The Triassic World (250-200 million years ago)

What did the Meadow look like 250 million years ago? In Triassic times, the site of the Meadow was part of a super-continent called Pangaea.  This landmass divided to form the continents of the modern world.  Our meadow lay within the arid centre of the super-continent where hot, desert conditions prevailed.  A huge mountain chain lay to the west.   Rivers flowed north and east, depositing pebbles and sand across southern England.  The rivers spilled into the desert, creating vast lakes that were evaporating.

In this scene, Plateosaurus (larger) spies two Yaleosaurus (left) and a smaller Coelophysus behind. Cycads were a dominant vegetative type. The taller trees belong to the genus Bjuvia. Image and caption from http://seaborg.nmu.edu/earth.

The Triassic is a critical period of evolution.  Life on Earth had been decimated by a large mass extinction event at the end of the previous period.  Surviving groups of animals evolved and diversified.  The first dinosaurs evolved and went on to dominate life.  Most of our living groups of four legged animals had arrived by the end of the Triassic, including frogs, turtles and crocodiles.  The first true mammals also evolved during the Triassic.