Tag Archive for 'Carnian Pluvial Episode'

Reconstruction of Ahvaytum bahndooiveche, the oldest known low-latitude dinosaur species globally. Image credit: Gabriel Ugueto.

New Fossil Find Rewrites History of Dinosaur Evolution

Jan 8, 2025 by Sergio Prostak

Paleontologists in the United States have uncovered the fossilized remains of a new species of sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived in the northern hemisphere...

Life reconstruction of a phytosaur species called Protome batalaria. Image credit: Smokeybjb / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Fossils of Giant Phytosaur Unearthed in India

Mar 7, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists at the Indian Institute of Technology have described a surprising new genus and species of crocodile-like reptile from fossils found in...

The new Zimbabwean assemblage is on the same paleolatitudinal climatic belt as other Carnian dinosaur-bearing assemblages and has a similar taxonomic composition: (a) the northern Zimbabwean locality geographically links other Carnian dinosaurian localities across southern Pangaea; (b) the new Zimbabwean locality is the oldest definitive dinosaurian locality in Africa, coeval with Carnian dinosaur localities from other parts of the world; (c) summary stratigraphic column of the Pebbly Arkose Formation at the type locality in Zimbabwe showing the records of Mbiresaurus raathi (red), a herrerasaurid dinosaur (yellow), a traversodontid cynodont (blue), a hyperodapedontine rhynchosaur (orange) and an aetosaur (green); (d) representative fossils from the Pebbly Arkose Formation, including (1) aetosaur paramedian osteoderm (dorsal view), (2) herrerasaurid dinosaur coracoid (lateral view), (3) cynodont dentary (lateral view) and (4) hyperodapedontine rhynchosaur maxilla (occlusal view). Scale bars - 1 cm (fossils 1, 3 and 4) and 5 cm (fossil 2). Image credit: Griffin et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05133-x.

Climatic Barriers Controlled Dispersal of Earliest Dinosaurs, New Theory Says

Sep 1, 2022 by News Staff

In addition to the discovery of Mbiresaurus raathi, Africa’s oldest known dinosaur species, Yale University paleontologist Christopher Griffin and his...

An illustration depicting the onset of the end-Permian mass extinction. Image credit: Dawid Adam Iurino / PaleoFactory, Sapienza University of Rome / Jurikova et al, doi: 10.1038/s41561-020-00646-4.

Triassic Volcanic Eruptions Helped Dinosaurs Take Over Earth

Sep 29, 2021 by News Staff

The Carnian stage (lasted from 237 to 227 million years ago) of the Triassic period marks one of the most significant intervals of the past 250 million...

Summary of major extinction events through time, highlighting the Carnian Pluvial Episode at 233 million years ago. Image credit: D. Bonadonna / MUSE, Trento.

Paleontologists Identify New Mass Extinction Event

Sep 16, 2020 by News Staff

The Carnian Pluvial Episode, a major climate change event that occurred around 234 to 232 million years ago (Late Triassic epoch), was a time of global...

A life-scene from 232 million years ago, during the Carnian Pluvial Episode after which dinosaurs took over: a large rauisuchian lurks in the background, while two species of dinosaurs stand in the foreground, and some rhynchosaurs sit on the logs to the left; based on data from the Ischigualasto Formation in Argentina. Image credit: Davide Bonadonna.

Mid-Carnian Mass Extinction Paved Way for Dinosaur Expansion

Apr 17, 2018 by News Staff

Paleontologists believe that all non-avian dinosaurs were wiped out when a giant asteroid or comet collided with Earth some 65 million years ago, resulting...