, previously recorded only from Eurasia. A key for the genera and species of Hennigmatidae is pr...

The Karoo basin of South Africa exposes a succession of Upper Permian to Lower Triassic terrestrial strata containing abundant terrestrial vertebrate fossils. Paleomagnetic/magnetostratigraphic and carbon-isotope data allow sections to be correlated across the basin. With this stratigraphy, the vertebrate fossil data show a gradual extinction in the Upper Permian punctuated by an enhanced extin...

Anomalously high platinum group element concentrations have previously been reported for Upper Triassic deep-sea sediments, which are interpreted to be derived from an extraterrestrial impact event. Here we report the osmium (Os) isotope fingerprint of an extraterrestrial impact from Upper Triassic chert successions in Japan. Os isotope data exhibit a marked negative excursion from an initial O...

One of the most severe mass extinctions of the Phanerozoic, the Triassic-Jurassic event is greater or equal in magnitude to that at the more famous K-T boundary (Benton, 1994) (Fig. 1). Such severity, at least for marine families is also supported by Foote’s (2003) statistical revaluations, although there remain dissenters (e.g. Hallam, 2002; Lucas et al., 2002). The cause of this mass-extincti...

On the basis of an assemblage of fossilized wing scales recovered from latest Triassic and earliest Jurassic sediments from northern Germany, we provide the earliest evidence for Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). The diverse scales confirm a (Late) Triassic radiation of lepidopteran lineages, including the divergence of the Glossata, the clade that comprises the vast multitude of extant moth...

New detrital-zircon geochronologic data reveal that a through-going paleoriver connected Texas with Nevada in Late Triassic time. Sandstone from the Upper Triassic Santa Rosa Sandstone (Dockum Group) from northwestern Texas contains a detrital zircon suite nearly identical to that found in western Nevada in the Upper Triassic Osobb Formation (Auld Lang Syne Group, correlative with the Chinle Fo...

Manuscript 2014; elect Premise of research. Few reproductive organs unequivocally attributable to the important but enigmatic Mesozoic seed plant order Bennettitales have been described from the Triassic of all of North America outside of Greenland. Here, the first ovulate reproductive organs (gynoecia) of the group from the Upper Triassic of eastern North America are described and assigned to ...

Citation: Jaquier VP, Fraser NC, Furrer H and Scheyer TM (2017) Osteology of a New Specimen of Macrocnemus aff. M. fuyuanensis (Archosauromorpha, Protorosauria) from the Middle Triassic of Europe: Potential Implications for Species Recognition and Paleogeography of Tanystropheid Protorosaurs. Front. Earth Sci. 5:91. doi: 10.3389/feart.2017.00091 Osteology of a New Specimen of Macrocnemus aff. M...

Cycle stratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic analyses of a -5000-m-thick composite section obtained by scientific oring in the Newark rift basin of eastern North America provide a high-resolution astronomically calibrated geomagnetic polarity timescale (GPTS) spanning over 30 m.y. of the Late Triassic and earliest Jurassic. Only normal polarity is found in -1000 m of interbedded volcanics and c...