South African Lagerstätte reveals middle Permian Gondwanan lakeshore ecosystem in exquisite detail

Continental ecosystems of the middle Permian Period (273–259 million years ago) are poorly understood. In South Africa, the vertebrate fossil record is well documented for this time interval, but the plants and insects are virtually unknown, and are rare globally. This scarcity of data has hampered...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Prevec, Rosemary, Nel, André, Day, Michael O., Muir, Robert A., Matiwane, Aviwe, Kirkaldy, Abigail P., Moyo, Sydney, Staniczek, Arnold, Cariglino, Barbara, Maseko, Zolile, Kom, Nokuthula, Rubidge, Bruce, Garrouste, Romain, Holland, Alexandra, Barber James, Helen M.
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2022
Country:Argentina
Institution:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repository:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/218464
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/218464
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:ECOSYSTEM
GONDWANA
MIDDLE PERMIAN
LAGERSTATTE
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
Description
Summary:Continental ecosystems of the middle Permian Period (273–259 million years ago) are poorly understood. In South Africa, the vertebrate fossil record is well documented for this time interval, but the plants and insects are virtually unknown, and are rare globally. This scarcity of data has hampered studies of the evolution and diversification of life, and has precluded detailed reconstructions and analyses of ecosystems of this critical period in Earth’s history. Here we introduce a new locality in the southern Karoo Basin that is producing exceptionally well-preserved and abundant fossils of novel freshwater and terrestrial insects, arachnids, and plants. Within a robust regional geochronological, geological and biostratigraphic context, this Konservat- and Konzentrat-Lagerstätte offers a unique opportunity for the study and reconstruction of a southern Gondwanan deltaic ecosystem that thrived 266–268 million years ago, and will serve as a high-resolution ecological baseline towards a better understanding of Permian extinction events.

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