Drastic differences between the arid and humid times, tremendous alterations in the flora … In short, the changing conditions of the Triassic period prevented dinosaurs from settling in the tropical regions of the planet , according to a research led by Dr. Jessica Whiteside, from the University of Southampton (UK).
Weather instability and vegetation conditions were decisive factors for the absence of large saurians in the tropics during the Triassic period , based on sedimentary records found in the Chinle geological formation in northern New Mexico ( USA). For scientists, it was a recurring question why dinos did not have a constant presence in tropical areas during the 100 million years after their origin, especially when they were able to adapt to extreme latitudes and become dominant creatures.
We now know from this study that the data on the carbon isotopes of fossil organic matter reveal that the environment affected by strong fluctuations between arid and humid conditions, with abrupt changes in flora, in tropical regions had a lot to do with it. Likewise, the fossil charcoal remains suggest that there were frequent fires, which was surely produced by environmental variation that encouraged the creation of organic matter in the wet season and its subsequent rapid dryness in arid periods.
As a consequence, these fluctuations, together with the presence of high levels of C02 in the atmosphere, may have been the cause that these giant creatures did not spread in tropical areas, which were characterized by those unpredictable alterations in the availability of resources and that therefore, they did not ensure their survival.
