The Triassic Period

The Triassic Period is the first of the Mesozoic Era. The land masses were concentrated into one large continent called Pangaea. The interior of this continent was arid and dry and not very hospitable.

The Mesozoic was heralded by the Permo-Triassic extinction in which 95% of all species and 60% of all genera (genus) died out. Marine invertebrates were the worst hit with about 96% of species becoming extinct. Unusually even insects suffered a huge decrease in species.

The Permo-Triassic extinction is thought to have been caused by climate change due to a series of cataclysmic events such as asteroid impact or volcanic activity that raised ocean acid levels affecting the basic organisms that support the whole food chain.

Life that specialised suffered the worst, the animals that made it through to the Triassic were by and large those that generalised, including a small reptile similar to an early dinosaur called Coelophysis.

• Mesozoic

• Triassic

• Jurassic

• Cretaceous