triassic period

The Triassic Period (252–201 million years ago) marked the beginning of the Mesozoic Era. Following Earth’s largest mass extinction, life slowly recovered and diversified.

The climate was hot and dry, with vast deserts covering much of the supercontinent Pangaea. Gymnosperm plants such as cycads and ginkgoes dominated the vegetation.

This period saw the rise of many new groups:

• The first dinosaurs, small and bipedal

• Pterosaurs, the first flying vertebrates

• Early mammals, descended from cynodonts

• Diverse archosaurs, including ancestors of crocodiles and birds

In the seas, marine reptiles like ichthyosaurs and nothosaurs thrived alongside ammonites, belemnites, and early coral reefs.

The Triassic ended with another extinction event, clearing the way for dinosaur dominance in the Jurassic.