-
Fleeing Nothosaurs
Artwork by DAMNFX
An artist's rendering shows hatchling nothosaurs heading for the safety of water as a hungry but terrestrial Ticinosuchus attacks near a lagoon in ancient Switzerland. Nothosaurs lived during the mid- and late Triassic period and were among the earliest reptiles to take to the sea. Because nothosaurs may have had to come ashore to lay eggs, the eggs and hatchlings would have been vulnerable to Ticinosuchus. Yet once the hatchlings reached deeper waters, they were safe—for the moment.
-
Herrerasaurus
Artwork by John Gurche
An artist's depiction shows a Herrerasaurus lurking in a forest in what is now Argentina as smaller animals hide in the undergrowth. Herrerasaur fossils are among the oldest ever discovered, dating back about 228 million years to the mid-Triassic.
-
Triassic Dinosaurs
Artwork by Highlights for Children/Oxford Scientific/JupiterImages
An artist's depiction captures the burst of new life that occurred in the early- to mid-Triassic period. Massive extinctions at the end of the preceding Permian period allowed the plants and animals that survived to grow and diversify relatively free of competition and predators. These conditions gave rise to the dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and early crocodilians.
-
Petrified Forest
Photograph by Ralph Lee Hopkins
Chunks of petrified wood lay strewn in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park. Most petrified trees here are of the species Araucarioxylon arizonicum, a towering conifer that grew in the humid, tropical lowlands of this region during the middle Triassic period, about 220 million years ago. Trees that fell here often landed in deep rivers, where they were quickly buried by sediment. Lack of oxygen inhibited decay, and heat and pressure over millennia turned the wood into solid quartz colored by impurities like iron, carbon, and manganese.
-
The Dolomites
Photograph by O. Alamany & E. Vicens/CORBIS
The rock that makes up the Sella Massif in northern Italy's Dolomites mountain range was once the floor of a shallow, tropical sea. This Triassic-era sea was home to massive coral reefs that built up over millions of years. More recently, glacial erosion carved the Dolomites into their dramatic crags and exposed the reefs and fossils that lay beneath.
-
Triassic Fish
Photograph by O. Louis Mazzatenta
This Triassic-era fish is among the thousands of fossils uncovered in the mountains and karst formations of China's Guizhou Province. Much of this region was under a shallow ocean during the Triassic period, and sediments there teem with the ancient remains of fish, dinosaurs, and marine reptiles.
-
Triassic Reptile
Photograph by James L. Amos
This middle-Triassic reptile found in Switzerland measures only about 9 inches (23 centimeters) in length. Called Pachypleurosaurus edwardsi, these primitive amphibious reptiles were nothosaurs, among the first reptiles to venture into the shallow seas of the Triassic.
-
Early Ichthyosaur
Photograph by O. Louis Mazzatenta
Ichthyosaurs were big-eyed, dolphin-shaped marine reptiles that lived during the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods. This specimen, uncovered in the hills of Guizhou Province, China, was an early species that had a rather reptilian look; later species took on a more fishlike form.
-
Triassic Plant
Photograph by George Mobley
The mass extinction of the Permian period left a nearly blank slate for new plant and animal species to arise during the Triassic. Tree-like seed ferns, such as this fossilized Dicroidium found on South Island, New Zealand, developed during this period along with a variety of other flora, some of whose ancestors still exist today.
-
Sea Dragon Carving
Photograph by O. Louis Mazzatenta
A carver in Guizhou Province, China, sculpts a Keichousaurus hui fossil, referred to locally as "sea dragons," into a chunk of stone. The remains of these diminutive Triassic-era reptiles and many others are prominent and well-preserved in this region—one small mountain rich in fossils has been dubbed "Lurking Dragon Hill." In China, the dragon is a symbol of good luck, and replicas like these help to curb illicit fossil collecting.
-
Whole Ichthyosaur
Photograph by O. Louis Mazzatenta
Ichthyosaurs, like this one found in Guizhou Province, China, evolved in the early Triassic, nearly 250 million years ago. Early specimens were reptilian in form—in fact, "ichthyosaur" means "fish-lizard"—but quickly evolved a dolphinlike shape. They went on to become one of the top ocean predators and thrived for 160 million years before going extinct in the mid-Cretaceous, about 25 million years before the dinosaurs died out.
Related Features
Health and Human Body
Prehistoric World
Space
Shop National Geographic
2011 Emerging Explorers
ScienceBlogs Picks
-
Explorer Moment: Naming Baby Parrots
While studying green-rumped parrotlets, Karl Berg discovered the adults appear to "name" their young.
-
Survival Guide: Dodging Locusts
Swarm behaviorist Iain Couzin has a toxic reaction to a locust at the same time his team runs out of food.
Advertisement
National Geographic Channel
-
Rocket City Rednecks
Wednesdays at 9P and 9:30P
Meet a group of backwoods Alabama geniuses who tackle problems with hillbilly ingenuity.
-
Mad Scientists
Wednesdays at 10P and 10:30P
Travel across America with host John Bowler as he seeks out the weirdest inventions.
-
National Geographic Investigates
Fridays at 8P, 9P, and 10P et/pt
Get up close with some of the world's most fascinating underground communities, from gangs to cults to organized crime families.
National Geographic Magazine
-
Staffordshire Gold Hoard Pictures
Buried in the English countryside. Anglo-Saxon in origin. Who hid it and why?
-
Iceman Unfrozen Photo Gallery
There was only one way scientists could unlock the mystery of the famous iceman. Take away his ice.
-
Africa's Rift Valley Pictures
As the global population soars toward nine billion by 2045, this corner of Africa shows what's at stake in the decades ahead.
Genographic
-
Explorer Moment: Naming Baby Parrots
While studying green-rumped parrotlets, Karl Berg discovered the adults appear to "name" their young.
-
Survival Guide: Dodging Locusts
Swarm behaviorist Iain Couzin has a toxic reaction to a locust at the same time his team runs out of food.
