tagran-biota
Table of Contents
See: Preglacial Antarctic Fauna.
A (non-exhaustive) list of the organisms found on Tagra.
Plants
Seedless plants
- Red and green algae
- Mosses and liverworts (Bryophyta)
- Kachai: tree ferns (Cyatheales, e.g. Dicksonia)
Conifers
- Celery pines (Phyllocladus)
- Kauri (Agathis)
- Wollemi pine (Wollemia)
- Kachyu: podocarp (Podocarpus)
Flower plants
- Southern beech (Nothofagus)
- Cushion plants (various)
- Heathers, especially crowberry (Empetrum)-like species
- Proteas (Proteaceae)
- Chaukra: a Kerguelen cabbage-like plant
Animals
Invertebrates
- Bivalves (e.g. clams, oysters, mussels)
- Squids and cuttlesquids (descendants of Trachyteuthis)
- Glypheid lobsters (related to Glyphaea)
- Wetas (Anostostomatidae)
- Sea cucumbers (Holothuroidea) and other echinoderms
Fish
- Sleeper sharks (Somniosidae)
- Lungfish (Dipnoi)
Amphibians and reptiles
- Temnospondyls related to Koolasuchus
- Crocodiles (Crocodylia)
- Tuataras (Sphenodontidae)
- Sea turtles (Chelonioidea)
- Giant tortoises (similar to Meiolania)
Non-avian dinosaurs
- krukaa: a large ornithopod (descendant of Muttaburrasaurus)
- Social ornithopods with quill-like feathers, descendants of Leaellynasaura
- yachakri: large megaraptoran theropod (descendant of Australovenator)
Birds
Mammals
- Platypodes, mostly riverine
- Marsupial: early possums (Phalangeriformes), koala-, wombat-, and quoll-like forms
- Carnivorous sparassodonts
- Multituberculates (descendants of Corriebaatar)
- Astrapotheria (trunked and tusked mammals, descendants of Antarctodon), mostly aquatic
- Litopternans, related to Notiolofos.
- Primitive baleen whales (e.g. Aetiocetus, Llanocetus)
- Primitive toothed whales (similar to Janjucetus)
Other organisms
- Lichens, fungi, mushrooms (e.g. Cyttaria, parasite of Nothofagus)
- Kelp (Laminariales)
Sources
- “Antarctic flora” (original flora of Gondwana, today found in South America, Madagascar, Australia, and New Zealand): Podocarpaceae, Araucariaceae, Proteaceae, Nothofagus, Dicksonia
- Vega Island (Antarctica, 70-66 Ma): Vegavis and other birds, unspecified Hadrosauridae, Araucariaceae, various mollusks and crustaceans
- La Meseta Formation and other sites of Seymour Island (Antarctica, 55-40 Ma): Dasornis, giant penguins, Antarctodon, Notiolofos Gondwanatheria, opossums, Llanocetus, sharks, Glyphaea, various bivalves
- Biogeography: sparassodonts (South America), sphenodonts, weta (New Zealand), marsupials, ratites (South America & Australia), mussels, Empetrum, Somniosidae, large cetaceans (bi-polar distribution)
tagran-biota.txt · Last modified: 2022-08-20 22:42 by concavenator