[11] Triassic chronostratigraphy was originally based on ammonite fossils, beginning with the work of Edmund von Mojsisovics in the 1860s.

[15][16] They emerged in a world dominated by crurotarsan archosaurs (ancestors of crocodiles), predatory phytosaurs, herbivorous armored aetosaurs, and giant carnivorous rauisuchians, which the dinosaurs gradually began to displace.

[11] During this age, herbiverous sauropodomorphs diversified and began to displace the large herbivorous therapsids, perhaps because they were better able to adapt to the increasingly arid climate.

This age was concluded with the disappearance of many species that removed types of plankton from the ocean, as well as some organisms known for reef-building, and the pelagic conodonts.

[citation needed] A single, large landmass similar to Pangea would be expected to have extreme seasons; however, evidence offers contradictions.

Different hypotheses of the events occurrence include eruptions, monsoonal effects, and changes caused by plate tectonics.

Rocks also included dinosaur tracks, mudcracks, and fossils of crustaceans and fish, which provide climate evidence, since animals and plants can only live during periods of which they can survive through.

Propositions for its cause include: Theories and concepts are supported universally, due to extensive areal proof of Carnian siliciclastic sediments.

Multiple resourced and recurring patterns in results of evaluations allowed for the satisfactory clarification of facts and common conceptions on the Late Triassic.

The extinction event that began during the Late Triassic resulted in the disappearance of about 76% of all terrestrial and marine life species, as well as almost 20% of taxonomic families.

Although the Late Triassic Epoch did not prove to be as destructive as the preceding Permian Period, which took place approximately 50 million years earlier and destroyed about 70% of land species, 57% of insect families as well as 95% of marine life, it resulted in great decreases in population sizes of many living organism populations.

Despite the large populations that withered away with the coming of the Late Triassic, many families, such as the pterosaurs, crocodiles, mammals and fish were very minimally affected.

As a result of the rifting of the super continent Pangea, there was an increase in widespread volcanic activity which released large amounts of carbon dioxide.

At the end of the Triassic Period, massive eruptions occurred along the rift zone, known as the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province, for about 500,000 years.

The sudden increase in carbon dioxide levels is believed to have enhanced the greenhouse effect, which acidified the oceans and raised average air temperature.

In addition, 53% of marine genera and about 76–86% of all species became extinct, which vacated ecological niches; thus, enabling dinosaurs to become the dominant presence in the Jurassic Period.