Why Were Triassic Animals so Weird?

Summary

This video delves into the peculiar creatures of the Triassic period, exploring why they were so unique. It discusses the aftermath of the Permian mass extinction, which left many ecological niches vacant, prompting an adaptive radiation among the surviving reptiles. The Triassic's climate was ideal for cold-blooded animals, leading to the rise of diverse reptilian groups, including early dinosaurs. The script also corrects previous misconceptions about the noodle lizard, Tanystropheus, and ponders the fate of these strange creatures in light of the subsequent Triassic extinction event.

Takeaways

• 🐉 Archosaurs are a group of reptiles that first appeared in the late Permian period and diversified into various groups including crocodilians, pterosaurs, and dinosaurs.
• 🌿 The Triassic period saw the emergence of many unusual animals, partly due to the vast number of vacant ecological niches following the Permian mass extinction.
• 🦕 Dinosaurs, although present in the Triassic, were not the dominant life forms and shared the landscape with other large reptiles.
• 🦎 The 'noodle lizard' Tanystropheus is now believed to have been a shallow water predator, contrary to previous assumptions about its habitat.
• 🌋 The Triassic extinction event, while not as well understood as others, is thought to have been triggered by intense volcanic activity and subsequent climate changes.
• 🌎 The breakup of Pangaea and the resulting volcanic activity led to significant environmental changes, causing another mass extinction and the rise of dinosaurs.
• 🐊 Crocodilians, pterosaurs, and birds are well-known surviving members of the archosaur clade, indicating their adaptability and success.
• 🦖 The first dinosaurs were generalist carnivores and omnivores with an upright bipedal stance, which made them more energy-efficient.
• 🌿 The recovery of life after the Permian extinction led to an explosion of adaptive radiation, resulting in a variety of unique and strange creatures.
• 🌄 The end of the Triassic period marked the beginning of the 'Age of Dinosaurs,' where they expanded to fill the ecological niches left vacant by the extinct creatures.
• 🌿 The concept of adaptive radiation and the rise and fall of species due to mass extinctions is a recurring theme in Earth's history, highlighting the importance of adaptability in survival.

Q & A

What is an archosaur?

Archosaurs are a clade of reptiles that first evolved during the late Permian. They diversified into many different groups during the Triassic, including crocodilians, pterosaurs, and dinosaurs. Birds are also considered members of this clade.

Why were the animals during the Triassic period considered strange?

The animals of the Triassic period were considered strange due to their unique and diverse designs that do not resemble any living animals today. This was a time of great evolutionary experimentation as species adapted to fill the many vacant ecological niches left by the Permian mass extinction.

What was the significance of the Triassic period for reptilian evolution?

The Triassic period was a time of significant evolutionary diversification for reptiles. With many ecological niches vacant due to mass extinction, reptiles evolved into a wide variety of forms, leading to the rise of groups like dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and crocodilians.

How did the Permian mass extinction impact the biodiversity during the Triassic period?

The Permian mass extinction wiped out 90% of life on Earth, leaving many ecological niches vacant. This allowed the surviving species to rapidly evolve and diversify, leading to an era of unique and bizarre animals, often referred to as the 'Triassic freak show'.

What is adaptive radiation and how does it relate to the Triassic period?

Adaptive radiation is a process by which a group of organisms rapidly evolves to fill multiple ecological niches, leading to the emergence of diverse forms. During the Triassic period, the mass extinction event created numerous vacant niches, prompting a rapid adaptive radiation among the surviving reptiles.

What is the current understanding of the Tanystropheus, also known as the 'noodle lizard'?

Recent analysis, including digital reconstructions of the skull and fossil evidence, suggests that the Tanystropheus was likely a shallow water predator. It had interlocking teeth suitable for a fish diet and may have used its hind limbs in a frog-like manner for locomotion.

Why did some Triassic reptiles become extinct while dinosaurs thrived?

The Triassic extinction event, possibly caused by intense volcanic activity and subsequent climate changes, led to the death of about 75% of life, including many of the strange reptiles. Dinosaurs, being more generalist and adaptable, were better positioned to survive these changes and eventually took over the vacant ecological niches.

How did the climate of the Triassic period influence reptilian evolution?

The Triassic period had a climate more suitable for cold-blooded animals, which likely contributed to the success and diversification of reptiles. The favorable conditions allowed for a rapid recovery of biodiversity and the evolution of many unique reptilian forms.

What is the 'great dying' and how did it set the stage for the Triassic period?

The 'great dying' refers to the Permian-Triassic extinction event, which was the most severe extinction event in Earth's history. It left the planet with a vast number of vacant ecological niches. From the surviving species, a diverse array of reptiles, including the first dinosaurs, evolved to fill these niches during the Triassic period.

What evidence suggests that the early dinosaurs were not the top predators during the Triassic?

Fossil evidence, such as the skull of Herrerasaurus with bite marks, suggests that early dinosaurs coexisted with other large predators and may not have been at the top of the food chain. They likely competed with other archosaurs for resources and dominance.

How do mass extinctions influence the perception of 'weird' animals in the fossil record?

Mass extinctions often lead to adaptive radiations, resulting in the evolution of many unique and unusual forms. These animals may seem strange to us because they evolved in response to specific environmental conditions that no longer exist, and many did not survive subsequent extinction events.

Outlines

00:00

🐉 Introduction to Triassic Animals and Archosaurs

The video begins by revisiting the peculiar creatures of the Triassic period, highlighting the presenter's favorites and addressing the question of why these animals were so strange. It transitions into a discussion about 'archosaurs,' a group of reptiles that first appeared in the late Permian and diversified into groups like crocodilians, pterosaurs, and dinosaurs. The presenter clarifies that while some successful Triassic animals were not archosaurs, they were still part of the reptile family tree. The video also corrects a previous statement about the 'noodle lizard,' now believed to have been a shallow water predator, and emphasizes the uniqueness of Triassic reptiles compared to modern ones.

05:02

🌿 The Aftermath of the Permian Extinction and Adaptive Radiation

This segment delves into the aftermath of the Permian mass extinction, which wiped out 90% of life on Earth. The presenter explains how the few surviving species filled the vacant ecological niches, leading to an explosion of biodiversity known as adaptive radiation. The Triassic period's climate was particularly conducive to cold-blooded animals, allowing reptiles to diversify into a variety of forms. The video discusses the rise of archosaurs, including the first dinosaurs, and how they competed with other large reptiles. It also touches on the mysterious Triassic extinction event and how it led to the dinosaurs eventually taking over.

10:02

🔥 The Triassic Extinction and the Dawn of the Age of Dinosaurs

The final paragraph discusses the Triassic extinction event, which is less understood than other mass extinctions. The presenter outlines various theories, including a possible impact and intense volcanic activity, which could have caused significant environmental changes. The video concludes by reflecting on the cyclical nature of mass extinctions and adaptive radiations, questioning whether our perception of 'weird' animals is due to their difference from what we're accustomed to. It ends with a tongue-in-cheek remark about human exceptionalism and our ability to avoid the fate of past species.

Keywords

💡Triassic Period

The Triassic Period is a geological time period that began approximately 252 million years ago and ended about 201.3 million years ago. It is the first of three periods of the Mesozoic Era, which is often referred to as the 'Age of Reptiles.' The video discusses the unique and bizarre animals that existed during this time, highlighting the period's significance in the evolution of life on Earth. The Triassic Period is particularly noted for the emergence of the first dinosaurs and other archosaurs, setting the stage for the dominance of these groups in subsequent geological periods.

💡Archosaurs

Archosaurs are a group of reptiles that first appeared during the Late Permian period and diversified significantly during the Triassic. They include crocodilians, pterosaurs, dinosaurs, and birds. In the video, archosaurs are central to the discussion of the 'Triassic freak show,' as they represent the dominant reptilian group that diversified into many different forms, taking advantage of the ecological opportunities presented by the post-Permian extinction event.

💡Tanystropheus

Tanystropheus, also known as the 'long neck boy,' is a reptile mentioned in the video that had an unusually long neck. Initially, it was thought that its small limbs made it unlikely to live in an open marine environment, but recent analysis suggests it was probably a shallow water predator. This example illustrates the evolving understanding of prehistoric creatures and how new evidence can reshape scientific interpretations.

💡Permian Mass Extinction

The Permian Mass Extinction, also known as 'The Great Dying,' was the most severe extinction event in Earth's history, occurring around 252 million years ago. It resulted in the loss of approximately 90% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial species. The video discusses how this event created a 'power vacuum' in ecosystems, leading to the rise of new and diverse life forms, including many of the strange creatures of the Triassic Period.

💡Adaptive Radiation

Adaptive radiation is a process in evolution where a single ancestral species rapidly diversifies into several new species, each adapted to a different ecological niche. The video explains that following the Permian extinction, the surviving species underwent adaptive radiation, leading to the evolution of a wide variety of new forms, including the unique reptiles of the Triassic Period.

💡Draconosaurs

Draconosaurs, such as Draconosaurus and Drapanosaurus, are mentioned as examples of the strange and specialized creatures that evolved during the Triassic Period. These reptiles were characterized by their large size and unique features, which allowed them to fill various ecological roles in the recovering ecosystems post-Permian extinction.

💡Herrerasaurus

Herrerasaurus is an early dinosaur mentioned in the video, known for its bipedal stance and adaptations that made upright locomotion more efficient. Although it was a significant predator in the late Triassic, it likely did not reach the apex predator status due to competition from other large archosaurs. This dinosaur exemplifies the early stages of dinosaur evolution and the competitive environment they faced.

💡Triassic Extinction Event

The Triassic Extinction Event, around 201 million years ago, was a significant but less well-understood mass extinction that resulted in the loss of approximately 75% of life. The video suggests that this event was likely triggered by intense volcanic activity and subsequent climate changes, which led to the decline of many specialized reptile groups, paving the way for the rise of dinosaurs.

💡Specialization

Specialization in biology refers to the adaptation of an organism to a specific environment or ecological niche. The video discusses how the generalist reptiles that survived the Permian extinction became increasingly specialized over the Triassic Period. This specialization initially provided advantages but ultimately made them vulnerable to the environmental changes that led to the Triassic extinction event.

💡Biodiversity

Biodiversity refers to the variety of life in an area and the variability within and between species. The video highlights how the recovery of biodiversity after the Permian extinction allowed for the evolution of a wide array of new species, including the strange and unique creatures of the Triassic Period. The concept of biodiversity is central to understanding the richness of life on Earth and its response to mass extinction events.

Highlights

Exploration of bizarre animals from the Triassic period.

Discussion on why animals during the Triassic were so strange.

Definition and explanation of what archosaurs are.

Correction about the noodle lizard's habitat and swimming ability.

The impact of the Permian mass extinction on the biodiversity of the Triassic period.

Adaptive radiation as a response to mass extinctions and its role in the evolution of unique species.

How the climate of the Triassic period favored the evolution of cold-blooded animals.

The rise of the first dinosaurs and their competition with other large archosaurs.

Theories on the causes of the Triassic extinction event.

The effect of volcanic activity on the climate and ecosystems during the Triassic period.

The decline of specialized reptiles and the rise of dinosaurs post-Triassic extinction.

Reflection on how our perception of 'weird' animals is shaped by their rarity and unfamiliarity.

The potential for the continuation of the 'Triassic freak show' had the extinction event not occurred.

The beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs following the Triassic extinction.

Irony in human specialization and the potential for repeating historical patterns of extinction.

Transcripts

[Music]

so last week we explored the absolutely

bizarre animals that existed during the

triassic period i talked about some of

my favorites or the ones that stood out

to me for one reason or another but as i

researched this topic one question

started to come up time and again why

were these animals so strange what was

it about this time in particular that

led to so many wild designs in nature

but before i get into that topic i want

to start by giving a little bit of an

explanation to a question i got several

times in response to my last video

so what exactly is an archosaur

archosaurs are a clade of reptiles that

first evolved during the late permian as

we've discussed they diversified into

many different groups during the

triassic groups like crocodilians

pterosaurs and dinosaurs and by proxy

birds are the most well-known members of

this clade but during this 50 million

year heyday they literally took over the

world and although some of the different

triassic success stories weren't

actually members of the archosaurs like

our long neck boy tennie strophius and

the reptilian platypus drapanosaurus but

in general these were all branches of

the reptile family tree and the simplest

way i can put it is that today when

people think of reptiles we think of

lizards snakes turtles and crocodilians

well during the triassic there were many

other kinds of reptile that didn't fit

into any of these boxes

because even if i try to make

comparisons to living animals

the fact is this is not like anything

alive today and while we're on the

subject of tanis trophy is

i would like to make a correction to

what i said about the noodle lizard last

week i said that there was almost no

chance that this animal lived in an open

marine environment because of its small

limbs that would not have been very

useful for swimming this however is no

longer thought to have been the case now

as i said this animal is no stranger to

being the subject of scientific debate i

seriously feel like i could make an

entire video just about the different

ways that we've perceived this animal

over the years but the most recent

analysis comes from a digital

reconstruction done of the skull

that shows that the nostrils were

positioned on top of the skull this

along with learning that the teeth were

interlocking in the front like many

other animals that survive on a diet of

fish and finding fossils that suggest

that it may have been able to use its

hind limbs kind of similar to a frog

have led many to conclude that this

animal probably did live in the water

most of the time though still capable of

getting around on land it's now believed

that tannie strophius was probably a

shallow water predator i want to thank

tracy ford for providing me with the

picture of what this creature's skull

probably looked like in life but now

with that out of the way it's time for

us to tackle the bigger question and to

do that i think the best thing to do is

start at the beginning

one thing to remember about the history

of life on earth is that there are three

major eras that multicellular life has

existed and the first two have been

punctuated by world ending catastrophes

the most famous of these was 66 million

years ago when a meteor struck the

yucatan peninsula the results of this

impact was the complete decimation of

nearly every marine and terrestrial

ecosystem and the extinction of roughly

76 of all of earth's species now this is

the most famous extinction for two

reasons for one it's the extinction that

ended the age of the non-avian dinosaurs

and for two

it's the extinction that gave us and the

rest of the mammals the opportunity we

were looking for mammals did exist

throughout the mesozoic but like the

early dinosaurs in the triassic we were

unable to become the dominant life forms

on the planet until the old masters got

out of the way but despite how well

known this extinction is it was

definitely not the worst thing to ever

happen to life on earth if you go back

to the earliest days of the triassic you

would see a wounded world on the brink

of total collapse the permian mass

extinction wiped out literally 90 of the

life on earth this would be the closest

earth would ever come to becoming a dead

world but luckily a few species did

survive this great dying it was from

this handful of survivors that would

spawn the triassic freak show you see

pretty much every dominant niche from

the permian was left vacant because

literally every single animal filling

those roles was now extinct and as i've

said all the way back in my very first

video and probably several times since

then when an ecosystem stays the same

for a long time the specialists tend to

do well thus they keep becoming more

specialized to whatever it is that they

were doing so they can remain on top but

when conditions change

they often struggle to roll with the

punches and adapt now the details of

this extinction are an interesting topic

in itself and i have to really struggle

not to go off on a tangent about it and

make this video over an hour long which

i wouldn't mind doing but then i

definitely couldn't get it out to you

guys by friday so today we need to focus

on the 10 that did survive the permian

extinction because whenever there's a

lot of open niches caused by mass

extinctions there is kind of a power

vacuum where animals seem to quickly

evolve to fill those roles and gain

dominance this can lead to evolution

taking designs in very interesting

directions for instance a group of

monitor lizard-like archosaurs evolving

a disproportionately large head and with

it comes a stronger bite force and a

coveted spot as an apex predator this

process is called adaptive radiation and

with 90 percent of the life removed it

didn't take long for the survivors to

start evolving into all sorts of weird

and wonderful forms until the

biodiversity had built back up to a

healthy amount this was sped up even

more by the fact that the climate of the

triassic was much more well suited to

cold-blooded animals so basically from

the ashes of the great dying the stage

was set perfectly for the reptiles to

take over the world and simply by taking

advantage of it they inevitably

diversified into all sorts of bizarre

animals

so as life recovered from the permian

extinction the reptiles evolved into

many different groups that were

progressively getting more and more out

there this is when we started seeing

things like draponosaurus and

hyperodapadon along with another branch

of the archosaur family tree that

remained pretty small until the very

tail end of the period there were mostly

generalist carnivores and omnivores with

an upright bipedal stance and specially

adapted hip bones that made upright

locomotion easier and more energy

efficient these were the very first

dinosaurs and although a few species

like herrerasaurus became major

predators in the late triassic they

still likely weren't the top predators

especially considering herrerasaurus

actually lived in the same place as many

large archosaurs which means this

20-foot long carnivore probably wasn't

the king in fact the skull of

herrerasaurus has been found with bite

marks on it and it's unclear whether

these marks came from another

herrerasaurus or something else maybe

these early dinosaurs and the massive

archosaur

competed the same way that we see

different large predators do today so

even though the dinosaurs weren't on top

just yet they certainly weren't confined

to the shadows like the mammals during

the mesozoic they just could never reach

the level of dominance that they would

later because of competition from other

reptiles so if the dinosaurs didn't take

control and drive these other strange

creatures to extinction how did we end

up with so few of these animal groups

that were once so successful around

today

the triassic extinction event is

something that isn't as well understood

as the cretaceous or permian events

there are a few theories about what

exactly happened some involving a

possible impact adding to things even

though no crater of an extinction event

causing size has ever been dated to this

time

so the most popular theory is that it

all started with an intense jump in

volcanic activity as pangaea started to

rip apart and well

big changes in that often lead to a

domino effect it can mess with the

climate by adding greenhouse gases to

the atmosphere it can block out the sun

and disrupt the food web by stopping

photosynthesis and it can lead to acid

rain which can in turn acidify the

oceans apparently all these things were

happening even as the very land

underneath these animals feet was

literally falling apart this is a lot of

change and well stop me if i sound like

a broken record the generalist reptiles

that managed to survive the permian

extinction had now just spent the past

50 million years becoming specialists

themselves the strategy served them well

up until around 201 million years ago it

just inevitably couldn't last forever as

a result of these events around 75

percent of life would die out again

among them would be most of the strange

reptiles like the drapanosaurs the

wrinkasaurs the phytosaurs

and a lot of the large carnivorous

archosaurs and this time it would be the

dinosaurs that would step in to take

their place and now that i think about

it

is this really any stranger than this

or this

maybe we just perceive these animals as

weird because they're different than

what we're used to looking at but the

truth is every time that there's a drop

in biodiversity we see an explosion of

adaptive radiation shortly after and the

results are often things that we might

call weird they may seem particularly

strange to us today

because this time was literally

sandwiched in between two big mass

extinctions many of these animals

evolved to survive the triassic and the

better majority of them didn't make it

past that time so maybe had the triassic

extinction never happened

maybe we wouldn't see these animals as

weird because we would be used to seeing

them both in the fossil record as well

as possibly even alive today but

unfortunately for the strange

specialized animals of this time

it did happen and in my opinion this is

the moment when the age of dinosaurs

truly began when the generalist triassic

dinosaurs managed to last through the

volcanic armageddon that happened 201

million years ago they would inevitably

expand into the vacant niches again

becoming the rulers of earth until their

number would come up at the end of the

cretaceous this is a story as old as

time and history seems to be bound to

repeat itself over and over again

that is until it came to be our turn

because we humans are special we know

better than to become too specialized to

a certain way of life and even as we

become increasingly dependent on

technology and more and more fragile

systems and we actually make changes to

the world that might harm our current

way of life in the future you can all

sleep easy knowing that we humans cannot

possibly fall victim to the exact same

thing that has literally claimed 99

of all species that have ever lived on

this planet

see y'all next week everybody

[Music]

[Music]

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