The Triassic Period: The History and Legacy of the Geologic Era that Witnessed the Rise of Dinosaurs by Charles River Editors

Author:Charles River Editors
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Charles River Editors
Published: 2019-08-18T16:00:00+00:00

The Triassic’s Legacy

Locked between two major extinction events, the Triassic gave the world two chances to start over, wiping the slate clean enough to give smaller species a chance they would otherwise never have had. Due to the first, some of the surviving life evolved into the dinosaurs, and some evolved into creatures which eventually led to mammals, primates, and humans. The second Triassic mass extinction cleared the stage so that dinosaurs could dominate the Jurassic and Cretaceous, while mammals developed more fully and with greater diversity.

Today, the Triassic’s legacy can be found in every mammal, including humans, cats, dogs, cows, horses, dolphins, whales, deer and many more. The Triassic is also responsible for all of the birds that live on the planet today, including finches, sparrows, chickens, eagles and many others. At one time, scientists thought birds were a new species which came during the Cretaceous or earlier, but now they realize that all of the dinosaurs were more closely related to modern birds, and that avian dinosaurs are the only taxonomic group of thunder lizards to survive the major extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous.

Though the Triassic did not have any of the famous dinosaur species found in the Jurassic and Cretaceous, more people have gained an appreciation for the science which helps explain this part of the planet’s history. Indeed, the Triassic was a learning experience for life itself. DNA became programmed with greater complexity and refinement that ultimately led to people with critical thinking skills, and the development of language and civilization.

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