What is Upper Triassic?
[[File:Coelophysis bauri mount.jpg |thumb|230x230px| ''[[Coelophysis]]'', one of the first [[dinosaur]]s, appeared in the Upper Triassic epoch.]] The '''Upper Triassic''' is the last [[Epoch (geology)|epoch]] in the [[Triassic]] [[Period (geology)|period]]. It began 237 [[million]] years ago, and ended 201.3 million years ago. It was after the [[Middle Triassic]] epoch, and before the [[Lower Jurassic]] epoch. Many early [[dinosaur]] [[species]] appeared for the first time during the Upper Triassic. These included ''[[Plateosaurus]]'', ''[[Coelophysis]]'', and ''[[Eoraptor]]''. The discovery of ''[[Herrerasaurus]]'' and ''[[Saurosuchus]]'' makes it quite clear that the dinosaurs were taking hold of the land environments. [[Pterosaur]]s were common in the air, and [[ichthyosaur]]s dominated the seas. At the end of the Upper Triassic some event or events caused the [[extinction]] of many animal species worldwide. This was the [[end–Triassic extinction event]]. It was similar to the more famous event that lead to the [[K/T extinction event|extinction of the dinosaurs]]. No one knows for sure what caused the event. == Carnian pluvial event == Although the Triassic period was, in general, a dry period with the inland areas often being [[deserts]], the Upper Triassic epoch saw a big change. The Carnian Pluvial Event (CPE) was a major global [[climate change]] and biotic turnover with many extinctions. It was early in the Upper Triassic, about 230 million years ago.<ref name=SimmsRuffell1989>{{cite journal| year = 1989| title = Synchroneity of climatic change and extinctions in the late Triassic| url = https://archive.org/details/sim_geology_1989-03_17_3/page/265| journal = Geology| volume = 17| issue = 3| pages = 265–268| doi = 10.1130/0091-7613(1989)017<0265:SOCCAE>2.3.CO;2| accessdate = |bibcode = | last1 = Simms| first1 = Michael J.| last2 = Ruffell| first2 = Alastair H.}}</ref><ref name=Furinetal2006>{{cite journal| author = Furin S. |display-authors = etal| year = 2006| title = High-precision U-Pb zircon