Early Triassic

Rebuilding Life After Extinction

The Early Triassic period, spanning from about 252 to 247 million years ago, was a critical time in Earth’s history. It followed the Permian-Triassic extinction event, the most severe extinction event in Earth’s history, which wiped out around 90% of all species. During the Early Triassic, life was gradually recovering and diversifying.

This period saw the emergence of new groups of plants and animals. The first true dinosaurs were starting to evolve, and early archosaurs (ancestors of dinosaurs and crocodiles) began to diversify. The oceans were inhabited by new marine reptiles like ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs.

The climate of the Early Triassic was generally warm and arid, with vast deserts covering much of the supercontinent Pangaea. Despite the harsh conditions, life was resilient and slowly began to adapt and thrive, setting the stage for the explosion of diversity that would come in later periods.