The Triassic Period was a gnarly time to be alive on Earth, and not only because it was Act One of the age of dinosaurs. This epoch stretched from 251 to 199 million years ago, and was bookended by mass extinction events caused, in part, by abnormally high atmospheric carbon levels. As a result, Triassic Earth was warmer than the modern world, lacked ice caps at its poles, and saw widespread desertification within the supercontinent Pangaea and wetlands along its coast. It would likely not have been a liveable environment for human beings, even without the threat of Dilophosaurus attacks around every corner.

 

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