3 min read The start of the Triassic period (and the Mesozoic era) was a desolate time in ... On firm ground, moss, liverwort, and ferns carpeted forests of conifers, ginkgoes, and palm-like ...

Magnolia, ficus, and sassafras quickly outnumbered ferns, conifers ... same in the new era that dawned after the close of the Mesozoic era.

Scientists divide the Mesozoic Era into three periods: the Triassic ... These changes allowed plants such as ferns and horsetails to grow over huge areas. Some of this vegetation became the fossil ...