The events that unfolded about 250 million years ago, at the Permian-Triassic boundary, are some of the most mysterious in history. At that moment, over a short period of time, more than 90 percent of all animals and plants on the surface of the planet died off, in a massive extinction event, for which satisfactory e... |
30 March 2009
10:39 GMT |
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It's widely accepted in the scientific community that a massive extinction event took place on Earth between the Permian and the Triassic periods, wiping up almost 90 percent of both marine and land species and driving the ancestors of dinosaurs to the brink of extinction. Now, a team of researchers is seeking t... |
3 March 2009
09:40 GMT |
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A researcher at the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) School of Medicine argues in a recent study, published in the journal Zitteliana, that pterosaurs, the giant 500 pound (roughly 250 kilograms)-heavy flying reptiles that lived from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period, between 220 and 65.5 million ye... |
7 January 2009
02:46 GMT |
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Newly discovered bone fragments sprung intense debates among paleontologists, who now believe that the common turtle evolved to its current state over 200 million years of evolution, from some form of lizard that looked pretty much like an armadillo. The 210 million year old fragments, found at a site in New Mexico, ... |
9 October 2008
04:51 GMT |
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A new study found out that early dinosaurs were far from being able to pose a threat for their competition; however, evolution in the planetary climate changed all that. At the beginning of the Triassic period, the planet was inhabited by a group of ruling reptilians called archosaurs. Over the next 10 million y... |
12 September 2008
03:53 GMT |
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The fossilized burrow found recently in Antarctica and dated to the Early Triassic epoch is thought to have belonged to tetrapods - land vertebrates with four legs or appendages resembling legs - and was created when a nearby river overflowed, filling it with fine sand that hardened later on. No remains of the animal... |
9 June 2008
02:49 GMT |
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Turtles are grandmas amongst present-day reptiles. And it's not only about their slower movements. They appeared 250 Ma ago, before snakes, crocodiles and dinosaurs emerged. But even the oldest known turtles already had a well developed shell. Modern turtles differ a lot from those early ancestors, but many rush... |
14 March 2008
04:56 GMT |
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Following the Paleozoic, when life started to get complex, the Mezozoic ("middle life", Secondary era) spanning from 250 to 65 Ma, was an era when reptiles were the rulers of the world. In fact, the dinosaurs were the real masters for over 150 million years. 1. Triassic (250-200 Ma) is named so because there are thre... |
13 March 2008
09:45 GMT |
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