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Ullmannia frumentaria is the most common and long known conifer of the copper shale. The plant has densely standing, relatively short, spirally arranged leaves.

Also: Acentrophorus glaphyrus Taxonomy from Fossilworks.org. Description for the genus from Woodward 1895, p. 51: "Trunk fusiform. Teeth slender ; opercular apparatus well- developed, with a narrow arched preoperculum. Pins small, with very large fulcra ; dorsal fin short, opposed to the space between the pelvic pair and the anal ; caudal fin symmetrical, slightly forked. Scales rhombic, smooth or feebly ornamented, the dorsal ridgeseries inconspicuous ; the scales of the flank not much deeper than broad, and those of the ventral aspect nearly equilateral" Line drawing from Gill 2009, p. 37: Identified by oilshale. References: Agassiz, L. (1833) Recherches Sur Les Poissons Fossiles. Tome IV (livr. 1). Imprimerie de Petitpierre, Neuchatel 17-32 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano] Howse, R. (1848) A catalogue of the fossils of the Permian system of the counties of Northumberland and Durham. Transactions of the Tyneside Naturalists' Field Club 1:219-264 [M. Clapham/M. Clapham/M. Clapham] Woodward, A. S. (1895) Catalogue of the Fossil Fishes in the British Museum (Natural History), Part III 1-544 [M. Clapham/M. Clapham] Gill, E. L. (2009). The Permian Fishes of the Genus Acentrophorus*. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 93(1), 19–40. Diedrich, C. G. (2009) A coelacanthid-rich site at Hasbergen (NW Germany): taphonomy and palaeoenvironment of a first systematic excavation in the Kupferschiefer (Upper Permian, Lopingian). Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 89:67-94 [M. Clapham/P. Vazquez]

Relative abundance of Platysomus gibbosus in Bad Sachsa: 2% of all vertebrates

Relative abundance of Platysomus gibbosus in Bad Sachsa: 2% of all vertebrates

Taxonomy from Fossilworks.org. Diagnosis from Schaumberg 1978, p.195 (translated from German by oilshale): "Medium to large coelacanthid; moderately slender; head one-fifth of total body length. Endocranium partially ossified in anterior part, well ossified in middle part; basisphenoid with strong processus antoticus; no processus basipterygoidus; basal process of basisphenoid distinctly set off; pleurosphenoids present; ossifications on otico-occipital seem to be absent; parasphenoid broadened in its posterior part; separate vomeres not detectable. Posttemporalia and at least 5 extrascapularia developed; parieto-intertemporalia extend to extrascapularia, they are firmly attached to supratemporalia; parieto-intertemporalia not inseparably fused; frontal and dermosphenoticum form uniform bone stiick; both fronto-dermosphenotica not firmly fused; rostro-nasal zone yon numerous, mostly oval bone plates filled (3 pairs of nasalia, several rostralia resp. postrostralia; rearmost closes "fontanella" between nasalia; lateral boundary by stout laterorostralia and elongate tectal plates). Antorbitals absent; postorbitals weakly developed; squamosum and praeoperculum reduced to narrow ossifications around praeopercular sensory canal; small quadrato-jugal above median pterygoid bulge; operculum large and triangular; pterygoid with long, low, anterior limb and broad, vertical limb; maxillary dentition with pointed conical teeth on 6 praemaxillaries, on dermopalatinum and ectopterygoid, there also dental granulation. Large, posterior, nearly triangular coronoid clamped between praearticulate and angular, its exposed part appearing quadrangular; anterior, low coronoid with strong, conical teeth; other, small coronoids presumably between dentary and praearticular, concealed yon tooth-bearing, granulated dentary plates; upper margin of praearticular set with dense denticles; articular with two articulating pits for quadratum and symplecticum; pronounced processus retroarticularis. Gular plates with elongated median apex; urohyals, ceratohyals, hyomandibulars, ceratobranchialia (probably 4 pairs), and symplecticum present. Shoulder girdle composed of clavicle, cleithrum, separate extracleithrum, anocleithrum, supracleithrum; pectoral fin attached slightly below middle of body flank; pelvic girdle composed of narrow bony ridges widened like plates at distal end; ventral fins opposite to space between basal plates of both dorsalia; Basal plate of anterior dorsal fin oval to triangular; basal plate of posterior dorsal fin smaller, with forked projections directed anteriorly, traces of ossification in segmented fin shaft; basal plate of anal fin small and narrow; caudal fin with axial lobes; fin rays of all fins distally clearly articulated. Large, ossified swim bladder between scapular girdle and anal fin, at level of ventral fins is constricted in a muscular manner. Scales large and thin, longer than high; their klelner, exposed part covered with numerous, longitudinally directed tubercles." The diagnosis of the species corresponds to that of the genus. Line drawing from Schaumberg 1978, p. 178: References: L. Agassiz (1843) Recherches Sur Les Poissons Fossiles. Tome I (livr. 18). Imprimerie de Petitpierre, Neuchatel xxxii-188. Schaumberg, G. (1978) Neubeschreibung von Coelacanthus granulatus Agassiz (Actinistia, Pisces) aus dem Kupferschiefer von Richelsdorf (Perm, W.-Deutschland). Paläontol. Z. 52, 169.. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02987700. H.-P. Schultze (2004) Mesozoic sarcopterygians. Mesozoic Fishes 3 - Systematics, Paleoenvironments and Biodiversity 463-492. C. G. Diedrich (2009) A coelacanthid-rich site at Hasbergen (NW Germany): taphonomy and palaeoenvironment of a first systematic excavation in the Kupferschiefer (Upper Permian, Lopingian). Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 89:67-94.