Publisher's Synopsis
The second in a series of five books, this book tells the history of life at the start of the Mesozoic Era during the Triassic Period, which was between 252 and 201 million years ago. In this period, the first lepidosaurs (the group containing snakes and lizards) and first archosaurs (the group containing crocodiles and birds) appeared. The first dinosaurs walked the land, the first pterosaurs filled the skies, and the seas were populated by marine reptiles such as ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and others.
In this beautiful full-color illustrated book, you will learn about:- The paleogeography of the Triassic - how the continents were joined in one gigantic supercontinent
- The climate of the Triassic
- The flora of the Triassic
- Marine life of the Triassic including plankton, marine invertebrates, fish and marine reptiles such ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and placodonts
- Terrestrial life of the Triassic including insects, spiders, lungfish, amphibians, parareptiles, therapsids (mammal-like reptiles), lepidosaurs, archosaurs and dinosaurs
- Dinosaurs of the Triassic including the split between lizard-hipped (Saurischia) and bird-hipped (Ornithischia) dinosaurs
- The first theropod dinosaurs (the group which would eventually give rise to Tyrannosaurus rex, Allosaurus, Velociraptor and birds)
- The first sauropodomorph dinosaurs (the group which would eventually rise to Apatosaurus, Brachiosaurus and Diplodocus)
- The first ornithischian dinosaurs (the group which would eventually give rise to Iguanodon, Triceratops, duckbilled dinosaurs and other famous herbivores)
- The Triassic coal gap
- Extinction events of the Triassic
- And much more
Table of Contents: Introduction Chapter 1: Before the Triassic Period
The Formation of the Solar System and the Earth
The Hadean Eon
The Archaean Eon
The Proterozoic Eon
The Phanerozoic Eon
- The Paleozoic Era
- The End of the Paleozoic Era Chapter 2: Introducing the Triassic Period
Subdivisions (Epochs) of the Triassic Period
- Early Triassic Epoch
- Middle Triassic Epoch
- Late Triassic Epoch Chapter 3: Paleogeography of the Triassic Period Chapter 4: Climate of the Triassic Period Chapter 5: Flora of the Triassic Period Chapter 6: Marine Fauna of the Triassic Period
Plankton
Marine Invertebrates
Fish
Sauropterygian Reptiles
- Pachypleurosaurs
- Nothosaurs
- Placodonts
- Pistosaurs, Plesiosaurs and Pliosaurs
Turtles
Ichthyosaurs
Hupehsuchia
Thalattosaurs Chapter 7: Terrestrial and Freshwater Fauna of the Triassic Period
Insects
Spiders
Lungfish
Amphibians
Parareptiles
Lepidosauromorpha
Therapsids
- Dicynodonts
- Therocephalians
- Cynodonts
Archosaurs and Archosauromorpha
- Protorosaurs
- Pterosaurs
- Rhynchosaurs
- Allokotosaurs
- Phytosaurs
- Proterosuchids and Erythrosuchids
- Aetosaurs
- Revueltosaurus
- Poposauroids
- Ornithosuchids
- Rauisuchoids
- Crocodylomorpha
- Dinosaurs and Dinosauromorpha Chapter 8: Dinosaurs and Dinosauromorpha
Saurischia and Ornithischia
Early Saurischian Dinosaurs
- The First Theropods
- Sauropodomorpha
Early Ornithischian Dinosaurs Chapter 9: Triassic Coal Gap Chapter 10: Extinction Events of the Triassic Period
Permian-Triassic Extinction Event
Smith-Spathian Extinction Event
Carnian Pluvial Event
Triassic-Jurassic Extinction Event Chapter 11: After the Triassic
The Jurassic Period
The Cretaceous Period
The Cenozoic Era
