Dracian

The Dracian Period is a geologic period that lasted from 183 to 143 million years ago. Over its 40 million year duration, the Dracian saw a period of rapid global warming and the evolution of many kinds of modern reptiles- birds, dragons, and crocodiles all first appear during this time. The Dracian is also where the first crown-group mammal fossils are known. This period represents the greatest biodiversity known to science.

The Dracian was also host to a rapid increase in dinosaur body size. While the preceding Lothranic saw a rise in biodiversity among dinosaurs and their relatives, the Dracian saw further niche partitioning among these reptiles and an increase in average size. Among sauropodomorphs, average adult body size doubled between the Lothranic and Dracian periods. In the marine realm, it is regarded as a golden age of the Peioraidae, a family of short-necked plesiosaurids who were the dominant predators of the ocean at the time. The Domeri Rift Valley began to form in this period, creating great conditions for both life and fossilization too.