The archosaurs rise
The reptile group that will produce crocodiles, pterosaurs, dinosaurs and birds takes over the land.
- When
- Known to
- ± 3 million years
- Era
- Triassic, Mesozoic
With the therapsids reduced, archosaurs radiate into the vacancy and split into two great branches: one leading to crocodilians, the other to pterosaurs, dinosaurs and eventually birds. For most of the Triassic the crocodile branch is the more successful, producing armoured herbivores and long-legged predators that look superficially like dinosaurs. The outcome is decided not by competition but by an extinction.