What Would Have Happened If You Had Lived 200 million Years Ago?

Imagine you got into a time machine and travelled back 200 million years in time. The world today is very different from the one back then. Humans had not yet colonized the earth, and most of the plants and animals that exist today had not yet evolved. The Late Triassic period was one of great geological and biological change. After almost 90% of life on Earth had been exterminated during the Permian-Triassic extinction event, life was coming out.

The Terrain of Earth: A Supercontinent

About 200 million years ago, the continents of Earth were not configured as they are today. Instead, most of the landmasses of the planet were joined together to form a single supercontinent called Pangaea. This landmass surrounded the vast ocean called Panthalassa and covered nearly half of the Earth's surface. The temperature and topography of the Earth's climate would have been completely different.

The Pangaea supercontinent was slowly breaking apart, a process that would take millions of years and result in the formation of the continents as we know them today.

The terrain would have been much drier with extensive coastal plains, rocky mountain ranges, and vast deserts. The greenhouse climate resulted from a warmer atmosphere and more carbon dioxide in the air, which raised temperatures over a large portion of the world. Tropical and subtropical forests would have encompassed much of the earth. The poles would have had warmer temperatures than they have nowadays. Water sources would be so rare in this world, especially because of all the vast deserts and arid regions there. Most life would exist closely near lakes, rivers and coastlines, simply because plants thrive very well in such climes, and animals will like living close to those climates too. With tectonic plates beginning to drift and break Pangaea, there would also be lots of volcanic activity in some regions

The 200 million Old Flora

The vegetation of 200 million years ago was nothing like the forests of today, full of a wide variety of trees, shrubs, and flowering plants. During this period, ferns, cycads, conifers, and other gymnosperms formed most of the plant life on Earth, before the flowering plants (angiosperms) appeared.

Tall coniferous trees and cycads, a little like a cross between modern palms and ferns, would have dominated the landscape. Much of the ground would be covered by low-growing shrubs and mosses, and the forests full of ferns and horsetails. In some regions, higher CO2 in the atmosphere would allow plants to grow densely and lushly, especially near water sources. That fresh, flowery scent that we associate with modern forests would not have filled the air, however. With the air full of moisture and the occasional sulphurous smell from volcanic activity, the surroundings would have seemed more primeval.

 The Emergence of the Dinosaurs in Animal Life

Probably the most obvious difference of the two periods is that 200 million years ago reptiles far outnumbered those present today. Dinosaurs themselves became popular during this time, filling the vacated ecological niches formed when the mass extinction occurred during the end of the Permian period. New reptilian species, both of dinosaurs and non-dinosaurs, flooded the Earth at the beginning of the Triassic period, which was indeed an evolutionary biology testbed.

Dinosaurs are beginning to become dominant, although only in their developing stage with not yet attained enormous forms that would be characteristic in the Jurassic period. Two of the first dinosaurs, being the larger herbivore Plateosaurus and small, bipedal meat-eater Coelophysis, were the most massive animals on Earth, though smaller than the Jurassic giants. Still, by this time, they would dominate the landscape.

Alongside dinosaurs were other reptiles, such as aetosaurs, which had the appearance of a crocodile; flying reptiles, such as pterosaurs; and the earliest ancestors of modern mammals. Sea-dwelling reptiles, such as ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs, were much larger than the dolphins and sea turtles of today. Pterosaurs, the first flying reptiles, dominated the skies, with wingspans that ranged from tiny, bird-like creatures to as large as contemporary small aircraft.

But there was no human being in it. There were mammals, but they were small, nocturnal animals that were more like modern rodents than mammals. The dinosaurs were the leading reptilian species in that 200-million-year-old world.

How Would You Survive?

A human being would have had a very hard time surviving in a world 200 million years ago, mainly because of the drastically different environment, lack of modern tools, and technology. Here are a few things that would make life difficult if you were somehow transported back in time to the Triassic Period:

1. Absence of Modern Source of Food: Without modern sources of food, humans would need to hunt and gather. Most of the flora that exists would not be easily consumable as fruits and vegetables today are, and vegetation, as a source, would not be easy to digest. Hunting the bigger dangerous beasts, especially at this age and time, was unsafe too, especially in facing some early predators, which may include small dinosaurs.

2. Climate: Worldwide, temperatures, 200 million years ago were always higher than the current one. It would have extremely high heat at times in some parts and this would primarily occur in plains and desert areas. Without manmade protection from the environment for a human being to reside under, survival would not be easy. Adequate shade from the direct solar heat and available potable water would not have been possible.

3. Predators: There were also lots of predators on Triassic Earth. Any animal viewing the human as a potential source of food would always be an at least indirect threat, from large reptiles down to the early, agile dinosaurs like Coelophysis. Avoidance would be the best possible defence, but it might prove difficult without resources, including experience, to achieve it. Even the smaller ones-to include the early relatives of crocodilians-could present a risk to a naked, weapon less human.

Conclusion

Survival would be the last thing a survivalist might wish to have in 200 million years ago and during the Triassic period.

A human, with all the odd dangerous animals surrounding him and the environmental conditions to face, would be using instinct, resourcefulness, and good luck to survive and live in such a hostile world without modern comforts, tools, or environmental knowledge. Scanty food sources exist, the terrain is bad, and the climate is highly unpredictable. Humans would not be considered the top of the pyramid in this world because their place would be taken away by reptiles, beginning with the early dinosaurs, so it would be both shocking and interesting to experience Triassic world.