How long did the Triassic Period last?
The Triassic Period spanned 50.5 million years, from 251.902 million years ago to 201.4 million years ago. It is the first and shortest geologic period of the Mesozoic Era.
Questions about Triassic
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Why is the Triassic Period called the Triassic?
Friedrich Alberti named the Triassic in 1834, drawing on the Greek word for triad. He was describing three distinct rock layers widespread in southern Germany: the Buntsandstein (colourful sandstone), the Muschelkalk (shell-bearing limestone), and the Keuper (coloured clay).
What animals dominated the Triassic Period on land?
Reptiles, especially archosaurs, were the chief terrestrial vertebrates during the Triassic. Pseudosuchians, the relatives and ancestors of modern crocodilians, were more ecologically dominant than dinosaurs through most of the period. Dinosaurs first appeared in the Late Triassic but did not become dominant until the Jurassic.
What caused the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction?
Volcanic eruptions from the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province, one of the largest known inland volcanic events, are the primary candidate. The CAMP covered about 10 million square kilometres and injected carbon and sulphur into the atmosphere, causing volcanic winters followed by climate warming and ocean acidification. A bolide impact at Manicouagan has been proposed but predates the extinction by approximately 10 million years.
When did the first mammals appear, and what was the Triassic Period?
The first stem-group mammals, called mammaliamorphs, appeared during the Triassic Period, with some advanced cynodonts giving rise to them during the Carnian stage of the Late Triassic. They survived the end-Triassic extinction event and went on to diversify during the Jurassic Period.
What was the climate like during the Triassic Period?
The Triassic climate was generally hot and dry in continental interiors, producing red bed sandstones and evaporites as characteristic deposits. The Early Triassic was the hottest portion of the entire Phanerozoic Eon. The polar regions were moist and temperate, and the Carnian Pluvial Event brought a widespread episode of increased rainfall around 234 million years ago.