Triassic Plants
The mass extinction, recorded as a major destruction of biodiversity in the history of Earth's evolution, was followed by the Triassic period. This left a major part of the Earth vacant and deserted, and then after new life started in the Triassic period. |
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The first mammal and first dinosaurs emerged. Many new plants were harvested, enormous club mosses and horsetails disappeared and new variety of conifers and cycadophytes flourished. In the initial days of Triassic period, seed ferns such as Glossopteris and types of gymnosperms also known as seed plants boomed.
Cycads, cycadeoids such as Pterophyllum, Zamites, and Williamsonia and bennettitaleans having palm-like leaves and a forested shaft, were plentiful in the Triassic. Also, liverworts, mosses, smaller horsetails, club mosses, ferns,tree ferns such as psaronius and glossopterids; ginkgophytes such as baierophyllites; filincophytes such as macrotaeniopteris; araucaria such as the monkey puzzle tree; bjuvia, filincophytes such as clathopteris; lycopsids such as sigillaria and yews; and cheiroleps were dominant in the Triassic period.
Small sized dinosaurs were spotted in the mid Triassic period. Those were herbivorous dinosaurs, namely fabrosaurids such as Lesothosaurus; heterodontosaurids such as Heterodontosaurus and and prosauropods such as Plateosaurus. Previously they ate low level plants, but later they tried to balance their bodies on two legs to reach the taller plants and vegetation. Peltasperms, Corystosperms, Wielandiella and Sanmiguelia were plants that flourished in late Trassic period.
In the end of Triassic period, the super subcontinent of Pangaea separated into Laurasia in the northern continent and Gondwana in southern continent.
The end of Triassic period also marks the extinction of few species, but the reason is still not clear. It happened may be due to global cooling. The loss includes the extinction of 35 percent of all animal families.
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