Editing Mesozoic (section)

===Triassic===
The Triassic ranges roughly from 252&nbsp;million to 201&nbsp;million years ago, preceding the Jurassic Period. The period is bracketed between the Permian–Triassic extinction event and the [[Triassic–Jurassic extinction event]], two of the "[[Extinction event|big five]]", and it is divided into three major epochs: Early, Middle, and Late Triassic.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/604667/Triassic-Period/225842/Economic-significance-of-Triassic-deposits|title=Triassic Period |author=Alan Logan|encyclopedia=britannica.com|date = 31 January 2024}}</ref>

The Early Triassic, about 252 to 247&nbsp;million years ago, was dominated by deserts in the interior of the Pangaea supercontinent. The Earth had just witnessed a massive die-off in which 95% of all life became extinct, and the most common vertebrate life on land were ''[[Lystrosaurus]]'', [[labyrinthodont]]s, and ''[[Euparkeria]]'' along with many other creatures that managed to survive the Permian extinction. [[Temnospondyl]]s reached peak diversity during the early Triassic.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ruta |first1=Marcello |last2=Benton |first2=Michael J. |title=Calibrated Diversity, Tree Topology and the Mother of Mass Extinctions: The Lesson of Temnospondyls |journal=[[Palaeontology (journal)|Palaeontology]] |date=November 2008 |volume=51 |issue=6 |pages=1261–1288 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00808.x|s2cid=85411546 |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[File:Sellosaurus.jpg|thumb|''[[Plateosaurus]]'' (a [[prosauropod]])]]

The Middle Triassic, from 247 to 237&nbsp;million years ago, featured the beginnings of the breakup of Pangaea and the opening of the [[Tethys Ocean]]. Ecosystems had recovered from the Permian extinction. Algae, sponge, corals, and crustaceans all had recovered, and new aquatic reptiles evolved, such as [[ichthyosaur]]s and [[nothosaur]]s. On land, pine forests flourished, as did groups of insects such as mosquitoes and fruit flies. Reptiles began to get bigger and bigger, and the first crocodilians and dinosaurs evolved, which sparked competition with the large amphibians that had previously ruled the freshwater world, respectively mammal-like reptiles on land.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://palaeos.com/mesozoic/triassic/midtrias.html|title=Middle Triassic|author=Rubidge|work=palaeos.com}}</ref>
[[File:Triassic 250.png|left|thumb|293x293px|Approximate map of Earth in the Early Triassic Period.]]
Following the bloom of the Middle Triassic, the Late Triassic, from 237 to 201&nbsp;million years ago, featured frequent heat spells and moderate precipitation (10–20 inches per year). The recent warming led to a boom of dinosaurian evolution on land as the continents began to separate from each other (Nyasasaurus from 243 to 210&nbsp;million years ago, approximately 235–30 ma, some of them separated into Sauropodomorphs, Theropods and Herrerasaurids), as well as the first [[pterosaur]]s. During the Late Triassic, some advanced [[cynodont]]s gave rise to the first [[Mammaliaformes]]. All this climatic change, however, resulted in a large die-out known as the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event, in which many [[archosaurs]] (excluding pterosaurs, dinosaurs and [[crocodylomorph]]s), most [[synapsid]]s, and almost all large amphibians became extinct, as well as 34% of marine life, in the Earth's fourth mass extinction event. The cause is debatable;<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Impact Crises and Mass Extinctions: A Working Hypothesis |last1= Rampino |first1=Michael R. |author-link1=Michael R. Rampino |last2=Haggerty |first2=Bruce M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kAup0TOL09gC&pg=PA19 |encyclopedia=The Cretaceous-Tertiary event and other catastrophes in earth history |editor-first1=Graham |editor-last1=Ryder |editor-first2=David |editor-last2=Fastovsky |editor-first3=Stefan |editor-last3=Gartner  |name-list-style=amp |publisher=Geological Society of America |isbn=978-0813723075|date=1996}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/mesozoic/triassic/lt.shtml|title=Late Triassic life|author=Enchanted Learning|work=Enchanted Learning}}</ref> [[flood basalt eruption]]s at the [[Central Atlantic magmatic province]] is cited as one possible cause.<ref name="AnthropogenicScaleDegassing">{{cite journal |last1=Capriolo |first1=Manfredo |last2=Mills |first2=Benjamin J. W. |last3=Newton |first3=Robert J. |last4=Corso |first4=Jacobo Dal |last5=Dunhill |first5=Alexander M. |last6=Wignall |first6=Paul B. |last7=Marzoli |first7=Andrea |date=February 2022 |title=Anthropogenic-scale CO2 degassing from the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province as a driver of the end-Triassic mass extinction |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921818121003167 |journal=[[Global and Planetary Change]] |volume=209 |page=103731 |doi=10.1016/j.gloplacha.2021.103731 |bibcode=2022GPC...20903731C |s2cid=245530815 |doi-access=free |access-date=23 July 2023|hdl=10852/91551 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Capriolo |first1=Manfredo |last2=Marzoli |first2=Andrea |last3=Aradi |first3=László E. |last4=Callegaro |first4=Sara |last5=Corso |first5=Jacopo Dal |last6=Newton |first6=Robert J. |last7=Mills |first7=Benjamin J. W. |last8=Wignall |first8=Paul B. |last9=Bartoli |first9=Omar |last10=Baker |first10=Don R. |last11=Youbi |first11=Nasrrddine |last12=Remusat |first12=Laurent |last13=Spiess |first13=Richard |last14=Szabó |first14=Csaba |date=7 April 2020 |title=Deep CO2 in the end-Triassic Central Atlantic Magmatic Province |journal=[[Nature Communications]] |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=1670 |doi=10.1038/s41467-020-15325-6 |pmid=32265448 |pmc=7138847 |bibcode=2020NatCo..11.1670C |s2cid=215404768 }}</ref><ref name="PlatinumGroupElementsCAMP">{{cite journal |last1=Tegner |first1=Christian |last2=Marzoli |first2=Andrea |last3=McDonald |first3=Iain |last4=Youbi |first4=Nasrrddine |last5=Lindström |first5=Sofie |date=26 February 2020 |title=Platinum-group elements link the end-Triassic mass extinction and the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=3482 |doi=10.1038/s41598-020-60483-8 |pmid=32103087 |pmc=7044291 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-60483-8 |access-date=28 July 2023}}</ref>