Triassic

Time-Span: 6,000-4,350 years ago

Description:

The Triassic is the name given to a geological layer in the earth and the unique pre-Flood habitat(s) this layer represented. It overlies the Permian habitat and is underlies the Jurassic habitat.

Paleogeography:

Around 6,000-4,350 years ago, the world was one continent called Rodinia.

Fauna:

Various Triassic species from (left to right): Placerias, Postosuchus, Desmatosuchus.

A myriad of different creatures roamed the Triassic habitats/landscapes. On land, reptiles thrived; one of the most common forms was called Lystrosaurus, a relatively small herbivore with a pair of tusks and a beak for chomping away at plant life. It was a member of the dicynodont family. Of course, the most famous Triassic animals are the dinosaurs (even though Triassic dinosaurs themselves don't have the fame of their Jurassic and Cretaceous counterparts). Some examples of Triassic herbivorous dinosaurs include: Eoraptor, Herrerasaurus and Coelophysis. One of the largest Triassic herbivores was the mighty Plateosaurus, a bipedal prosauropod. But dinosaurs are rather uncommon in Triassic sediments and weren't the top predators of this habitat! Instead, they were hunted by larger archosaurs such as Postosuchus and its relative Saurosuchus.

Pterosaurs like Eudimorphodon flew through Triassic skies.

In the air too, reptiles are common in the Triassic. Until recently, insects and pterosaurs were the only known creatures to fly through Triassic skies, but birds too lived in the Triassic habitat. Protoavis is one such bird and its existence casts serious doubt on the faulty belief that dinosaurs evolved into birds, as birds appear before many of the bird-like dinosaurs in the evolutionary fairytale. This instead is consistent with the Bible's account of creation: Genesis 1:20-23 tells us that flying and sea creatures were made on Day 5 of the Creation Week, before dinosaurs and other land animals. Other Triassic fliers include pterosaurs such as Peteinosaurus and Eudimorphodon which fed mainly on insects.

Cymbospondylus was a ferocious predator of the Triassic.

The oceans of the Triassic were roamed by strange and wonderful reptiles. Ichthyosaurs are the most common and largest of the Triassic reptiles, some such as Shonisaurus reaching whale-like proportions of around 70 feet in length! Nothosaurs – fish-eating crocodile or lizard-like reptiles – also hunted the Triassic seas for food.

Flora:

The flora of the Triassic was lush and plentiful.

Plants of all shapes and sizes could be found in the Triassic habitat including lycophytes, a type of cycad, and ginkgophyta. Conifers and seed plants were also very numerous.

All of these plants provided food for many of the large herbivores that lived in the Triassic such as Plateosaurus, Massospondylus and Placerias.

Habitat's Destruction:

The Triassic habitat met its end with all the other pre-Flood habitats during Noah's Flood. All that remains of this once thriving habitat is fossilized in rocks of the Triassic layer throughout the world.