It's very simple why kids are crazy about dinosaurs - dinosaurs are nature's Special Effects. They are the only real dragons. Kids love dragons. It's not just being weirdly shaped and being able to eat Buicks. It's that they are real. ~ Robert T. Bakker The Triassic Period was the first geological period of the Mesozoic Era, and it lasted from 250 million years ago till 200 million years ago. It was preceded by the Permian period, which was the last geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and was succeeded by the Jurassic Period. The Mesozoic Era was characterized by the emergence and development of the widest variety of dinosaurs on Earth among all prehistoric geological periods. Also, this was the era by the end of which the maximum number of prehistoric animal species became extinct from the face of our planet. Triassic Period Climate Studies by geologists and paleontologists have shown the average climatic conditions of the Triassic Period to have been on the hot and dry side. There are no signs that glaciers existed at either poles. Reddish-hued sedimentary rocks and water-soluble mineral evaporites abounded the Earth's surface and crust. During this period, there was only one huge terrestrial mass that was located along the median belt of the Earth, having the Equatorial latitude as the approximate center. The climate of the polar extremities of this super continent tended towards a somewhat moist and temperate environment. This land mass has been named the Pangaea, meaning all the land, with reference to its singular mass that was so huge that it succeeded in limiting the climatically moderating effects of the global ocean - the singularly huge mass of water surrounding it. As a result, the overall climate remained continental in nature, with extreme seasonal variations. The summer was intensely hot whereas the winter was chilling. It is the temperate polar regions of this huge prehistoric landmass that encouraged the propagation and evolution of reptilian creatures and coniferous plants. Animals and Plants Of this Period The Triassic flora, as suggested by fossils and other evidences, was composed mostly of plant species belonging to the lycophyta, cycadophyta, ginkophyta, and pteridospermatophyta divisions of the plant kingdom, with seed-producing plants being dominant. The Triassic Period fauna included a large number of species of such life forms as prehistoric amphibians, reptiles, insects, crustaceans, mollusks, mammals, fish, and synapsids. Most of our modern-day animals have descended from some of these creatures. List of Animals that Lived at this Time Check out the following list of some Triassic Age animals to get an insight into the vast diversity of the now extinct animals that composed the Triassic fauna. Amphibians

• Amphibamus
• Plemmyradytes
• Eoscopus
• Platyrhinops
• Georgenthalia
• Pasawioops
• Micropholis
• Gerobatrachus
• Limnerpeton
• Aphaneramma
• Batrachosuchus
• Bothriceps
• Keratobrachyops
• Koolasuchus
• Compsocerops
• Pelorocephalus
• Siderops
• Capitosaurus
• Cherninia
• Cyclotosauraus
• Deltasuarus
• Eocaecilia
• Eryosuchus
• Gerrothorax
• Koskinonodon
• Kryostega
• Laidleria
• Paracyclotosaurus
• Ferganobatrachus
• Mastodonsaurus
• Metoposaurus
• Microposaurus
• Parotosuchus
• Pelorocephalus
• Sclerothorax
• Triadobatrachus
• Uranocentrodon
• Wantzosaurus
• Watsonisuchus
• Wetlugasaurus
• Xenobrachyops

Crustaceans

• Acanthinopus
• Antrimpos
• Ambilobeia
• Cycleryon
• Rosenfeldia
• Eryon
• Knebelia
• Clytiella
• Stenodactylina
• Clytiopsis
• Pustulina
• Enoploclytia
• Protoclytiopsis
• Eryma
• Palaeastacus
• Galicia
• Lissocardia
• Longichela
• Ifasya
• Macropenaeus
• Kazakarthrans
• Satyrocaris
• Leiothorax
• Tetrachela

Fish

• Acrodus
• Beltanodus
• Chanxingia
• Dapedium
• Edaphodon
• Heliocorpion
• Laugia
• Mawsonia
• Perleidus
• Saurichthys
• Sinosaurichthys
• Thoracopterus
• Whiteia
• Xenacanthus
• Zeuchthiscus
• Aellopos
• Birgeria
• Chinlea
• Dicellopyge
• Hybodus
• Lepidotes
• Pholidophorus
• Semionotus
• Ticinepomis
• Wimania
• Alcoveria
• Cleithrolepis
• Diplurus
• Leptolepis
• Listracanthus
• Piveteauia
• Arganodus
• Coelacanthus
• Axelia
• Indocoelacanthus
• Asiatoceratodus

Insects

• Mendozachorista
• Mesotitan
• Mesotitanodes
• Ultratitan
• Prototitan
• Paratitan
• Gigatitan
• Nanotitan
• Ootitan

Mammals

• Adelobasileus
• Eozostrodon
• Haramiya
• Megazostrodon
• Morganucodon
• Sinoconodon

Mollusks

• Araxoceras
• Bellorophon
• Ceratites
• Daonella
• Gervillaria
• Orthoceras
• Pseudotemperoceras
• Solenomorpha
• Whiteavesia
• Aviculopecten
• Claraia
• Oxytoma

Reptiles

• Arctosaurus
• Bobosaurus
• Crosbysaurus
• Czatkoweila
• Dinocephalosaurus
• Dromomeron
• Erythrosuchus
• Euparkeria
• Fodonyx
• Gwyneddosaurus
• Helveticosaurus
• Hyperodapedon
• Hypuronector
• Icarosaurus
• Koilamasuchus
• Kuehneosaurus
• Lagerpeton
• Lariosaurus
• Macrocnemus
• Megalanacosaurus
• Nectosaurus
• Nothosaurus
• Ornithosuchus
• Pachypleurosaurus
• Phonodus
• Quianosuchus
• Riojasuchus
• Saltopus
• Tricuspisaurus
• Uatchitodon
• Vallesaurus
• Yonghesuchus

Synapsids

• Bienotherium
• Chiniquodon
• Diademodon
• Ecteninion
• Galesaurus
• Hahnia
• Ischigualastia
• Jachaleria
• Kannameyeria
• Lystrosaurus
• Massetognathus
• Oligokyphus
• Prozostrodon
• Rabidosaurus
• Stahleckeria
• Traversodon

Triassic Period animals include the likes of Agrosaurus, Isanosaurus, Plateosaurus, Melanosaurus, and Eoraptor, which are some of the major dinosaurs of this time. As many as 300 different types of dinosaurs and other animal life forms existed in this period, including mammals, insects, reptiles, amphibians, and others. Most of these life forms are further classified into various different species, taking the count to somewhere around a couple of thousand. The lists above mostly enumerates the generic varieties of life forms under each class of animals.