Triassic

The Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 250 to 200 Ma (252.2 ± 0.5 to 201.3 ± 0.2 million years ago). It is the first period of the Mesozoic Era, and lies between the Permian and Jurassic periods. Both the start and end of the period are marked by major extinction events. The Triassic was named in 1834 by Friedrich Von Alberti, after the three distinct rock layers (tri meaning "three") that are found throughout Germany and northwestern Europe—red beds, capped by chalk, followed by black shales—called the 'Trias.'

The Triassic began in the wake of the Permian–Triassic extinction event, which left the Earth's biosphere impoverished; it would take well into the middle of the period for life to recover its former diversity. Therapsids and archosaurs were the chief terrestrial vertebrates during this time. A specialized subgroup of archosaurs, dinosaurs, first appeared in the mid-Triassic but did not become dominant until the succeeding Jurassic. The first true mammals also evolved during this period, as well as the first flying vertebrates, the pterosaurs. The vast supercontinent of Pangaea existed until the mid-Triassic, after which it began to gradually rift into two separate landmasses, Laurasia to the north and Gondwana to the south. The global climate during the Triassic was mostly hot and dry, with deserts spanning much of Pangaea's interior. However, the climate shifted and became more humid as Pangaea began to drift apart. The end of the period was marked by yet another major mass extinction, wiping out many groups and allowing dinosaurs to assume dominance in the Jurassic.