This was an interesting time period because on the one hand a single continent allowed for the free movement of animal species from one region to another, hence diversification and change was common but on the other hand it was also the time of the largest mass extinction ever to occur on the planet Earth.
This mass extinction also known as the “Great Dying” accounted for the loss of over 95% of the then existing marine life as well as 70% of the terrestrial life. This wasn’t the extinction of a single species or a group of species but everything from plants, animals, insects, fishes and pretty much most living things were totally wiped out. Some say that up to 99% of the living species of the world were gone in the blink of a prehistoric second.
Note that dinosaurs didn’t actually exist this early in the Triassic so this particular extinction is not to be confused with the second extinction which also occurred in the Triassic but towards its end. As far as dinosaur existance is concerned it was after the first mass extinction that both mammals and dinosaurs came into being but we’ll talk about that later.
The direct cause of the first extinction also known as the Permio-Triassic Extinction has baffled scientists for years and although there is very little evidence to pin point exactly how things ended there are a couple of theories which range from massive volcanic eruptions, to a large asteroid hitting the planet, or even a simple rise in temperatures due to the formation of the super continent. Any one of these events could have totally destroyed the Earths ability to support plant and animal life but we can never be sure.
This mass extinction also known as the “Great Dying” accounted for the loss of over 95% of the then existing marine life as well as 70% of the terrestrial life. This wasn’t the extinction of a single species or a group of species but everything from plants, animals, insects, fishes and pretty much most living things were totally wiped out. Some say that up to 99% of the living species of the world were gone in the blink of a prehistoric second.
Note that dinosaurs didn’t actually exist this early in the Triassic so this particular extinction is not to be confused with the second extinction which also occurred in the Triassic but towards its end. As far as dinosaur existance is concerned it was after the first mass extinction that both mammals and dinosaurs came into being but we’ll talk about that later.
The direct cause of the first extinction also known as the Permio-Triassic Extinction has baffled scientists for years and although there is very little evidence to pin point exactly how things ended there are a couple of theories which range from massive volcanic eruptions, to a large asteroid hitting the planet, or even a simple rise in temperatures due to the formation of the super continent. Any one of these events could have totally destroyed the Earths ability to support plant and animal life but we can never be sure.
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