Home / All about Upper Triassic / The Rhaetian

Anders Ahlberg, Leif Arndorff & Dorothy Guy-Ohlson: Onshore climate change during the Late Triassic marine inundation of the Central European Basin. Abstract, Terra Nova, Volume 14,Issue 4, Page 241; 2002.

Anna-Lena Anderberg, Department of Palaeobotany, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm: Rhaetian and Jurassic plants of Scania. This database includes the Rhaetian and Jurassic plant fossils from Scania, southern Sweden, housed in the Stockholm collections.

W.P. Armstrong, WAYNE´S WORD, (1999): Plants of Jurassic Park. Easy to understand article (modified from Pacific Horticulture 55: 42-48).
Still available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

K.L. Bacon et al. (2013): Increased Atmospheric SO₂ Detected from Changes in Leaf Physiognomy across the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary Interval of East Greenland. See also here.

M. Barbacka et al. (2017): Changes in terrestrial floras at the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary in Europe. Abstract, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 480: 80-93.

G. Barth et al. (2014): Late Triassic (Norian-Rhaetian) brackish to freshwater habitats at a fluvial-dominated delta plain (Seinstedt, Lower Saxony, Germany). In PDF, Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 94. See also here.

Claire M. Belcher et al. (2010): Increased fire activity at the Triassic/Jurassic boundary in Greenland due to climate-driven floral change. In PDF, Nature Geoscience, 3: 426-429. See also here (abstract).

K. Birkenmajer & A.M. Ociepa (2008): Plant-bearing Jurassic strata at Hope Bay, Antarctic Peninsula (West Antarctica): geology and fossil-plant description. In PDF, Studia Geologica Polonica, 128: 5-96.
Still available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
See also here.

J. Bodnar et al. (2024): Plant diversity turnovers in the Triassic-Jurassic transition: evidence from the paleobotanical record of Argentina. In PDF, Revista de la Asociación Geológica Argentina, 81.
See also here and there.

! N.R. Bonis (2010), Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Palaeoecology Institute of Environmental Biology, Department of Biology, Utrecht University: Palaeoenvironmental changes and vegetation history during the Triassic-Jurassic transition. PDF file (7.7 MB), LPP Contribution Series No. 29. Seven research reports (chapters) in this thesis, see especially chapter 7 (with W.M. Kürschner):
! Vegetation history, diversity patterns, and climate change across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary (PDF page 140).
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See also here.

David August Brauns (1866): Der Sandstein bei Seinstedt unweit des Fallsteins und die in ihm vorkommenden Pflanzenreste, nebst Bemerkungen über die Sandsteine gleichen Niveaus anderer Örtlichkeiten... Hosted by Hathi Trust Digital Library, a collaboration of universities of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation and the University of California system to establish a repository for their digitized collections.

D.J. Cantrill, A.N. Drinnan, and J.A. Webb (1995): Late Triassic plant fossils from the Prince Charles Mountains, East Antarctica PDF file, Antarctic Science, 7: 51-62.
A version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Shuying Duan (2007): A comparison between the Upper Triassic floras of China and the Rhaeto-Liassic floras of Europe and East Greenland. Abstract, Lethaia, 20: 177-184.

J. Dzik and T. Sulej (2007): A review of the early Late Triassic Krasiejów biota from Silesia, Poland. In PDF, Palaeontologia Polonica, 64: 3–27.

! A. Elgorriaga et al. (2019): Relictual Lepidopteris (Peltaspermales) from the Early Jurassic Cañadón Asfalto Formation, Patagonia, Argentina. Abstract, Int. J. Plant Sci., 180. See also here (in PDF), and there.
"... and its youngest species, Lepidopteris ottonis, has been used as a Rhaetian marker for several European, Greenlandic, and American localities ..."
"... Lepidopteris scassoi represents the youngest occurrence of the genus by more than 20 Myr. Lepidopteris and Dicroidium lineages, dominant in Southern Hemisphere Triassic ecosystems, show a similar overall pattern of origination (Late Permian), diversification (late Early-Middle Triassic), and decline (Late Triassic), with relict occurrences during the Early Jurassic. ..."

M. Farahimanesh et al. (2021): The Rhaetian ferns and seed ferns from the Shemshak Group, Ghoznavi area, N.E Alborz Mountain, Iran. In PDF, Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 14. See also here.

! S. Feist-Burkhardt et al. (2008): 13 Triassic (starting on page 749). In: Tom McCann (ed.): The Geology of Central Europe: Mesozoic and Cenozoic: Vol. 2. The Geological Society, London.

Fowell, S. J., Cornet, B., and Olsen, P. E., 1994, Geologically rapid Late Triassic extinctions: Palynological evidence from the Newark Supergroup. In: Klein, G. D., ed., Pangea: Paleoclimate, Tectonics, and Sedimentation During Accretion, Zenith, and Breakup of a Supercontinent: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America Special Paper 288.

The Field Museum, Chicago, IL: Expedition to East Greenland. The purpose of the Greenland expedition was to gather fossil plants that would help to investigate a great mass extinction event that occurred at the transition from the Triassic to the Jurassic. Go to: Fossil Plant Image Gallery. Images of Dictyophyllum, Nilssonia, Lepidopteris ottonis, Ginkgoites, Anomozamites, Spiropteris, Thaumatopteris brauniana, Pseudoctenis, Stachyotaxus, Podozamites, Stachyotaxus septentrionalis, Ricciopsis.

N.C. Fraser et al. (1996): A Triassic lagerstätte from eastern North America. PDF file, Nature, 380: 615–619. See also here.

A.E. Götz et al. (2011): Palaeoenvironment of the Late Triassic (Rhaetian) and Early Jurassic (Hettangian) Mecsek Coal Formation (south Hungary): implications from macro and microfloral assemblages. Abstract, Palaeobio. Palaeoenv., 91: 75. See also here (in PDF).

Jerry D. Harris, Dixie State College, St. George, UT: Tracking Dinosaur Origins: The Triassic/Jurassic Terrestrial. Abstracts, PDF file.

Björn Holstein, Geologisch-PaläontologischesInstitut, Frankfurt/Main: Palynological investigations in selected sections of the Rhaetian Koessen Beds, Alpine Upper Triassic.
Snapshot archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGICAL CORRELATION PROGRAMME (IGCP), UNESCO HQ, Paris, IGCP 458: Triassic/Jurassic boundary events. Mass extinction, global environmental change, and driving forces. Go to: Resources.

R.B. Irmis and J.H. Whiteside (2010): Newly integrated approaches to studying Late Triassic terrestrial ecosystems. Abstract, Palaios, 25: 689-691.

! W. Jung (1970): Die Gothan'sche Rhät/Lias-Sammlung der Naturhistorischen Gesellschaft Nürnberg. PDF file, in German. Natur und Mensch, Naturhistorischen Gesellschaft Nürnberg e.V.

W. Jung (1970): Die Gothan´sche Rhät/Lias-Sammlung der Naturhistorischen Gesellschaft Nürnberg. PDF file, in German. Natur und Mensch, Jahresmitteilungen der naturhistorischen Gesellschaft Nürnberg e.V., 1970: 63-71.

Dennis V. Kent and Lisa Tauxe: Corrected Late Triassic Latitudes for Continents Adjacent to the North Atlantic. Abstract, Science, Vol 307, Issue 5707, 240-244, 2005.

Jongheon Kim (2001): New fossil plants from the Nampo Group (Lower Mesozoic), Korea. In PDF, Geosciences Journal, 5: 173-180.

! E. Kustatscher et al. (2018): Flora of the Late Triassic. PDF file, in: Tanner, L. [ed.]: The Late Triassic World: Earth in a Time of Transition. Topics in Geobiology, 46: 545-622, (Springer). See also here.

Wolfram M. Kürschner: Palaeofloristic patterns across the Triassic - Jurassic transition: catastrophic extinction or long term gradual change? Abstract, Workshop on Permian - Triassic Paleobotany and Palynology, June 16-18, 2005; Natural Science Museum of South Tyrol, Bolzano, Italy.

KÜRSCHNER, Wolfram M., KRYSTYN, Leopold, and VISSCHER, Henk: THE NORIAN - RHAETIAN TRANSITION: NEW PALYNOLOGICAL AND PALAEONTOLOGICAL DATA FROM A TETHYAN KEY SECTION IN THE NORTHERN CALCAREOUS ALPS (AUSTRIA). Abstract, 2004 Denver Annual Meeting (November 7-10, 2004.
This expired link is still available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! S. Lindström et al. (2017): A new correlation of Triassic–Jurassic boundary successions in NW Europe, Nevada and Peru, and the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province: A time-line for the end-Triassic mass extinction Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 478: 80-102. See also here.

S.G. Lucas and L.H. Tanner (2007): The nonmarine Triassic-Jurassic boundary in the Newark Supergroup of eastern North America. PDF file, Earth-Science Reviews, 84: 1–20. See also here.

Luke Mander et al. (2010): An explanation for conflicting records of Triassic-Jurassic plant diversity. In PDF, PNAS, 107: 15351-15356. See also here.

! L. Marynowski and B.R.T. Simoneit (2009): Widespread Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic wildfire records from Poland: Evidence from charcoal and pyrolytic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. In PDF, Palaios, 24: 785–798. See also here.
"... Laboratory tests indicate that 15% O₂, instead of 12%, is required for the propagation of a widespread forest fire
[...] The most extensive wildfires occurred in the earliest Jurassic and their intensities successively decreased with time ..."

J.C. McElwain et al. (2009): Fossil plant relative abundances indicate sudden loss of late Triassic biodiversity in East Greenland. PDF file, Science, 324: 1554-1556.
See also here (abstract).

J.C. McElwain et al. (1999): Fossil Plants and Global Warming at the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary. Abstract, Science, 285.

Larry O'Hanlon, Discovery News: Ancient Fossil Fuels Caused Jurassic Warming. The carbon dioxide level and the stomata method.
Now recovered from the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

P.E. Olsen et al. (2003): Causes and consequences of the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction as seen from the Hartford basin. PDF file, in: Brady, J. B. and Cheney, J.T. (eds.) Guidebook for Field Trips in the Five College Region, 95th New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference, Department of Geology, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, p. B5-1--B5-41.

P.E. Olsen and H.-D. Suess (1989): Correlation of the continental Late Triassic and Early Jurassic sediments, and patterns of the Triassic-Jurassic tetrapod transition. PDF file, in: K.Padian (ed.): The Beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs Faunal Change across the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary. See also here.

H.I. Petersen et al. (2013): Deposition, floral composition and sequence stratigraphy of uppermost Triassic (Rhaetian) coastal coals, southern Sweden. In PDF, International Journal of Coal Geology, 116–117: 117–134. See also here (abstract).

H.I. Petersen and S. Lindström (2012): Synchronous Wildfire Activity Rise and Mire Deforestation at the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary. In PDF.

Etiene F. Pires & Margot Guerra-Sommer (Departamento de Paleontologia e Estratigrafia, Instituto de Geociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil): Sommerxylon spiralosus from Upper Triassic in southernmost Paraná Basin (Brazil): a new taxon with taxacean affinity. An. Acad. Bras. Ciênc. vol.76 no.3 Rio de Janeiro; 2004. Download this article (PDF file).

C. Pott et al. (2016): Bennettitales in the Rhaetian flora of Wüstenwelsberg, Bavaria, Germany. Abstract, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 232: 98–118. See also here (in PDF).

C. Pott and S. McLoughlin (2011): The Rhaetian flora of Rögla, northern Scania, Sweden. Free access, Palaeontology, 54: 1025-1051.

D.E. Quiroz Cabascango (2023): Plant Macrofossils from the Aftermath of the End-Triassic Extinction, Skåne, Southern Sweden. Thesis, Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University.

Allister Rees, Fred Ziegler and David Rowley, University of Chicago: THE PALEOGEOGRAPHIC ATLAS PROJECT (PGAP). Including a Jurassic and Permian slideshow sampler (QuickTime), paleogeographic maps (downloadable pdf files), and a bibliography of PGAP Publications (with links to abstracts).

P.M. Rees (1993): Dipterid ferns from the Mesozoic of Antarctica and New Zealand and their stratigraphical significance. In PDF, Palaeontology, 36: 637-656.
! Note text-fig. 2: Schematic diagram explaining frond-, rachis and pinna terminology.

J.W.F. Reumer et al. (2020): The Rhaetian/Hettangian dipterid fern Clathropteris meniscioides Brongniart found in erratics in the eastern Netherlands and adjacent Germany. In PDF, Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. 295: 297–306.

Katrin Ruckwied et al. (2008): Palynology of a terrestrial coal-bearing series across the Triassic/Jurassic boundary (Mecsek Mts, Hungary). PDF file, Central European Geology, 51: 1-15.
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

August Schenk (1867): Die fossile Flora der Grenzschichten des Keupers und Lias Frankens. PDF file, provided by Google books. See also here.

Roff Smith (2011): Dark days of the Triassic: Lost world. Did a giant impact 200 million years ago trigger a mass extinction and pave the way for the dinosaurs? PDF file, News Feature, Nature, 479: 287-289. See also here.

! B. van de Schootbrugge et al. (2009): Floral changes across the Triassic/Jurassic boundary linked to flood basalt volcanism. PDF file.
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Michael Seeling: Rhät. A brief introduction and bibliography about the germanotype Rhaetian. In German.
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! M. Steinthorsdottir et al. (2011): Extremely elevated CO₂ concentrations at the Triassic/Jurassic boundary. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 308: 418-432.
See also here.
"... The final results indicate that pre-TJB (Rhaetian), the CO₂ concentration was approximately 1000 ppm, that it started to rise steeply pre-boundary and had doubled to around 2000–2500 ppm at the TJB. The CO₂ concentration then remained elevated for some time post-boundary, before returning to pre-TJB levels in the Hettangian. ..."

Department of Palaeobotany, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm (Snapshot taken by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine): Rhaetian and Jurassic plants of Scania. This database includes the Rhaetian and Jurassic plant fossils from Scania, southern Sweden, housed in the Stockholm collections.

The Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm.
! Rhaethian and Jurassic plants of Scania.
The fossil material has been collected by 62 different collectors, and for 44% of the material the collector is known. Four hundred and forty five taxa are recorded, which includes 86 type specimens. Three thousand, two hundred and fifty-four preparations, mainly cuticle slides exist. Two thousand and twenty-three specimens have been published in 63 publications by 19 authors.

Hans-Dieter Sues, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto Triassic-Jurassic Boundary.

Ge Sun et al. (2010): The Upper Triassic to Middle Jurassic strata and floras of the Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, Northwest China. In PDF, Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 90: 203-214.
See also here.

Department of Palaeobotany, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm: Collections, Rhaetian and Jurassic plants of Scania.

! J.A. Townrow (1966): The Peltaspermaceae, a pteridosperm family of Permian and Triassic age. PDF file, Palaeontology, 3: 333–361.
Website outdated, download a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, New York: Triassic-Jurassic Working Group.

Utrecht University, The Netherlands: Late Triassic and Triassic-Jurassic Research.

F. Vaez-Javadi (2006): Plant fossil remains from the Rhaetian of Shemshak Formation, Narges-Chal area, Alborz, NE Iran. PDF file.
Snapshot provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

V. Vajda et al. (2024): Confirmation that Antevsia zeilleri microsporangiate organs associated with latest Triassic Lepidopteris ottonis (Peltaspermales) leaves produced Cycadopites-Monosulcites-Chasmatosporites- and Ricciisporites-type monosulcate pollen. Abstract, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 640.

! V. Vajda et al. (2023): The ‘seed-fern’ Lepidopteris mass-produced the abnormal pollen Ricciisporites during the end-Triassic biotic crisis. Free access, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 627.
Note figure 4: Microsporophyll Antevsia zeilleri and microsporangia (pollen sacs) with contained pollen linked to the Lepidopteris ottonis plant.
! Figure 10C: Reconstruction of branch of male plant with short shoots bearing Lepidopteris ottonis foliage and Antevsia zeilleri microsporophylls.
"... We show that R. tuberculatus is a large, abnormal form of the small smooth-walled monosulcate pollen traditionally associated with L. ottonis, which disappeared at the ETE [end-Triassic mass extinction], when volcanism induced cold-spells followed by global warming. We argue that the production of aberrant R. tuberculatus resulted from ecological pressure in stressed environments that favoured asexual reproduction in peltasperms ..."

! B. van de Schootbrugge et al. (2009): Floral changes across the Triassic/Jurassic boundary linked to flood basalt volcanism. In PDF.
This expired link is available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

J.H.A. van Konijnenburg-van Cittert et al. (2024): Plant macrofossils from the Rhaetian of Einberg near Coburg (Bavaria, Germany). Part 3. Conifers, incertae sedis and general. In PDF, Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen, 310: 251-282.
See here as well.

! J.H.A. Van Konijnenburg-van Cittert et al. (2021): The Rhaetian flora of Wüstenwelsberg, Bavaria, Germany: Description of selected gymnosperms (Ginkgoales, Cycadales, Coniferales) together with an ecological assessment of the locally prevailing vegetation. Free access, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 288.
"... This paper describes the ginkgoaleans (Ginkgoites) and conifers (Palissya, Stachyotaxus, Schizolepis) of the Rhaetian flora from Wüstenwelsberg, as well as a new species of the cycad Becklesia
[...] A comparison with other Northern Hemisphere plant assemblages demonstrates a high similarity with the Rhaetian floras from Jameson Land (Greenland) and Scania (Sweden) but significant differences to the Hettangian floras from adjacent areas in Franconia ..."

J.H.A. Van Konijnenburg-van Cittert et al. (2020): Ferns and fern allies in the Rhaetian flora of Wüstenwelsberg, Bavaria, Germany. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 273. See also here.

J.H.A. van Konijnenburg-van Cittert et al. (2016): New data on Selaginellites coburgensis from the Rhaetian of Wüstenwelsberg (Upper Franconia, Germany). Abstract, Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen, 280. See also here (Open Access in DiVA).

! Johanna H.A. van Konijnenburg-van Cittert (2008): The Jurassic fossil plant record of the UK area. PDF file, Proceedings of the Geologists' Association 119: 59-72. See fig. 6 (after Cleal et al. 2001), how to distinguish bennettialean leaf shapes!
Now provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

J. Wade-Murphy and J.H.A. van Konijnenburg-van Cittert (2008): A revision of the Late Triassic Bintan flora from the Riau Archipelago (Indonesia). PDF file, Scripta Geologica, 136: 73-105. See also here.

! J. Watson (2010; start on PDF page 72): Pteridophytes in the English Mesozoic. In PDF, Pteridologist.

Reinhard Weber, Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Ciudad de México: Virutas Paleobotánicas (in Spain, English version under construction). Go to: Jura von Franken.

X. Wang et al. (2007): Schmeissneria: A missing link to angiosperms? PDF file, BMC Evol. Biol., 7: 14. See also here.

Y. Xu et al. (2023): A new Rhaetian plant assemblage from Zilanba, the northern Sichuan Basin, South China. In PDF, Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments. See also here.

N. Zavialova (2024): Comment on “The ‘seed-fern’ Lepidopteris mass-produced the abnormal pollen Ricciisporites during the end-Triassic biotic crisis” by V. Vajda, S. McLoughlin, S. M. Slater, O. Gustafsson, and A. G. Rasmusson [Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 627 (2023), 111,723]. Abstract, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 322.
"... Recently, Ricciisporites Lundblad and Cycadopites Wodehouse (= Monosulcites Cookson) pollen types have been found cooccurring in Antevsia zeilleri
[...] the two pollen types are too dissimilar by their exine ultrastructure as well as by the general morphology and exine sculpture.
[...] Another explanation should be found for the presence of Ricciisporites tetrads in these pollen sacs ..."

N. Zavialova and J.H.A. van Konijnenburg-van Cittert (2011): Exine ultrastructure of in situ peltasperm pollen from the Rhaetian of Germany and its implications. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 168: 7-20.
See also here.