The famous supercontinent Pangea was divided into four main phases: Permian, Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. This article will state the main events or main ideas of what happened in each period. The Permian Period The Permian Period was the final period of the Paleozoic Era, which lasted from approximately 299 million years ago to 251 million years ago. This period affected many different organisms from many different environments, but primarily affected marine life; specifically invertebrates. Some groups survived the Permian mass extinction with extremely small numbers, but never achieved the ecological dominance they had before. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay On land, a minor extinction occurred, eliminating many diapsids and synapsids, making room for the dominance of other species, which is now known as the “Age of Dinosaurs.” In plant life, forests of fern-like plants called gymnosperms, plants with their offspring enclosed in seeds. The Permian period was a time of great change and the Earth has never been the same since. The Triassic Period The Triassic period began at the end of the Paleozoic Era and the beginning of the Mesozoic Era, lasting from approximately 254 million years ago to 206 million years ago. Pangea did not begin to break up until the mid-Triassic period, forming Gondwana (South America, Africa, India, Antarctica, and Australia) in the south and Laurasia (North America and Eurasia-Europe and Asia) in the north. The movements that created these two supercontinents are due to the spreading of the sea floor on the central oceanic ridge that lies on the floor of the Tethys Sea, the body of water between Gondwana and Laurasia. When Pangea broke up, mountains began to form on the west coast of what would later be North America by subduction of oceanic plates beneath continental plates. Toward the end of the Triassic, mountains continued to form along the coast from Alaska to Chile. As mountains formed in North and South America, North Africa was split from Europe due to the growing rift. This division of the continents began to move westward, eventually dividing eastern North America from North Africa. The Jurassic Period The Jurassic period was the second part of the Mesozoic era. It occurred 199.6 to 145.5 million years ago. During the Jurassic period, Pangea split apart. The northern half, known as Laurentia, was dividing into landmasses that would eventually form North America and Eurasia, creating spaces for the central Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. The southern half, called Gondwana, was moving toward an eastern segment that would form Antarctica, Madagascar, India, and Australia, and a western portion that would form Africa and South America. This separation, along with warmer global temperatures, allowed for the diversity and dominance of dinosaurs. Dinosaurs may have been the dominant land animals, but they weren't the only ones. Early mammals were mostly small herbivores or insectivores and were not competitors of larger reptiles. Adelobasileus, a shrew-like animal, had the differential ear and jaw bones of a mammal and dates to the Late Triassic. The Cretaceous Period The Cretaceous period was the last and longest piece of the Mesozoic era. Please note: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay It lasted about 79 million years, from 145.5 million years ago to 65.5 million years ago. At the beginning of the Cretaceous the continents were in positions.