(nice pict, huh? Wish I was that talented. There are a few issues with the pict, but now's not the time)The post that I am trying to prepare for this weekend is about the terrestrial Permian ecology just prior to the Great Dying. If I have time, I will do a characterization of the two places we have a good record of vertebrate fossils. I strongly recommend that people go do a quick of the concept of a "faunal stage" though. While its something of an antiquated term, it is useful for describing an time period of a regional ecology.
More later.
What dicynodont is that? And what issues do you have to the picture?
ReplyDeleteI do believe its supposed to be a member of the genus Dicynodon. However, my objections to the pict are NOT with the critter's reconstruction, but rather the flora.
ReplyDeleteWhile the creators' of the pict did a good job of making sure that there's no flowers present, there are a fair amount of flowering plants there, making all of this a bit less than accurate. Hence, my minibeef.
Pedantic, I know.
Given the length between the end of the Permian and the beginning of the Cretaceous, I would say that's more than a quibbling point.
ReplyDeleteOne wonders though; would that long-surviving dicynodont from the Australian Cretaceous have seen flowering plants?
It probably did encounter flowering plants. IDK if anyone hs followed up on prospecting for more data on the late survivor.
ReplyDeleteGondwana seems to have had a number of late surviving taxa. You have to wonder why. After all, wasn't Gondwana a relatively easily traversed continent compared to the fragmentary beast up north?