Triassic

American  

[trahy-as-ik] / traɪˈæs ɪk /

adjective

1. noting or pertaining to a period of the Mesozoic Era, occurring from 230 to 190 million years ago and characterized by the advent of dinosaurs and coniferous forests.

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noun

1. Also Trias the Triassic Period or System.

Triassic British  

/ traɪˈæsɪk /

adjective

1. of, denoting, or formed in the first period of the Mesozoic era that lasted for 42 million years and during which reptiles flourished

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noun

1. the Triassic period or rock system

Triassic Scientific  

/ trī-ăs′ĭk /

1. The earliest period of the Mesozoic Era, from about 245 to 208 million years ago. During the early part of the Triassic Period the supercontinent Pangaea was located along the equator; by the end of the Triassic it had started to split up. Land life diversified in the Triassic in response to the mass extinctions of the end of the Paleozoic. Conifers, cycads, marine reptiles, dinosaurs, and the earliest mammals first appeared.

2. See Chart at geologic time

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Other Word Forms

• post-Triassic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Triassic

1835–45; Trias the three-part series of strata characterizing the period (< German < Greek triás; see triad) + -ic

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Triassic

Geological evidence and plant fossils show that the Triassic landscape of Kariba was dry and dotted with stands of large conifer trees, with green corridors of vegetation following permanent watercourses.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

Long-necked marine reptiles were common in the seas covering parts of what is now China during the Triassic period, and scientists have discovered fossils of several different species.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 29, 2026

They discovered it belonged to a Saurichthys - a predator fish that lived in shallow tropical seas during the Late Triassic period.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

"Although British Triassic fossils have been studied for over 200 years, this is the first bone from Saurichthys ever found in these rocks."

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

Most of these are also reasonably well known: Cretaceous, Jurassic, Triassic, Silurian, and so on.*

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson