Ladinian
~242 – ~237 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Monte San Giorgio exhibits exceptionally preserved Ladinian vertebrate fossils
Chronology
−255 — – −250 — – −245 — – −240 — – −235 — – −230 — – −225 — – −220 — – −215 — – −210 — – −205 — – −200 — Pz Mesozoic P Triassic J Ear Middle Late E J Changhsing. Olenekian Induan Anisian Ladinian Carnian Norian Rhaetian Hettangian         ← Permian-Triassic extinction event ← Smithian–Spathian boundary event[1] ← Carnian pluvial episode ← Full recovery of woody trees[2] ← Coals return[3] ← Scleractinian corals & calcified sponges[4] ← Triassic–Jurassic extinction event ← Manicouagan impact Subdivision of the Triassic according to the ICS, as of 2021.[5] Vertical axis scale: millions of years ago.
Etymology
Name formality	Formal
Usage information
Celestial body	Earth
Regional usage	Global (ICS)
Time scale(s) used	ICS Time Scale
Definition
Chronological unit	Age
Stratigraphic unit	Stage
Time span formality	Formal
Lower boundary definition	FAD of the Ammonite Eoprotrachyceras curionii
Lower boundary GSSP	Bagolino, Lombardian pre-Alps, Italy 45°49′09″N 10°28′16″E / 45.8193°N 10.4710°E / 45.8193; 10.4710
Lower GSSP ratified	2005[6]
Upper boundary definition	FAD of the Ammonite Daxatina canadensis
Upper boundary GSSP	Prati di Stuores, Dolomites, Italy 46°31′37″N 11°55′49″E / 46.5269°N 11.9303°E / 46.5269; 11.9303
Upper GSSP ratified	2008[7]

The Ladinian is a stage and age in the Middle Triassic series or epoch. It spans the time between 242 Ma and ~237 Ma (million years ago).^[8] The Ladinian was preceded by the Anisian and succeeded by the Carnian (part of the Upper or Late Triassic).^[9]

The Ladinian is coeval with the Falangian regional stage used in China.

Stratigraphic definitions

The Ladinian was established by Austrian geologist Alexander Bittner in 1892. Its name comes from the Ladin people that live in the Italian Alps (in the Dolomites, then part of Austria-Hungary).

The base of the Ladinian Stage is defined as the place in the stratigraphic record where the ammonite species Eoprotrachyceras curionii first appears or the first appearance of the conodont Budurovignathus praehungaricus. The global reference profile for the base (the GSSP) is at an outcrop in the river bed of the Caffaro river at Bagolino, in the province of Brescia, northern Italy.^[10] The top of the Ladinian (the base of the Carnian) is at the first appearance of ammonite species Daxatina canadensis.

The Ladinian is sometimes subdivided into two subages or substages, the Fassanian (early or lower) and the Longobardian (late or upper). The Ladinian contains four ammonite biozones, which are evenly distributed among the two substages:

• zone of Frechites regoledanus
• zone of Protrachyceras archelaus
• zone of Protrachyceras gredleri
• zone of Eoprotrachyceras curionii

Ladinian life

Notable formations

• Upper Besano Formation (Switzerland and Italy)
• Bukobay Svita* (Russia)
• Erfurt Formation / Lower Keuper (Germany)
• Jilh Formation (Saudi Arabia)
• Meride Limestone (Switzerland and Italy)
• Upper Muschelkalk (central Europe)
• Perledo-Varenna Formation (Italy)
• Prosanto Formation (Switzerland)
• Lower Santa Maria Formation* (late Ladinian - early Carnian) (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)
• Zhuganpo Formation / Zhuganpo Member of the Falang Formation (late Ladinian - early Carnian) (Guizhou and Yunnan, China)

* Tentatively assigned to the Ladinian; age estimated primarily via terrestrial tetrapod biostratigraphy (see Triassic land vertebrate faunachrons)