Chemnitz petrified forest (Chemnitz-Hilbersdorf) (Permian to of Germany)

Where: Germany (50.9° N, 12.9° E: paleocoordinates 8.7° N, 23.6° E)

• coordinate stated in text

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Zeisigwald Tuff Member (Leukersdorf Formation), Sakmarian to Sakmarian (293.5 - 279.3 Ma)

• Trigonotarbid from near the base of unit S5 sensu Rößler et al. (2012), the lowermost deposit of the Zeisigwald Tuff horizon. Scorpions from S6.7, upper unit of underlying paleosol (interpreted as preserved in burrows). Radiometric dating of the Artinskian GSSP gives an interpolated age of about 290.2-290.1 Ma (Schmitz & Davydov, 2012), so the Chemitz ash bed is perhaps latest Sakmarian, although the uncertainty also allows an early Artinskian age.

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: dry floodplain; lithified, fine-grained, medium, red tuff

• Caused by an explosive magmatic to phreatomagmatic eruption, volcanic ashes covered the standing vegetation and were deposited. As a result, many trees shed their leaves, which are found embedded in a layer near the basis of Unit S5. Thus, the Chemnitz Petrified Forest provides a window into an almost complete Permian forest ecosystem, preserved in-situ in a geological instant.
• Purple-red matrix of a weakly horizontally-bedded and moderately sorted fine to medium-grained ash tuff. The pyroclastic material is nonwelded, rich in alterated blocky shards and composed of several normal-graded units. Light grey to green mottling frequently occurs in the vicinity of organic inclusions.

Size class: macrofossils

Preservation: mold/impression

Collection methods: Repository: Museum für Naturkunde Chemnitz

Primary reference: J. A. Dunlop and R. Rößler. 2013. The youngest trigonotarbid Permotarbus schucherti n. gen., n. sp. from the Permian Petrified Forest of Chemnitz in Germany. Fossil Record 16:229-243 [M. Clapham/M. Clapham]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 153497: authorized by Matthew Clapham, entered by Matthew Clapham on 23.12.2013, edited by Richard Butler

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
Arachnida
 Scorpiones - Centromachidae
? Opsieobuthus tungeri n. sp.1
? Opsieobuthus tungeri n. sp.1 Dunlop et al. 2016 scorpion
MfNC TA1126, 1116 (exuvial fragments TA1177, 1187)
 Trigonotarbida -
Permotarbus schuberti n. gen. n. sp.
Permotarbus schuberti n. gen. n. sp. Dunlop and Rößler 2013
MfNC TA0932 (coordinates SSP-60)
Amphibia
 Temnospondyli - Zatracheidae
Chemnitzion richteri n. gen. n. sp.3
Chemnitzion richteri n. gen. n. sp.3 Werneburg et al. 2022 tetrapod
Holotype: MNfC-TA0949a, b; articulated skeleton, without shoulder girdle and tail region (discovered by the former pupil Marcel Hübner in 2010)
Osteichthyes
 Synapsida - Varanopidae
Ascendonanus nestleri n. gen. n. sp.2
Ascendonanus nestleri n. gen. n. sp.2 Spindler et al. 2018 synapsid
MNC-TA0924 (holotype), MNC-TA0147, TA0269, TA0906, TA1045
1Dunlop et al. 2016; 2Spindler et al. 2018; 3Werneburg et al. 2022