earth science

Lopingian

Lopingian is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lopingian rather than just read about it. In short: The Lopingian, informally the Late or Upper Permian, is the uppermost series/last epoch of the Permian, and last epoch of the Paleozoic. The Lopingian was preceded by the Guadalupian and followed by the Early Triassic.

Key takeaways

Lopingian belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lopingian to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lopingian from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Lopingian, informally the Late or Upper Permian, is the uppermost series/last epoch of the Permian, and last epoch of the Paleozoic. The Lopingian was preceded by the Guadalupian and followed by the Early Triassic. The name was introduced by Amadeus William Grabau in 1931 and derives from Leping, Jiangxi in China. It consists of two stages/ages. The earlier is the Wuchiapingian and the later is the Changhsingian. The International Chronostratigraphic Chart (v2018/07) provides a numerical age of 259.1 ±0.5 Ma. If a Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) has been approved, the lower boundary of the earliest stage determines numerical age of an epoch. The GSSP for the Wuchiapingian has a numerical age of 259.8 ± 0.4 Ma. Evidence from Milankovitch cycles suggests that the length of an Earth day during this epoch was approximately 22 hours.

Geography During the Lopingian, most of the earth was in the supercontinent Pangaea. The Zechstein sea, would, at times, be connected to the Paleo-Tethys Ocean. Other features of the earth during the time were the microcontinent Cathaysia and the Cimmerian superterrane, which divided the Tethys Ocean realm into the Paleo-Tethys Ocean and the slowly expanding Neotethys (or Tethys) Ocean.

Life

The Lopingian ended with the Permian–Triassic extinction event, where over 95% of species went extinct. The series follows the Guadalupian, which ended with the Capitanian mass extinction, during which many species of brachiopods, ammonoids and other groups went extinct. Conodonts would reach their all-time low during this period. Despite this, they are recovered from most marine Permian localities. Common conodonts from the Lopingian include the genera Clarkina and Hindeodus. The Lopingian would see the decline of the Paleozoic ammonoid orders (Goniatitida and Prolecanitida) and the rise of the order Ceratitida, especially within the superfamily Xenodiscoidea. Only seven trilobites are known from the Lopingian, with only five by the end of the epoch. One of the last members of this clade was Kathwaia capitorosa. Eurypterids were nearly extinct by this point, consisting of the possibly Lopingian Campylocephalus permicus of Russia; and the Changhsingian Woodwardopterus? freemanorum of Australia. A member of the extant horseshoe crab family, Limulidae; Guangyuanolimulus appears at the end of the period. On land, gorgonopsians would become the apex predators after the extinction of the dinocephalians. Other predators included the therocephalians. Herbivorous animals of the Lopingian include the pareiasaurs such as Scutosaurus and dicynodonts such as Dicynodon.

Fossil gallery

See also Geologic time scale – System that relates geologic strata to time Cisuralian – First series of the Permian

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lopingian

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lopingian claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lopingian before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lopingian ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lopingian

In research: Lopingian appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lopingian in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lopingian is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Geological epochs, Lopingian, Permian geochronology, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lopingian outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lopingian in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lopingian means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lopingian out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lopingian in simple terms?

Why does Lopingian matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lopingian?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lopingian.