Winand Brinkmann

A new locality for low-latitudinal, Early Triassic fishes was discovered in the Candelaria Hills, southwestern Nevada (USA). The fossils are derived from the lower Candelaria Formation, which was deposited during the middle–late Dienerian (late Induan), ca. 500 ka after the Permian-Triassic boundary mass extinction event. The articulated and disarticulated Osteichthyes (bony fishes), encompassing both Actinistia (coelacanths) and Actinopterygii (ray-fins), are preserved in large, silicified concretions that also contain rare coprolites. We describe the first actinopterygians from the Candelaria Hills. The specimens are referred to Pteronisculus nevadanus new species (Turseoidae?), Ardoreosomus occidentalis new genus new species (Ptycholepidae), the stem neopterygian Candelarialepis argentus new genus new species (Parasemionotidae), and Actinopterygii indet. representing additional taxa. Ardoreosomus n. gen. resembles other ptycholepids, but differs in its more angulate hyomandibula ...

A new, marine osteichthyan (bony fish) fauna from the Early Triassic of northern India is presented. The material was collected in situ at localities within Pin Valley (Lahaul and Spiti District, Himachal Pradesh, India) and is dated as middle-late Dienerian (one specimen possibly earliest Smithian). The new ichthyofauna includes a lower jaw of the predatory basal ray-finned fish Saurichthys, a nearly complete specimen of a parasemionotid neopterygian (cf. Watsonulus cf. eugnathoides), as well as further articulated and disarticulated remains (Actinopterygii indet., Actinistia indet.), and thus comprises the most complete Triassic fish fossils known from the Indian subcontinent. Saurichthys is known from many Triassic localities and reached a global distribution rapidly after the Late Permian mass extinction event. Parasemionotidae, a species-rich family restricted to the Early Triassic, also achieved widespread distribution during this epoch. Comparison of the Spiti material with other parasemionotid species reveals similarities with Watsonulus eugnathoides from Madagascar. However, taxonomic ambiguities within Parasemionotidae prevent a specific attribution of the Spiti specimen. The new material also includes an isolated actinistian urohyal exhibiting morphology distinct from any previously described urohyal. Marine Dienerian black shale deposited on continental shelves are common not only in the Himalayas but also in other geographic regions. Anoxic depositional settings provide ideal preservational conditions for vertebrate fossils, suggesting that additional ichthyofaunas could still be discovered in marine Dienerian strata of other localities. The study of Early Triassic fish assemblages, including the presented one, is fundamental for our understanding of the great osteichthyan diversification after the Late Permian mass extinction event.

The baculum, a heterotopic ossification in the penis, hence known as penis bone, is a common bodily structure among mammals. Its weight is commonly used for age determination in raccoons, especially to separate juvenile from adult individuals. The project aimed primarily at confirming that the previously observed relationship between weight of the baculum and age also holds for the raccoon population from Müritz-Nationalpark (Germany). Additionally, the analysis of allometric relationships between bacular traits and correlations with age, hind foot length and testicle mass aimed at revealing further aspects of bacular functionality and ontogeny.

The Permian and Triassic were key time intervals in the history of life on Earth. Both periods are marked by a series of biotic crises including the most catastrophic of such events, the end-Permian mass extinction, which eventually led to a major turnover from typical Palaeozoic faunas and floras to those that are emblematic for the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Here we review patterns in Permian-Triassic bony fishes, a group whose evolutionary dynamics are understudied. Based on data from primary literature, we analyse changes in their taxonomic diversity and body size (as a proxy for trophic position) and explore their response to Permian-Triassic events. Diversity and body size are investigated separately for different groups of Osteichthyes (Dipnoi, Actinistia, 'Palaeopterygii', 'Subholostei', Holostei, Teleosteomorpha), within the marine and freshwater realms and on a global scale (total diversity) as well as across palaeolatitudinal belts. Diversity is also measured ...

Publikationsansicht. 44426066. Mixosaurier (Reptilia, Ichthyosauria) mit antero-posterior-verlängerten Quetschzähnen aus der Grenzbitumenzone (Mitteltrias) des Monte San Giorgio (Schweiz, Kanton Tessin) / (2000). Brinkmann, Winand. Abstract. ...

Summary/Zusammenfassung Since the sixties of the last century dinosaur remains from the Late Triassic of the clay pit Gruhalde at Frick, Canton Aargau, are well known. After GALTON (1986) these remains from the" classical" dinosaur layer, which yielded, apart isolated ...

Abstract. For the first time, the otic capsule (proötic and opisthotic) of a Triassic ichthyosaur is described, based on a specimen of Mixosaurus cf. cornalianus from the Grenzbitumenzone of Monte San Giorgio, Switzerland. The otic capsule of Mixosaurus differs from that of ...

Abstract  The Tremp basin, North-Spain, is a classical area of paleontological research. From the Upper Cretaceous of this region we know up to now two Sauropods (Hypselosaurus, Titanosaurus) and aniguanodontid Dinosaur (Rhabdodon). Both ischia described in this paper are derived from a Hadrosaur skeleton. This is the first record of the group south of the Pyrenees. It remains uncertain, whether the

Classic descriptions and a previous reconstruction of the Middle Triassic ray-finned fish Birgeria stensioei Aldinger, 1931 from the Besano Formation (= Grenzbitumenzone) of Monte San Giorgio (Canton Ticino, Switzerland) and Besano (Lombardy, Italy) relied either on poor material or on a single specimen only. This study of B. stensioei is based on 67 specimens from that region in the Southern Alps including the lectotype of B. stensioei. The reappraisal of B. stensioei indicates that this species differs from the other known species of the genus Birgeria in several respects, most notably in the arrangement of the pterygiophores of the dorsal fin. B. stensioei is also distinct to certain other species of Birgeria in having a largely unossified brain case. Furthermore, the palatoquadrate of B. stensioei is ossified as the autopalatine, the metapterygoid and the quadrate, which are always found separate. An ossified autopalatine and metapterygoid was not described in Birgeria so far. A...

Classic descriptions and a previous reconstruction of the Middle Triassic ray-finned fish Birgeria stensioei Aldinger, 1931 from the Besano Formation (= Grenzbitumenzone) of Monte San Giorgio (Canton Ticino, Switzerland) and Besano (Lombardy, Italy) relied either on poor material or on a single specimen only. This study of B. stensioei is based on 67 specimens from that region in the Southern Alps including the lectotype of B. stensioei. The reappraisal of B. stensioei indicates that this species differs from the other known species of the genus Birgeria in several respects, most notably in the arrangement of the pterygiophores of the dorsal fin. B. stensioei is also distinct to certain other species of Birgeria in having a largely unossified brain case. Furthermore, the palatoquadrate of B. stensioei is ossified as the autopalatine, the metapterygoid and the quadrate, which are always found separate. An ossified autopalatine and metapterygoid was not described in Birgeria so far. A...