Dawn of the Dinosaurs: New Mexico's Triassic Period
The only Triassic Exhibit Hall in North America is dedicated to the plants and animals of the Triassic Period in New Mexico and the world.
The Triassic saw the extinction of many dominant reptiles and the emergence of two significant evolutionary lines in Earth History – dinosaurs and mammals. Dinosaurs emerge as a distinct group of animals in the Late Triassic and go on to dominate the Earth’s terrestrial ecosystems until the Cretaceous impact extinction – over 160 million years. Mammals chug along in the underbrush during that time until the slate is cleared at the end of the Cretaceous, opening the way for what has been another amazing evolutionary success story.