3 min read Dinosaurs, birds, and rodents ... teemed with diverse and abundant life. At the top of the food chain were the long-necked and paddle-finned plesiosaurs, giant marine crocodiles ...

Life that survived the so-called Great Dying ... including rodent-size mammals and the first dinosaurs. By the start of the Triassic, all the Earth's landmasses had coalesced to form Pangaea ...