Triassic Period Phanerozoic

the triassic ranges 250 million 200 million years. triassic desolate transitional time in earth s history between permian extinction , lush jurassic period. has 3 major epochs: triassic, middle triassic , late triassic.

the triassic lasted between 250 million 247 million years ago, , dominated deserts pangaea had not yet broken up, interior arid. earth had witnessed massive die-off in 95% of life became extinct. common life on earth lystrosaurus, labyrinthodonts, , euparkeria along many other creatures managed survive great dying. temnospondyli evolved during time , dominant predator of triassic.

plateosaurus (a prosauropod)

the middle triassic spans 247 million 237 million years. middle triassic featured beginnings of breakup of pangaea, , beginning of tethys sea. ecosystem had recovered devastation of great dying. phytoplankton, coral, , crustaceans had recovered, , reptiles began increasing in size. new aquatic reptiles, such ichthyosaurs , nothosaurs, evolved. meanwhile, on land, pine forests flourished, mosquitoes , fruit flies. first ancient crocodilians evolved, sparked competition large amphibians had since rule freshwater world.

the late triassic spans 237 million 200 million years. following bloom of middle triassic, late triassic featured frequent rises of temperature, moderate precipitation (10-20 inches per year). recent warming led boom of reptilian evolution on land first true dinosaurs evolved, pterosaurs. climactic change, however, resulted in large die-out known triassic-jurassic extinction event, in archosaurs (excluding ancient crocodiles), synapsids, , large amphibians became extinct, 34% of marine life in fourth mass extinction event. extinction s cause debated.