Ladinian

The Ladinian is a stage and age in the Middle Triassic series or epoch. It spans the time between 242 Ma and ~237 Ma (million years ago).[2] The Ladinian was preceded by the Anisian and succeeded by the Carnian (part of the Upper or Late Triassic).[3]

System/ Period	Series/ Epoch	Stage/ Age	Age (Ma)
Jurassic	Lower/ Early	Hettangian	younger
Triassic	Upper/ Late	Rhaetian	201.3	~208.5
		Norian	~208.5	~227
		Carnian	~227	~237
	Middle	Ladinian	~237	~242
		Anisian	~242	247.2
	Lower/ Early	Olenekian	247.2	251.2
		Induan	251.2	251.902
Permian	Lopingian	Changhsingian	older
Subdivision of the Triassic system according to the ICS, as of 2020.[1]

Monte San Giorgio preserves many exceptionally preserved Ladinian aged vertebrate fossils

The Ladinian is coeval with the Falangian regional stage used in China.

Stratigraphic definitions

The Ladinian was established by Austrian geologist Alexander Bittner in 1892. Its name comes from the Ladin people that live in the Italian Alps (in the Dolomites, then part of Austria-Hungary).

The base of the Ladinian stage is defined as the place in the stratigraphic record where the ammonite species Eoprotrachyceras curionii first appears or the first appearance of the conodont Budurovignathus praehungaricus. The global reference profile for the base (the GSSP) is at an outcrop in the river bed of the Caffaro river at Bagolino, in the province of Brescia, northern Italy.[4] The top of the Ladinian (the base of the Carnian) is at the first appearance of ammonite species Daxatina canadensis.

The Ladinian is sometimes subdivided into two subages or substages, the Fassanian (early or lower) and the Longobardian (late or upper). The Ladinian contains four ammonite biozones, which are evenly distributed among the two substages:

• zone of Frechites regoledanus
• zone of Protrachyceras archelaus
• zone of Protrachyceras gredleri
• zone of Eoprotrachyceras curionii

Ladinian life

Many Ladinian and Carnian vertebrates have been discovered in the Paleorrota Geopark in Brazil: Rhynchosaurs, thecodonts, exaeretodonts, Staurikosaurus, Guaibasaurus, Saturnalia tupiniquim, Sacisaurus, Unaysaurus, and many others. Paleorrota lies within the Santa Maria Formation and the Caturrita Formation.

Vertebrates of Ladinian age include:

• Spondylosoma
• Dicynodonts

Actinopterygians

Actinopterygii of the Ladinian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Birgeria	Triassic	China, Switzerland, Italy	A non-neopterygian	Birgeria Saurichthys
Luganoia	Middle Triassic	Switzerland
Meridensia	Middle Triassic	Switzerland, Italy
Perleidus	Middle Triassic	Italy, Switzerland, China	A neopterygian
Prohalecites	Middle Triassic to Late Triassic	Switzerland, Italy	The earliest teleosteomorph (modern ray-fin)
Ptycholepis	Middle Triassic to Early Jurassic	Switzerland, Italy	A non-neopterygian
Saurichthys	Triassic	China, Switzerland, Italy	A non-neopterygian
Thoracopterus	Middle Triassic to Late Triassic	China	The earliest gliding fish

Coelacanths

Actinistia of the Ladinian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Alcoveria	Middle Triassic	Spain	A coelacanth	Foreyia Ticinepomis
Foreyia	Middle Triassic	Switzerland	A coelacanth
Garnbergia	Middle Triassic	Germany	A coelacanth
Ticinepomis	Middle Triassic	Switzerland, Italy	A coelacanth

†Temnospondyls

Temnospondyli of the Ladinian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
"Cyclotosaurus" papilio		Upper Muschelkalk beds, Germany	A mastodonsaurid temnospondyl.	Cyclotosaurus Eryosuchus Trematolestes
Eryosuchus		Russia	A mastodonsaurid temnospondyl.
Mastodonsaurus	Middle Triassic	Germany	A mastodonsaurid.
Procyclotosaurus		Lower Keuper, Staffordshire, England.	A stenotosaurid temnospondyl.
Trematolestes	Middle Triassic	Germany	A trematosaurid temnospondyl.

†Chroniosuchians

Chroniosuchia of the Ladinian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Bystrowiella	Middle Triassic	Germany	A chroniosuchian reptiliomorph	Bystrowiella
Synesuchus		Komi Republic, Urals, Russia	A chroniosuchian reptiliomorph.

†Tanystropheids

Tanystropheids of the Ladinian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Cosesaurus		Muschelkalk, Spain	Cosesaurus is a genus of archosauromorph reptiles, likely a juvenile belonging to the family Tanystropheidae.	Cosesaurus Macrocnemus Tanystropheus
Fuyuansaurus		Falang Formation, southern China.	Fuyuansaurus is an extinct genus of archosauromorph reptiles, probably part of Tanystropheidae.
Macrocnemus	late Anisian to Ladinian	China, Switzerland
Tanystropheus	Middle Triassic to Late Triassic	China, Europe

Archosauriforms

Archosaurs of the Ladinian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Chalishevia		Orenburg Oblast, Russia	A basal predatory archosauriform, a member of Erythrosuchidae.	Chalishevia
Jushatyria		Bashkortostan, Russia	An indeterminate archosaur, possibly a rauisuchid.
Spondylosoma		Lower Santa Maria Formation, Paleorrota Geopark, Brazil.	A member of Aphanosauria, basal relatives of dinosaurs and pterosaurs.
Yonghesuchus		Tongchuan Formation, Shanxi, China	Yonghesuchus was not considered to be a crown-group archosaur, but rather a closely related advanced archosauriform, but in most recent analyses, Yonghesuchus has been recovered as in a well supported clade, the Gracilisuchidae within the Pseudosuchia, along with Gracilisuchus and Turfanosuchus.
Zanclodon		All across Europe	Zanclodon is the name formally used for fossil material that might actually belongs to at least two genera of dinosaur from the Late Triassic among other genera.

Suchians

Suchians of the Ladinian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Batrachotomus		Erfurt Formation, Germany		Batrachotomus Lotosaurus Luperosuchus Prestosuchus Ticinosuchus
Decuriasuchus		Santa Maria Formation, Brazil
Energosuchus		European Russia
Heptasuchus	late Ladinian or Carnian	Clark locality, Wyoming
Lotosaurus		Batung Formation, Hunan, China
Luperosuchus	late Ladinian or early Carnian	Chañares Formation, Argentina
Prestosuchus		Santa Maria Formation, Brazil
Ticinosuchus		Grenzbitumenzone, Switzerland, Italy

†Thalattosaurs

Thalattosauria of the Ladinian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Anshunsaurus	Middle Triassic to Late Triassic	China	An askeptosauroid	Thalattosaurus
Thalattosaurus	Middle Triassic to Late Triassic	Canada	A thalattosauroid
Xinpusaurus	Middle Triassic to Late Triassic	China	A thalattosauroid

†Sauropterygians

†Pistosaurs

Pistosauria of the Ladinian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Pistosaurus	Middle Triassic	France, Germany	A sauropterygian	Pistosaurus

†Nothosaurs

Nothosauroidea of the Ladinian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Ceresiosaurus	Middle Triassic	Italy, Switzerland	Possibly a synonym of Lariosaurus.	Ceresiosaurus Lariosaurus balsami Nothosaurus
Lariosaurus †Lariosaurus balsami †Lariosaurus curionii †Lariosaurus valceresii †Lariosaurus xingyiensis	Middle Triassic	Europe, China	A sauropterygian
Nothosaurus	Middle Triassic to Late Triassic	Europe, China	A sauropterygian
Silvestrosaurus	Anisian-Ladinian boundary	Switzerland	Possibly a species of Lariosaurus.
Simosaurus	Middle Triassic	Germany, France	A sauropterygian

†Pachypleurosaurs

Pachypleurosauria of the Ladinian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Keichousaurus	Middle Triassic	China	A sauropterygian	Keichousaurus
Neusticosaurus	Middle Triassic	Italy, Switzerland	A sauropterygian
Serpianosaurus Serpianosaurus mirigiolensis	Earliest Ladinian	Switzerland	A sauropterygian
Qianxisaurus	Middle Triassic	China	A sauropterygian

†Placodonts

Placodonts of the Ladinian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Cyamodus	Middle Triassic	Germany	A sauropterygian	Cyamodus Placochelys Paraplacodus
Glyphoderma	Middle Triassic	China	A sauropterygian
Placochelys	Middle Triassic to Late Triassic	Hungary	A sauropterygian
Paraplacodus	Middle Triassic	Italy	A sauropterygian
Psephosauriscus	Middle Triassic	Egypt; Israel	A sauropterygian

†Ichthyopterygians

†Ichthyopterygia of the Ladinian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Cymbospondylus	Middle Triassic	Switzerland	An elongate ichthyosaur	Mixosaurus Omphalosaurus
Mixosaurus	Middle Triassic	Switzerland, Italy	An ichthyosaur
Omphalosaurus	Early Triassic to Middle Triassic	Austria, Italy	An ichthyosauriform with button-like teeth

Therapsids

Therapsids of the Ladinian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Dinodontosaurus		Paleontological Site Chiniquá, Brazil	A kannemeyeriiform dicynodont.	Dinodontosaurus Exaeretodon Stahleckeria
Exaeretodon	Ladinian-Carnian	Santa Maria Formation, Brazil
Stahleckeria		Santa Maria Formation, Brazil and Omingonde Formation, Namibia	A genus of kannemeyeriiform dicynodont in the family Stahleckeriidae.

References

Notes

1. "International Chronostratigraphic Chart" (PDF). International Commission on Stratigraphy. 2020.
2. http://www.stratigraphy.org/index.php/ics-chart-timescale
3. For a detailed geologic timescale see Gradstein et al. (2004)
4. The GSSP was established by Brack et al. (2005)

Literature

• Brack, P.; Rieber, H.; Nicora, A. & Mundil, R.; 2005: The Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) of the Ladinian Stage (Middle Triassic) at Bagolino (Southern Alps, Northern Italy) and its implications for the Triassic time scale, Episodes 28(4), pp. 233–244.
• Gradstein, F.M.; Ogg, J.G. & Smith, A.G.; 2004: A Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press.

External links

• GeoWhen Database - Ladinian
• Upper Triassic and Lower Triassic timescales, at the website of the subcommission for stratigraphic information of the ICS
• Norges Network of offshore records of geology and stratigraphy: Stratigraphic charts for the Triassic, and