# Capitanian

By [Antropat](https://paragraph.com/@antropat) · 2023-05-30

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In the [geologic timescale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologic_timescale), the **Capitanian** is an [age](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_\(geology\)) or [stage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stage_\(stratigraphy\)) of the [Permian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permian). It is also the uppermost or latest of three subdivisions of the [Guadalupian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadalupian) [Epoch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epoch_\(geology\)) or [Series](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_\(stratigraphy\)). The Capitanian lasted between 264.28 and 259.51 million years ago. It was preceded by the [Wordian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wordian) and followed by the [Wuchiapingian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuchiapingian).[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitanian#cite_note-:0-4)

[A significant mass extinction event](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitanian_mass_extinction_event) occurred at the end of this stage, which was associated with [anoxia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anoxic_event) and [acidification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_acidification) in the oceans and possibly caused by the volcanic eruptions that produced the [Emeishan Traps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emeishan_Traps).[\[5\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitanian#cite_note-Bond2015-5) This extinction event may be related to the much larger [Permian–Triassic extinction event](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permian%E2%80%93Triassic_extinction_event) that followed about 10 million years later.

Stratigraphy
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The Capitanian Stage was introduced into scientific literature by [George Burr Richardson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Burr_Richardson) in 1904. The name comes from the Capitan Reef in the [Guadalupe Mountains](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadalupe_Mountains) ([Texas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas), United States). The Capitanian was first used as a stratigraphic subdivision of the Guadalupian in 1961,[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitanian#cite_note-6) when both names were still only used regionally in the southern US. The stage was added to the internationally used [ICS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Commission_on_Stratigraphy) timescale in 2001.[\[7\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitanian#cite_note-7)

### Definitions

The base of the Capitanian Stage is defined as the place in the stratigraphic record where fossils of [conodont](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conodont) species [_Jinogondolella_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jinogondolella) _postserrata_ first appear. The global reference profile for this stratigraphic boundary is located at Nipple Hill in the southern Guadalupe Mountains of Texas.

[https://opensea.io/assets/0xA736773357B52e30F578334ab6A71d081E40f19B/0](https://opensea.io/assets/0xA736773357B52e30F578334ab6A71d081E40f19B/0)

The top of the Capitanian (the base of the Wuchiapingian and Lopingian series) is defined as the place in the stratigraphic record where the conodont species [_Clarkina_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarkina) _postbitteri postbitteri_ first appears.

The Capitanian Stage was part of the time in which the [Zechstein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zechstein) was deposited in Europe.[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitanian#cite_note-:0-4) It is coeval with the old European regional Saxonian Stage. In the eastern [Tethys domain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tethys_Ocean), the Capitanian overlaps the regional Murgabian Stage, the Midian Stage and the lower part of the Laibinian Stage. In Russia the Capitanian equals the lower part of the regional Severodvinian Stage.

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*Originally published on [Antropat](https://paragraph.com/@antropat/capitanian)*