Tithonian

Tithonian

The Tithonian is a special time in Earth's history. It is part of what scientists call the Late Jurassic Epoch. It was the last age of this time and came right before the Cretaceous period began.

If you imagine Earth’s timeline like a very long book, the Tithonian would be one of the last chapters in the Jurassic section.

This period lasted from about 149.2 million years ago to 143.1 million years ago. It came after another stage called the Kimmeridgian. After that, the Berriasian stage began, which is the first part of the Cretaceous. Many famous dinosaurs, like Allosaurus and Brachiosaurus, lived during this amazing time when the world looked very different from today.

Stratigraphic definitions

The Tithonian was named by a scientist called Albert Oppel in 1865. Its name comes from Greek mythology, after Tithonus. Tithonus fell in love with the goddess of dawn.

The Tithonian is a time period from Earth's past. It has early, middle, and late parts. Scientists study this time using special fossils called ammonites.

Sedimentary environments

During the Tithonian, sedimentary rocks formed in the Tethys Ocean. These rocks include limestones that contain fossils. A famous example is the Solnhofen limestone from southern Germany. It is known for its well-preserved fossils, especially Archaeopteryx.

Tithonian extinction

The later part of the Tithonian stage saw an extinction event called the Tithonian extinction. This event was small and not one of the worst extinctions since the Cambrian. But it was still one of the biggest extinctions of the Jurassic Period.

Scientists have a few ideas about what caused this extinction. One idea is that the extinction happened because of habitat loss from a big drop in sea level. This would have hurt sea animals, especially in Europe. Another idea is that volcanic activity or asteroid impacts may have helped cause it, though these events were probably not very wide-reaching. Some researchers also think that we might think there was an extinction because we just haven’t found as many fossils from this time.

This extinction affected many kinds of animals. In the oceans, some groups of sea reptiles, like thalassochelydians and some plesiosaurs, were hit hard. On land, some big dinosaurs, such as diplodocids and mamenchisaurids, lost much of their variety. Other groups, like rebbachisaurids and turiasaurs, survived and even grew more common later. The Tithonian extinction was an important time for both sea and land ecosystems, as some species became less common and others started to become more diverse.