Changhsingian

{{Short description|Ninth and last stage of the Permian}} {{Infobox geologic timespan | name = Changhsingian | color = Changhsingian | time_start = 254.14 | time_start_uncertainty = 0.07 | time_end = 251.902 | time_end_uncertainty = 0.024 | image_map = | caption_map = | image_outcrop = DBRollepass.jpg | caption_outcrop = [[Bellerophon Formation|''Bellerophon'' Formation]], [[Dolomites]], Italy | image_art = | caption_art =  | timeline = Permian | formerly_part_of = | partially_contained_in = | partially_contains =  | name_formality = Formal | name_accept_date = 1981 | alternate_spellings = Changxingian | synonym1 = | synonym1_coined = | synonym2 = | synonym2_coined = | synonym3 = | synonym3_coined = | nicknames = | former_names = | proposed_names =  | celestial_body = earth | usage = Global ([[International Commission on Stratigraphy|ICS]]) | timescales_used = ICS Time Scale | formerly_used_by = | not_used_by =  | chrono_unit = Age | strat_unit = Stage | proposed_by = | type_section = | timespan_formality = Formal | lower_boundary_def = FAD of the Conodont ''[[Clarkina|Clarkina wangi]]'' | lower_gssp_location = [[Meishan, Zhejiang|Meishan]], [[Zhejiang]], China | lower_gssp_coords = {{Coord|31.0819|N|119.7064|E|display=inline,title}} | lower_gssp_accept_date = 2005<ref name=Jin2006/> | upper_boundary_def = FAD of the Conodont ''[[Hindeodus|Hindeodus parvus]]''. | upper_gssp_location = [[Meishan, Zhejiang|Meishan]], [[Zhejiang]], China | upper_gssp_coords = {{Coord|31.0798|N|119.7058|E|display=inline}} | upper_gssp_accept_date = 2001<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hongfu |first1=Yin |last2=Kexin |first2=Zhang |last3=Jinnan |first3=Tong |last4=Zunyi |first4=Yang |last5=Shunbao |first5=Wu |title=The Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) of the Permian-Triassic Boundary |journal=Episodes |date=June 2001 |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=102–114 |doi=10.18814/epiiugs/2001/v24i2/004 |doi-access=free |url=https://stratigraphy.org/gssps/files/induan.pdf |access-date=8 December 2020 |archive-date=28 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828153134/https://stratigraphy.org/gssps/files/induan.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>  | o2 = | co2 = | temp = | sea_level = }}

In the [[geologic time scale]], the '''Changhsingian''' or '''Changxingian''' is the latest [[age (geology)|age]] or uppermost [[stage (stratigraphy)|stage]] of the [[Permian]] period and the [[Paleozoic]] era as a whole. It is also the upper or latest of two subdivisions of the [[Lopingian]] [[Epoch (geology)|Epoch]] or [[series (stratigraphy)|Series]]. The Changhsingian lasted from {{Period start|Changhsingian}} to 251.902 [[megaannum|Ma]] ago. It is preceded by the [[Wuchiapingian]] age/stage and is followed by the [[Induan]] age/stage ([[Early Triassic]] epoch).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gradstein |first1=F.M. |last2=Ogg |first2=J.G. |last3=Smith |first3=A.G. |year=2004 |title=A Geologic Time Scale 2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref>

The greatest [[mass extinction]] in the [[Phanerozoic]] [[eon (geology)|eon]], the [[Permian–Triassic extinction event]], occurred around the end of this age.

==Stratigraphic definitions== The Changhsingian is named after [[Changxing County|Changxing]] ({{zh|c=长兴|p=Chángxīng|w=Ch'ang-hsing}}) in northern [[Zhejiang]], China. The stage was named for the [[Changhsing Limestone]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Grabau |first=A.W. |year=1923 |chapter=Stratigraphy of China, Part 1: Palaeozoic and lower |title=[[Geological Survey of China]] |page=529}}</ref> The name was first used for a stage in 1970<ref>{{cite book |last1=Furnish |first1=W.M. |last2=Glenister |first2=B.F. |year=1970 |chapter=Permian ammonite ''Cyclolobus'' from the Salt Range, West Pakistan |editor1=Kummel, B. |editor2=Teichert, G. |title=Stratigraphic boundary problems, Permian and Triassic of west Pakistan |series=Geological Department of Kansas University, Special Publication |volume=4 |pages=158–176}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Furnish |first1=W.M. |last2=Glenister |first2=B.F |year=1973 |chapter=Permian stages names |editor1=Logan, A. |editor2=Hills, L.V. |title=The Permian and Triassic systems and their mutual boundary |series=[[Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists]] Memoir |volume=2 |pages=522–548}}</ref> and was anchored in the international timescale in 1981.<ref name=Jin2006>{{cite journal |last1=Jin |first1=Y. |last2=Wang |first2=Y. |last3=Henderson |first3=C. |last4=Wardlaw |first4=B.R. |last5=Shen |first5=S.|last6=Cao |first6=C. |year=2006 |title=The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of Changhsingian Stage (Upper Permian) |journal=Episodes |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=175–182 |doi=10.18814/epiiugs/2006/v29i3/003 |doi-access=free |url=http://www.nigpas.ac.cn/permian/manage/document/edit/UploadFile/200737103436835.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707013048/http://www.nigpas.ac.cn/permian/manage/document/edit/UploadFile/200737103436835.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-07 }}.</ref>

The base of the Changhsingian Stage is at the first appearance of the [[conodont]] species ''[[Clarkina|Clarkina wangi]]''. The global reference profile is profile D at [[Meishan]], in the type area in Changxing, just below the Changhsingian [[foraminifer]] index fossil ''[[Palaeofusulina]]'' and the first appearance of the [[ammonoid]] ''[[Tapashanites]]''.<ref name=Jin2006/> The top of the Changhsingian (the base of the [[Induan]] Stage and the Triassic [[system (stratigraphy)|System]]) is at the first appearance of the conodont species ''[[Hindeodus|Hindeodus parvus]]''.<ref name=Kutygin2019>{{cite journal|author=Kutygin R.V., Budnikov I.V., Biakov A.S., Davydov V.I., Kilyasov A.N., Silantiev V.V.|year=2019|url=https://kpfu.ru/portal/docs/F_194089775/161_4_est_4.pdf|title=First findings of ''Otoceras'' (Ceratitida) in the Kobyuma zone of the Southern Verkhoyansk region, Northeastern Russia|journal=Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta. Seriya Estestvennye Nauki|volume=161|issue=4|pages=550–570|lang=ru|doi=10.26907/2542-064X.2019.4.550-570|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331230222/https://kpfu.ru/portal/docs/F_194089775/161_4_est_4.pdf|archive-date=March 31, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> In the second part of the 20th century, appearance of the [[ammonite]] ''[[Otoceras]]'', that existed no more than 100,000 years, in the boreal region was considered a marker of the Lower Triassic boundary. However, a more detailed study of Lower Induan biostratigraphy revealed the diachronicity of the appearance of these mollusks in different regions of the Earth.<ref name=Kutygin2019/>

The Changhsingian contains only one ammonoid [[biozone]]: that of the [[genus]] ''[[Iranites]]''.

==Changhsingian life== {{main|:Category:Changhsingian life}} The Changhsingian ended with the [[Permian–Triassic extinction event]], the largest [[mass extinction]] event of the [[Phanerozoic]] [[Era (geology)|Era]], when both global biodiversity and [[alpha diversity]] (community-level diversity) were devastated.<ref name="SahneyBenton2008RecoveryFromProfoundExtinction">{{ cite journal|url= |author1=Sahney, S. |author2=Benton, M.J. |year=2008 |title=Recovery from the most profound mass extinction of all time |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |doi=10.1098/rspb.2007.1370 |volume=275 |pages=759–65 |pmid=18198148 |issue=1636 |pmc=2596898 }}</ref>

On land, the Changhsingian fauna comprised [[gorgonopsid]] [[synapsids]] like ''[[Inostrancevia]]'', [[anomodont]] synapsids like ''[[Daptocephalus]]'' and ''[[Dicynodon]]'', and [[parareptiles]] like ''[[Elginia]]'', [[Millerettidae|milleretids]] and ''[[Nanoparia]]''.

Among fishes, the [[Bobasatraniiformes|bobasatraniiforms]] ''[[Bobasatrania]]'' and ''[[Ebenaqua]]'' are known from Changhsingian deposits of Greenland and Australia, respectively. Another deep-bodied fish, ''[[Sinoplatysomus]]'', is known from [[Zhejiang]] province of China, along with the elongate [[Saurichthyiformes|saurichthyiform]] ''[[Eosaurichthys]]'' and the [[coelacanth]]s ''[[Changxingia]]'' and ''[[Youngichthys]]''. Within the [[Eugeneodontida]], the [[Helicoprionidae|helicoprionids]] are represented by the genus ''[[Sinohelicoprion]]''; as well as some [[Edestidae|edestids]] such as ''[[Helicampodus]]''; and other eugeneodontids. Several fish [[genera]] were described from Changhsingian deposits of Russia and South Africa.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Romano |first1=Carlo |last2=Koot |first2=Martha B. |last3=Kogan |first3=Ilja |last4=Brayard |first4=Arnaud |last5=Minikh |first5=Alla V. |last6=Brinkmann |first6=Winand |last7=Bucher |first7=Hugo |last8=Kriwet |first8=Jürgen |title=Permian-Triassic Osteichthyes (bony fishes): diversity dynamics and body size evolution |journal=Biological Reviews |date=2016 |volume=91 |issue=1 |pages=106–147 |doi=10.1111/brv.12161 |pmid=25431138 |s2cid=5332637|url=https://hal.science/hal-01253154/file/Romano_et_al_HAL.pdf }}</ref> The [[Hambast Formation]] of Iran yielded [[chondrichthyan]] faunas of [[Wuchiapingian]] to Changhsingian age.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hampe |first1=Oliver |last2=Hairapetian |first2=Vachik |last3=Dorka |first3=Markus |last4=Witzmann |first4=Florian |last5=Akbari |first5=Amir M. |last6=Korn |first6=Dieter |year=2013 |title=A first Late Permian fish fauna from Baghuk Mountain (Neo-Tethyan shelf, central Iran) |journal=Bulletin of Geosciences |volume=88 |issue=1 |pages=1–20 |doi=10.3140/bull.geosci.1357 |doi-access=free |issn=1214-1119}}</ref>

The [[conodont]] ''[[Vjalovognathus]] carinatus'' is known from the [[Selong Formation]] of Tibet;<ref>{{Cite journal|author1=Lina Wang |author2=Paul B. Wignall |author3=Yadong Sun |author4=Chunbo Yan |author5=Zaitian Zhang |author6=Xulong Lai |year=2017 |title=New Permian-Triassic conodont data from Selong (Tibet) and the youngest occurrence of ''Vjalovognathus'' |journal=Journal of Asian Earth Sciences |volume=146 |pages=152–167 |doi=10.1016/j.jseaes.2017.05.014 |bibcode=2017JAESc.146..152W |url=https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/116518/1/Wang%20Lina%20et%20al.%2C%202017.JAES.pdf }}</ref> more common conodonts include the genera ''[[Clarkina]]'' and ''[[Hindeodus]]''.

Changhsingian aged [[bed (geology)|beds]] of the Tesero Member of the [[Werfen Formation]] produced fossils of a [[crown group]] [[echinoid]], ''[[Eotiaris]] teseroensis'' and other [[taxa]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thompson |first1=Jeffrey R. |last2=Posenato |first2=Renato |last3=Bottjer |first3= David J. |last4=Petsios |first4=Elizabeth |year=2019 |title=Echinoids from the Tesero Member (Werfen Formation) of the Dolomites (Italy): implications for extinction and survival of echinoids in the aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction |journal=PeerJ |volume=7 |article-number=e7361 |doi=10.7717/peerj.7361 |doi-access=free |pmid=31531267 |pmc=6718154}}</ref>

The ''[[Paratirolites]]'' Limestone near Julfa ([[Azerbaijan]], [[Iran]]) contains a diverse pre-extinction [[ammonoid]] fauna, including the [[genera]] ''[[Neoaganides]]'', ''[[Pseudogastrioceras]]'', ''[[Dzhulfites]]'', ''Paratirolites'', ''[[Julfotirolites]]'', ''[[Alibashites]]'', ''[[Abichites]]'', ''[[Stoyanowites]]'' and ''[[Arasella]]''<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Korn |first1=Dieter |last2=Ghaderi |first2=Abbas |last3=Leda |first3=Lucyna |last4=Schobben |first4=Martin |last5=Ashouri |first5=Ali Reza |year=2015 |title=The ammonoids from the Late Permian ''Paratirolites'' Limestone of Julfa (East Azerbaijan, Iran) |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |volume=14 |issue=10 |pages=841–890 |doi=10.1080/14772019.2015.1119211|s2cid=130932875 }}</ref>

The [[Bellerophon Formation|''Bellerophon'' Formation]] in northern Italy documents a pre-extinction [[bivalve]] community with 26 species adapted to stressful conditions (high temperatures, high salinity, shallow water depths, low oxygen and high terrigenous input).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Prinoth |first1=Herwig |last2=Posenato |first2=Renato |year=2023 |title=Bivalves from the Changhsingian (upper Permian) Bellerophon Formation of the Dolomites (Italy): ancestors of Lower Triassic post-extinction benthic communities |journal=Papers in Palaeontology |volume=9 |issue=2 |article-number=e1486 |doi=10.1002/spp2.1486 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2023PPal....9E1486P |hdl=11392/2508931 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The formation is otherwise known for abundant ''[[Bellerophon (genus)|Bellerophon]]'' fossils.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Stache |first=G. |year=1877 |title=Beiträge zur Fauna der Bellerphonkalke Südtirols 1, Cephalopoden und Gastropoden |lang=de |journal=Jahrbuch der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Geologischen Reichsanstalt |volume=27 |issue=3 |location=Wien |pages=272–318 |url=https://opac.geologie.ac.at/wwwopacx/wwwopac.ashx?command=getcontent&server=images&value=JB0273_271_A.pdf}}</ref>

Only a few [[trilobite]] genera are present by the Changhsingian, mostly of the family [[Phillipsiidae]]. One of the last of the Trilobita include the genus ''[[Kathwaia]]'' of [[Pakistan]] and the [[Caucasus]]. Perhaps the most widespread and diverse genus was ''[[Pseudophillipsia]]'', members of the subgenus [[Carniphillipsia|''Ditomopyge (Carniphillipsia)'']] were the other most common group. Few non-phillipsid trilobites remained, such as those of [[Brachymetopus|''Brachymetopus (Acutimetopus)'']]. Other trilobites, of the Phillipsidae, include ''[[Acropyge]]'', ''[[Paraphillipsia]]'', and ''[[Timorcranium]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mychko |first=Eduard V. |date=2025-05-24 |title=Lopingian (Late Permian) trilobites from the North Caucasus, Russia, with an overview of their distribution worldwide |url=https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2025/5533-latest-trilobites |journal=Palaeontologia Electronica |language=English |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=1–51 |doi=10.26879/1399 |issn=1094-8074|doi-access=free }}</ref>

In Australia, fossils of one of the last surviving [[Eurypterid|eurypterids]], ''[[Woodwardopterus|Woodwardopterus? freemanorum]]'', were found.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Poschmann |first1=Markus J. |last2=Rozefelds |first2=Andrew |date=2022-10-03 |title=The last eurypterid – a southern high-latitude record of sweep-feeding sea scorpion from Australia constrains the timing of their extinction |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2021.1998033 |journal=Historical Biology |language=en |volume=34 |issue=10 |pages=2020–2030 |doi=10.1080/08912963.2021.1998033 |bibcode=2022HBio...34.2020P |issn=0891-2963|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== Notable formations ==

* [[Ali Bashi Formation]] ([[Armenia]], [[Azerbaijan]], [[Iran]]) * [[Bellerophon Formation|''Bellerophon'' Formation]] ([[Italy]]) * [[Dalong formation]] ([[Yangtze]], China) * [[Hambast Formation]] (Iran) * [[Hopeman Sandstone Formation]] ([[Scotland]]) * [[Moradi Formation]] ([[Niger]]) * [[Quartermaster Formation]] ([[Texas]], USA) * [[Schuchert Dal Formation]] ([[Greenland]]) * Tesero Member of the [[Werfen Formation]] ([[Austria]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], Italy) * Lower part of [[Wordie Creek Formation]] (Greenland)

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100822060939/http://www.stratigraphy.org/bak/geowhen/stages/Changhsingian.html GeoWhen Database - Changhsingian] *[http://stratigraphy.science.purdue.edu/charts/Timeslices/Upper_Paleozoic_Sept08.pdf Upper Paleozoic stratigraphic chart] at the website of the subcommission for stratigraphic information of the ICS

[[Category:Changhsingian| ]] [[Category:Permian geochronology]] [[Category:Geological ages]] [[Category:Lopingian]]