continental-drift

Dinosaurs did not exist in a single monolithic era. They ruled Earth across three distinct geological periods spanning 165 million years — longer than the time separating us from the last non-avian dinosaur. Each period had its own continents, climates, ecosystems, and dominant species. Understanding what changed across the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous is the key to understanding why dinosaurs became what they became.

Alfred Wegener proposed continental drift in 1912 and was rejected by his field. Plate tectonics vindicated him decades after his death on Greenland's ice.

Plate tectonics explained: how Earth's rigid plates move, what drives them, what happens at their boundaries, and the evidence that settled the debate.

Over geological time, continents have repeatedly collided, separated, and reformed in different configurations. If the continents had assembled differently — say, forming a supercontinent at the equator, or never breaking apart from Pangaea — the climate, life, and evolution would be radically different.