What is the End-Triassic extinction event?
Q: What is the End-Triassic extinction event?
A: The End-Triassic extinction event marks the boundary between the Triassic and Jurassic periods, 201.3 million years ago. It was a major extinction event that profoundly affected life on land and in the oceans.
Q: What is the cause of the End-Triassic extinction event?
A: The cause of the End-Triassic extinction event is thought to be volcanic events, although scientists have suggested several explanations for this event.
Q: When did the extinctions occur?
A: Many of the extinctions occurred before the End-Triassic extinction event in the Upper Triassic.
Q: How many species became extinct during the End-Triassic extinction event?
A: At least half the species now known to have been living on Earth at that time became extinct during the End-Triassic extinction event.
Q: What creatures were wiped out during the End-Triassic extinction event?
A: A whole class, the conodonts (extinct chordates); 20% of all marine families; all large crurotarsans (non-dinosaurian archosaurs); some remaining therapsids; and many of the large amphibians such as the temnospondyls were wiped out during the End-Triassic extinction event.
Q: How long did the event take?
A: The event happened in less than 10,000 years.
Q: What happened after the End-Triassic extinction event?
A: The event emptied many ecological niches, and allowed the dinosaurs to take over the dominant roles in the Jurassic period. This event occurred just before Pangaea started to break apart.
