Existing comment:
Triassic Landscape:
The dry plateau lands of this region today are far different from the tree-littered floodplains of 225 million years ago during the geologic period called the Triassic. Imagine a forested Triassic Land where crocodile-like phytosaurs inhabited the shores, and other carnivorous reptiles hunted on land. Visualize stormy floodwaters carrying Triassic trees here to the floodplains, where, over time, the trees would petrify.
What happened to the animals of the Triassic? Did their disappearance allow the dinosaurs -- which were then just appearing -- to ascend to dominance? Through the study of fossils such as those found here, scientists hope to solve the mystery of the Triassic species' disappearance and find clues to explain other "mass extinctions" that have occurred through time. |