DINOVEMBER DAY 10: 240MYA, ANISIAN STAGE; ITALY
In the shallow seas of Northern Italy, a Tanystropheus and a Besanosaurus swim alongside eachother. The Tanystropheus is cautious; in the water, his companion has the advantage. He would be in by serious danger if the Besanosaurus was hungry, but fortunately for him, she has just fed and has no interest in chasing after him. For now he will hurry back to the shore, leaving her to patrol the ocean. These two strange animals are both reptiles, and they are both exemplary of the reptiles' success in the Triassic. Reptiles are everywhere: in the seas, on the shore, in the trees, digging through the soil and charging across the sands. The synapsids still hold roles on this world, but the dicynodonts are restricted to be only the largest grazers, and no cynodont is bigger than a modern badger. They are relics of a bygone age, and by the end of the Triassic, most of them will be gone.
Of the reptiles that have evolved, some groups are separating themselves from the pack. One of these groups is the ichthyosaurs, a group of oceangoing reptiles that have taken advantage of the coral reefs that have re-emerged after the devastation of The Great Dying. Besanosaurus is a typical Triassic ichthyosaur, with her sleek 8m long body ending in a paddle like tail to propel herself through the water, guided by the 4 flippers that have evolved from the arms and legs of her ancestors. She is a fast moving apex predator, but other ichthyosaurs like Shastasaurus have become 80 tonne leviathans drifting through the open oceans. Another group of animals called the sauropterygians are also making moves towards the water, with the seal-like Nothosaurus being found on beaches across Europe. One day they too will lose their land capabilities, giving rise to the long necked plesiosaurs.
On land, a group called the archosaurs have risen to power, helped by their ability to save water when they excrete, making them better suited to the vast Triassic deserts. Tanystropheus is closely related to the archosaurs, and has taken advantage of the recovering seas also; he is a fisher, using a neck twice as long as his body to grab fish from the water while his feet stay planted on the shore. He is also an adept swimmer, though not so much that he could outspeed a hungry shark or ichthyosaur. His archosaurian cousins have produced a variety of forms, fast and slow, predator and prey, but one little archosaur, far away at the other end of Pangea, has just become the first member of a group of reptiles that will surpass all others, push what is physically possible for a land animal and rule the world without question: the dinosaurs.
