News Animals

Extreme climate shifts long ago may have helped drive reptile evolution

A mass extinction 252 million years ago was only one reason Triassic reptiles rose to dominance

Illustration of a carnivorous erythrosuchid (looks like a cross between a dinosaur and a crocodile) reaching for tiny gliding reptiles in a forest

In this artist’s rendition, a carnivorous erythrosuchid — a close relative of crocodiles and dinosaurs — hunts tiny gliding reptiles about 240 million years ago, during one of the warmest periods in Earth’s history.

Henry Sharpe

By Beth Geiger

- More than 2 years ago

There’s nothing like a big mass extinction to open up ecological niches and clear out the competition, accelerating evolution for some lucky survivors.