Triassic Period

1. Triassic Period Codie Willms + Sammi Orchard

2. Time Period • Triassic Period marks the beginning of the Mesozoic Era • Approximately 206 – 248 million years ago • Major changes occurred in both terrestrial and marine life forms. • The start and end of the Triassic Period is marked with major extinction events • Triassic Period was made up by the rise of the dinosaurs, crocodiles, turtles, and frogs ( amphibians).

3. Landforms & Continent Position • At the beginning of the Triassic Period the land was all together to form one super continent, Pangaea. • Pangaea started to break apart almost immediately after it was formed. • By the middle of the Triassic Period, Pangea was well on it’s way to breaking apart to forming 2 super continents. • Laurasia was above the equator and was made up of North America , Europe, and Eurasia. • Gondwana was south of the equator and was formed from Africa, India, South America, Australia, and Antarctica.

4. Extinctions, Emergences, Dominances Plants • Glossopteris ( Greek word for tongue because the leaves were tongue shaped), early Gymnosperms ( seed plants where the seeds are not enclosed) governed the Triassic terrain. • Cycads, cycadeoids,( with tufts of strong, tough, palm tree like leaves, and a wooden trunk) were very common in the Triassic. • Laurasia was mainly seed plants like conifers, and ferns. • Gondwana was dicroidium which was known as a seed fern although it was not a fern Animals • Lizards, Snakes, Turtles, Frogs, and Pterosaurs were the first animals to appear in the Triassic time. • Pseudosuchia ( part bird, part dinosaur), and Aetosaurs (resembled crocodile) both lived in the late Triassic period. • Some of the early plant eating dinosaurs consisted of Fabrosaurids ( small built dinosaur), Heterodontosaurids (small dinosaur about the size of a turkey), and prosauropods ( large herbivore ). • During the late Triassic some of the first mammals appeared. • They were believed to be formed from extinct mammal- like reptiles

5. Climate • Triassic climate is generally hot and dry which led to the formation of red bed sandstones and evaporites. • The formation of Pangea had a great affect on temperature. It decreased the amount of shorelines, mountains, and gave inside of the supercontinent a desert like terrain. • Polar regions were most and temperate. • There was never ice at either the North or South poles.

6. Atmosphere • At the end of the Triassic period, The levels of CO2 in the air was very high. • It was measured at 2500 -3000 ppm ( parts per million) when at the start it was only measured at 1000 ppm. • They believe that the increased CO2 in the air lead to an increase in global temperatures.

7. Major Events • Two major extinction events occurred at the beginning and the end of Triassic period. • The Jurassic – Triassic extinction marked the beginning of the Triassic period. This extinction wiped out 20 % of marine life, and many large amphibians. Almost half of the species known to be living on earth went extinct. Nobody knows what caused this disaster but several explanations have been answered. • Triassic – Permian extinction was also known as the ‘ Great Dying’. This was one of the most severe extinction events recorded in earth’s history. It killed up to 96 % of marine life, and 70 % of terrestrial species.

8. Bibliography • http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/mesozoic/triassic/ • http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/prehistoric-world/triassic.html • http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Triassic/climate.htm • http://geology.about.com/od/extinction/a/aa_permotrias.htm • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permian%E2%80%93Triassic_extinction_event