Abstract A revised amphibian zonation for the European Pennsylvanian and Cisuralian (Upper Carboniferous to Lower Permian) with nine amphibian zones is presented. The index fossils belong to species-chronoclines with two or three closely related species. The time resolution of these amphibian zones is about 1.5–3.0 Ma. Biostratigraphical correlations with amphibian zones are applicable to 16 basins in the Czech Republic, Poland, France, Italy and Germany. The biostratigraphical potential of other tetrapods is discussed.

Abstract Three fundamental terms in ichnology are: (1) assemblage, which is equivalent to an assemblage of body fossils; (2) ichnocoenosis, which is a trace fossil assemblage produced by a biological community that can be characterized by morphological criteria; (3) ichnofacies, which refers to recurrent ichnocoenoses that represent a significant portion of Phanerozoic time. There are five archetypal vertebrate ichnofacies for non-marine environments ( Chelichnus, Grallator, Carichnium, Batrachichnus, Characichichnos ) of which four are present in the Permian: (1) Chelichnus ichnofacies — Chelichnus ichnocoenosis; (2) Batrachichnus ichnofacies — Batrachichnus ichnocoenosis; (3) Brontopodus ichnofacies — Pachypes ichnocoenosis; (4) Characichichnos ichnofacies — Serpentichnus ichnocoenosis. The Chelichnus and Characichichnos ichnofacies occur throughout the Permian, the Batrachichnus ichnofacies is restricted to the Early Permian and the Brontopodus to the Middle to Late Permian. The Batrachichnus ichnocoenosis can be divided into the Ichniotherium sub-ichnocoenosis, Amphisauropus sub-ichnocoenosis and the Dimetropus subichnocoenosis, which represent a spectrum of non-marine environments from alluvial fan to tidal flat.