Triassic Period Dinosaur
The Triassic period emerged in the Earth’s history at the time when Triassic dinosaurs were evolved. The period was followed by the Jurassic period and the Cretaceous period. At the end of the Cretaceous period, the dinosaurs were wiped out in a mass extinction event along with the majority of all other life.
As a period of geological time, the boundaries of the Triassic are defined based on the rocks found and fossil records. It was the German geologist Friedrich August von Alberti who first introduced the Triassic period. It got its name because this period of geologic time is represented by a three-part division of rock type in Germany. These three different rock layers are (from the bottom to the earliest) the Bunter ( which is a red bead and brown sandstone), the Muschelkalk, and the Keuper. These types of rock are found in local areas, but not globally.
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When did Triassic Era Begin?
The Triassic era began 250 million years ago and ended 201 million years ago. The period before the Triassic era is known as the Permian. This was the time when the different varieties of animals lived, including a group of animals known as synapsids which later evolve into mammals. One member of this group was a large, sail-backed animal known as the dimetrodon, which looks like a dinosaur but was not.
Further, the Permian-Triassic extinction event occurred 250 million years ago. This was the largest extinction event our planet has ever observed. During this period, 70% of the species on the land disappeared along with 95% of those in the oceans. This was not only the beginning of the Triassic era and the ending of the Permian period, but it was such a serious catastrophe that it is used as a marker of the end of the geological era, the Paleozoic era.
Triassic Period Animals
Some scientists believe mammals evolved from a group of extinct mammals- like reptiles, Theriodontia, which were Therapsids.. These mammals were tiny and considered to have been nocturnal. The earliest - known turtle Proganochelys, also appeared during the Late Triassic.
The Triassic animals like turtles, frogs, salamanders, lizards (including sphenodontia & snakes), and pterosaurs first appeared during the Triassic. Insects during the Triassic period begin to undergo complete metamorphosis from larva through pupa to adult.
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Triassic Jurassic Extinction
Triassic Jurrasic extinction also, known as the end Jurassic extinction is a glocal extinction event that occurred at the end of the Triassic period (about 252 million to 201 million years ago) that resulted in the expiration of some 76% of all marine and terrestrial species and about 20% of all taxonomic families. It is observed that the end of the Jurassic extinction was the significant moment that enabled dinosaurs to become the dominant land animal on Earth.
The end-Triassic extinction specifically affected the ammonoids and conodonts. These are the two groups that serve as important index fossils for assigning relative ages to different strata in the Triassic System of rocks. Only the phylloceratid ammonites were able to survive during the Triassic extinction, and they gave rise to the explosive radiation of cephalopods later in the Jurassic Period. Furthermore, varied families of bivalves, gastropods, brachiopods, and marine reptiles also became extinct.
A large part of the vertebrate fauna on land disappeared, although the dinosaurs, pterosaurs, crocodiles, turtles, mammals, and fishes were minimally affected by the transition. In fact, most of the authorities maintain that the end-Triassic mass extinction on land opened ecological niches that were filled relatively quickly by dinosaurs. Plant fossils and palynomorphs (a microscopic fossil composed of especially pollen or grains) exhibit no significant changes in diversity across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary.
Triassic Extinction
The end of the Triassic period initiates with a massive extinction followed by massive volcanic eruptions about 208-213 million years ago. The supercontinent Pangea began to break apart. 35% of all the family's animals die out, including labyrinthodont amphibians, conodonts, and all marine reptiles except ichthyosaurs.
Most of the synapsid reptiles, which had governed the Permian and early Triassic period, were dead (excluding mammals). Most of the early, primitive dinosaurs were also dead, but other, more adaptive dinosaurs developed in the Jurassic.
Nobody is sure what causes the late Triassic extinction. The possibilities are global cooling or an asteroid impact. A 210 million-year-old meteor crater surrounding Manicouagan Reservoir, Quebec, Canada, maybe the remains of the culprit.
This extinction enables many dinosaurs to expand into different fields that were unoccupied. Dinosaurs would become increasingly commanding, plentiful, diverse, and lived the same way for the next 150 million years. The Jurrasic and Cretaceous was the true “ Age of Dinosaurs” rather than the Triassic.
Did You Know?
The triassic period had 3 epochs, the Early triassic, the middle triassic, and the Late triassic.
The Triassic period observed a rise in the dinosaurs, and they would rule the planet for the next 185 million years.
The Triassic period started with the Permian Triassic extinction event and ended with the Triassic Jurassic extinction event.
The dinosaurs that lived during the Triassic period were Melanorosaurus, Plateosaurus, Thecodontosaurus, and the Staurikosaurus.
The Triassic period lasted about 50.6 million years.
The shortest period of the Mesozoic era was the Triassic period.
The Triassic period is the first of the three geological periods of the Mesozoic era.
FAQs on Triassic Period
1. What was the Triassic Period and when did it occur?
The Triassic Period is the first geological period of the Mesozoic Era. It spanned from approximately 252 million to 201 million years ago, lasting for about 51 million years. It began after the Permian-Triassic extinction event, the largest mass extinction in Earth's history, and ended with the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event, which paved the way for the age of dinosaurs.
2. What is the Triassic Period most famous for?
The Triassic Period is most famous for two major global developments:
- The existence of the supercontinent Pangaea, which gathered almost all of Earth's landmass into a single entity, drastically affecting global climate.
- The rise of the archosaurs, a group of reptiles that gave rise to crocodiles, pterosaurs, and, most notably, the very first dinosaurs.
3. What did Earth's geography look like during the Triassic Period?
During the Triassic Period, nearly all of Earth's land was consolidated into a single, C-shaped supercontinent known as Pangaea. This massive landmass was surrounded by a single global ocean called Panthalassa. The interior of Pangaea was extremely arid and desert-like because its vast size prevented moisture from the ocean from reaching inland areas.
4. How was the climate during the Triassic Period?
The climate of the Triassic Period was generally hot and dry, with stark differences from today's climate. Key characteristics included:
- Higher average global temperatures.
- The absence of polar ice caps, leading to different sea levels.
- Vast deserts dominating the interior of Pangaea.
- Pronounced seasonality, with extremely hot summers and cold winters, especially far from the coast.
5. What were the dominant forms of animal life during the Triassic?
While the first dinosaurs like Eoraptor appeared, they were not yet dominant. The Triassic was ruled by other groups:
- Archosaurs: The 'ruling reptiles', including early dinosaurs and ancestors of crocodiles.
- Therapsids: Mammal-like reptiles that had survived the Permian extinction but were in decline.
- Marine Reptiles: The oceans saw the rise of early ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs.
The first true mammals also evolved during the Late Triassic, but they were small, shrew-like creatures, not prominent in the ecosystem.
6. Why is the period named 'Triassic'?
The name 'Triassic' originates from the Latin word 'trias', which means 'three'. German geologist Friedrich von Alberti named it in 1834 after identifying three distinct rock layers (strata) in Germany from this period. These layers represented different environments:
- Red beds: Sandstones formed in desert conditions.
- Limestone: Formed in shallow seas.
- Black shales: Formed in deep, oxygen-poor marine conditions.
7. How did the Triassic Period end?
The Triassic Period concluded with the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event, a major mass extinction about 201 million years ago. The leading theory points to massive volcanic eruptions from the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP). These eruptions released huge amounts of CO2, causing intense global warming and ocean acidification. This event wiped out many large land animals and marine species, clearing the way for dinosaurs to become the dominant life forms in the following Jurassic Period.
8. Were humans or their direct ancestors alive during the Triassic Period?
No, humans were not alive during the Triassic Period. While the first true mammals appeared in the Late Triassic, they were small, rodent-like creatures. The evolutionary line leading to humans, the primates, did not appear until millions of years after the dinosaurs went extinct. There is a gap of over 200 million years between the end of the Triassic and the appearance of modern humans (Homo sapiens).
