Eos has a story about a little known mass extinction that led to the rise of the dinosaurs. New research published in the journal Science Advances shows that climate change driven by volcanic eruptions in western Canada brought about the dinosaurs and eventually the modern world. The event is called Carnian Pluvial Episode. It occurred 233 million years ago during the Triassic Period. The name of the event comes from the extensive rains... a million years of rain (!), that fell across the super continent of Pangaea.
Massive volcanic eruptions followed by climate change, widespread extinction, and, eventually, the emergence of new life forms. It sounds like the story of one of Earth’s five great mass extinctions.
Now researchers say the same description applies to a lesser known—but highly consequential—event referred to as the Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE), 233 million years ago.
Unlike some of the more dramatic mass extinctions, the signature of the CPE is difficult to trace. But working across disciplines and continents, a team of scientists has been able to piece together a broad overview, showing that it was a period of rapid biological turnover on a global scale.
The accumulated evidence, including results of a new fossil analysis, shows that the CPE was a major extinction event. More than that, however, the evidence indicates it was a period of new beginnings. Most notably, the CPE marks the start of the dinosaurs’ ascendence to ubiquity and ecological dominance.
