The Capitanian Stage was introduced into scientific literature by
George Burr Richardson in 1904. The name comes from the
Capitan Reef in the
Guadalupe Mountains (
Texas, United States). The Capitanian was first used as a stratigraphic subdivision of the Guadalupian in 1961, when both names were still only used regionally in the southern US. The stage was added to the internationally used
ICS timescale in 2001.
Definitions The base of the Capitanian Stage is defined as the place in the stratigraphic record where fossils of
conodont species
Jinogondolella postserrata first appear. The global reference profile for this stratigraphic boundary is located at Nipple Hill in the southern Guadalupe Mountains of Texas. 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 postbitteri postbitteri first appears. The Capitanian Stage was part of the time in which the
Zechstein was deposited in Europe. It is coeval with the old European regional Saxonian Stage. In the eastern
Tethys domain, 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.
Biostratigraphy The Capitanian contains one
ammonite biozone (
Timorites) and three conodont biozones: • zone of
Clarkina postbitteri hongshuiensis • zone of
Jinogondolella altudaensis • zone of
Jinogondolella postserrata Larger fusulinid species permit a division in two biozones: • zone of
Rausserella • zone of
Afganella schenki ==Capitanian life==