Dinosaurs first appeared in the middle of the Triassic period. The extinction during the Triassic-Jurassic periods allowed dinosaurs to grow to mammoth proportions.

The middle Triassic period of the Mesozoic Era

Icthyosaurs and plesiosaurs are both known from Triassic strata. Crinoids were common then, but their history spans more than just the Triassic. Coelophysis appeared in the middle of the Triassic. Phytosaurs and aetosaurs did not survive past the end of the Triassic. Lystrosaurus was a Triassic dicynodont, about the size of a sheep, which has been found on every continent (including Antarctica).

Podocarps and other gymnosperms (plants) survived beyond the Triassic period.

A Bauriidae is a member of a group of therocephalian therapsids, which became extinct during the Middle Triassic.

A zanclodontid is a member of the Zanclodontidae family, a reptile which lived in Europe during the middle-late Triassic period.