*Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading Scientists have long attempted to understand Earth's past, and in service to that effort, they have divided the world's history into eons, eras, periods, epochs and ages. For example, the current eon is called the Phanerozoic, which means "visible life." This is the eon in which multi-cellular life has evolved and thrived. Before this, life was microscopic (single cell).The Phanerozoic eon is divided into 3 eras - Paleozoic ("old life"), Mesozoic ("middle life") and Cenozoic ("new life"). From there, the Mesozoic era is divided into 3 periods - Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. Before the Triassic, primitive life had built up in the oceans and seas, and some lifeforms finally had crawled onto land during the Paleozoic era. With that, life had become well established, but then came the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, the worst extinction event in the history of the planet. At the end of the Triassic, another extinction event cleared the way for dinosaurs to become the dominant set of species in the Jurassic. Though the Triassic does not have as interesting a list of creatures as those in the Jurassic and Cretaceous, such as Tyrannosaurus rex, Stegosaurus, Pterodactyls, Brontosaurus, and the like, the life which reclaimed the Earth and then thrived during this period was no less important. Life during the Triassic spent nearly 60% of its time recovering from the Permian-Triassic extinction event, roughly 30 million years. What had been built up was then slammed by nature, effectively clearing the board once more for new species to take over. The Triassic Period: The History and Legacy of the Geologic Era that Witnessed the Rise of Dinosaurs looks at the development of the era, the extinction events that preceded it, and how dinosaurs began to evolve in the Late Triassic. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Triassic Period like never before.

This volume presents the latest science on all significant geological and paleontological aspects of the Earth during the Late Triassic Period. Rather than presenting a collection of narrowly focused research papers, the volume consists of a series of peer-reviewed chapters on specific aspects of the Late Triassic world (e.g., tectonics, magmatism, paleobotany, climate, etc.), all authored by experts in the subject of their respective chapters. Each chapter reviews and summarizes the latest findings in these fields and also includes a review of the pertinent literature. The author list is very broadly international and forms a veritable who’s who of expertise in these fields. The book is loosely organized to present the physical aspects of Earth during the Late Triassic at the outset, followed by the paleontological aspects. The latter section is further organized to present the record of the marine environment first before moving onto land, with fauna followed by flora. The volume closes with a review of the end-Triassic extinctions.

Science and art collaborate to recreate life on Earth more than 200 million years ago

In the style of WHEN BUGS WERE BIG and WHEN FISH GOT FEET this book discusses all the exciting developments of the Triassic Age, from the recovery of the planet from the most deadly mass extinction ever, to the first appearance of the dinosaurs. We also get to meet the first mammals, the first pterosaurs (flying reptiles), the first frogs, a host of predatory marine reptiles, early turtles, and the first coral reefs. With the books' signature blend of humor and clearly presented information, cartoon illustrations help keep the fact-filled material extra fun. National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources. Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.

This book provides a complete Phanerozoic story of palaeogeography, using new and detailed full-colour maps, to link surface and deep-Earth processes.

Evolution of Fossil Ecosystems describes all of the main Fossil Lagerstätten (sites of exceptional fossil preservation) from around the world in a chronological order. It covers the history of research, stratigraphy and taphonomy, main faunal and floral elements, and the palaeoecology of each site and gives a comparison with coeval sites around the w

Encyclopedia of Geology, Second Edition presents in six volumes state-of-the-art reviews on the various aspects of geologic research, all of which have moved on considerably since the writing of the first edition. New areas of discussion include extinctions, origins of life, plate tectonics and its influence on faunal provinces, new types of mineral and hydrocarbon deposits, new methods of dating rocks, and geological processes. Users will find this to be a fundamental resource for teachers and students of geology, as well as researchers and non-geology professionals seeking up-to-date reviews of geologic research. Provides a comprehensive and accessible one-stop shop for information on the subject of geology, explaining methodologies and technical jargon used in the field Highlights connections between geology and other physical and biological sciences, tackling research problems that span multiple fields Fills a critical gap of information in a field that has seen significant progress in past years Presents an ideal reference for a wide range of scientists in earth and environmental areas of study

An activity book brimming with terrifying dinosaurs from the Triassic period.

*Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading The early history of our planet covers such vast stretches of time that years, centuries and even millennia become virtually meaningless. Instead paleontologists and scientists who study geochronology divide time into periods and eras. The current view of science is that planet Earth is around 4.6 billion years old. The first four billion years of its development are known as the Precambrian period. For the first billion years or so, there was no life in Earth. Then the first single-celled life-forms, early bacteria and algae, began to emerge. We don't know where they came from or even if they originated on this planet at all. This gradual development continued until around four billion years ago when suddenly (in geological terms!) more complex forms of life began to emerge. Scientists call this time of an explosion of new forms of life the Paleozoic Era and it stretched from around 541 to 250 million years ago (Mya). First of all, in the oceans and then on land, new creatures and plants began to appear in bewildering variety. By the end of this period, life on Earth had exploded into a myriad of complex forms that filled virtually every habitat and niche available in the seas and on the planet's only continent, Pangea. Then a mysterious event that became known to early paleontologists as "The Great Dying" wiped out more than 95% of all life on Earth. No-one is entirely certain what caused this, but the effect of this cataclysm was as if someone had pressed a great, cosmic "reset" button and it took thirty million years for the development of life on Earth to start again. The next period of Earth's history is known as the Mesozoic Era, from about 252 to 66 Mya. This era is further divided into three periods, the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. During this era, one type of life came to dominate the planet more completely and for a longer period than had been seen before or since; this was the Age of Reptiles. Beginning in the Triassic but especially in the Jurassic period, reptiles came to dominate the oceans, the land and even the skies. There has never been anything else quite like this period in terms of the success of a particular type of creature. For almost two hundred million years, reptiles were the only significant creatures on Earth. They were so successful and so diverse that they evolved to take advantage of every available habitat and no other type of large creature had a chance to develop. To put the 200 million years of reptile dominance in perspective, the entire span of recorded human history, the time since people advanced from tribes of primitive, nomadic hunter-gatherers into recognizable societies, covers less than 6,000 years. To put this in context, if the entire history of the planet were to be laid out on the length of a football field, the period of dominance of the age of reptiles would not begin until the five-yard line and would stretch for twelve feet. All of human history would occupy a tiny strip at the end of the field, less than the width of a human hair. It was during the Jurassic period that reptiles began rule the Earth and some of the best-known prehistoric creatures first emerged. The Jurassic Period: The History and Legacy of the Geologic Era Most Associated with Dinosaurs looks at the development of the era, the extinction events that preceded it, and how life began to evolve during it. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Jurassic Period like never before.

Text and digitally-created illustrations cover more than one hundred of the earliest beasts with profiles on their physical characteristics, habitat, behavior, and distribution across prehistoric Earth.