The Bashkirian was named after Bashkiria, the then Russian name of the republic of
Bashkortostan in the southern
Ural Mountains of
Russia, home of the
Bashkir people. The stage was introduced by Russian stratigrapher
Sofia Semikhatova in 1934. The base of the Bashkirian is at the first appearance of
conodont species
Declinognathodus noduliferus. The top of the stage (the base of the Moscovian) is at the first appearance of the conodonts
Declinognathodus donetzianus or
Idiognathoides postsulcatus, or at the first appearance of
fusulinid Aljutovella aljutovica. The
GSSP (
type location for the base of a stage) for the Bashkirian is in the lower
Bird Spring Formation at Arrow Canyon,
Nevada. ==Subdivision==