LibGuides: Dinosaurs: Triassic

Fast Facts

Time Period: 252 to 201 million years ago

Climate: Warm and dry with no evidence of ice at the poles

Animals:

Many new animals
First dinosaurs, marine reptiles, lizards, tortoises, and small mammals
Lots of crocodiles and insects

Plants: Conifers, cycads, and ferns

Extinction Event: Permian–Triassic extinction event: 252 million years ago, also called the "Great Dying" at the beginning of the Triassic Period, changes in ocean and atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide levels let to the extinction of between 90 and 96% of all live on earth.

Source: U.S. Geological Survey

Geography

Map from United States Geographic Survey via Wikimedia Commons

Triassic Period on Ancient Earth

Online Resources

Triassic Period—251.9 to 201.3 MYA
Brief overview of the Triassic Period from the National Park Service.
The Triassic Period: the rise of the dinosaurs
Article on the Triassic Period from the Natural History Museum in London.
Dinosaurs in the late Triassic
Basic information on dinosaurs from the late Triassic Period from the Natural History Museum in London.
Triassic Period
Detailed article from Encyclopedia Britannica, including, geology, climate, plants and animals.

Trek Through the Triassic

Image via the U.S. Geological Survey

Telling the Dinosaur Story: Part 1 Triassic

Why Triassic Animals Were Just the Weirdest

Triassic Animal Size Comparison

Books in the Library

Plateosaurus and Other Desert Dinosaurs by Dougal Dixon
Call Number: 567.9 DIX
In the dry sand dunes and dust, these desert dinosaurs ate insects, plants, and sometimes, each other. Find out how these animals survived, and what they had in common with today's creatures.
Saltopus and Other First Dinosaurs by Dougal Dixon
Call Number: 567.9 DIX
Describes some of the first dinosaurs that ever lived including the Saltopus, the Staurikosaurus, the Saturnalia, the Plateosaurus, the Lilensternus, the Melanorosaurus, the Abrictosaurus, and the Coelophysis.