Early Triassic

The Early Triassic is the first part of the Triassic Period, a major chunk of time in Earth's history. It lasted from about 251.9 million years ago to 246.7 million years ago. During this time, Earth was getting back on its feet after a huge event called the Permian-Triassic extinction event, which was the worst die-out of life in our planet's past.

This part of history is split into two main ages: the Induan and the Olenekian. The Induan age has two smaller parts, called the Griesbachian and Dienerian, and the Olenekian has the Smithian and Spathian ages.

Scientists call rocks from this time the Lower Triassic. In some places, like Europe, these rocks are made of something called Buntsandstein, which is a type of reddish-brown rock formed on land. This time was important because life on Earth was slowly starting to grow and recover after the big loss during the extinction event.

Early Triassic climate

During the Early Triassic time, the weather was mostly dry and hot, especially in the middle of a huge land called Pangaea. Deserts covered many areas, but near the poles, it was milder and more comfortable. The temperature difference between the poles and the warmer areas was small, which might have let plants and animals from warm places live farther toward the poles.

Very hot ocean temperatures caused big storms to often reach the coasts of places like North China. Scientists think that huge volcanic eruptions from the Siberian Traps made the Earth very warm, which helped change the climate. The weather changed a lot during this time, with sudden shifts in temperature and other problems that made it hard for plants and animals to recover after a big event that wiped out many species.

Early Triassic life

The Triassic Period began after a huge event that caused many species to disappear. Life had a hard time recovering because the climate was very tough. Many kinds of animals and plants were missing, and it took a long time for things to get better.

On land, the most common animal was a small plant-eater called Lystrosaurus. In the water, simple shelled creatures like clams and snails were common. The first animals that could live in the ocean, like early relatives of dolphins and reptiles, also appeared during this time. Plants were mostly simple and not very diverse, and it took many millions of years for forests and other plant life to grow back.