LIFE AS WE KNOW IT
During the Triassic, some 225 million years ago, two types of animals went their separate ways. They were both born on the supercontinent of Pangaea, the single slab of land that stretched from the North Pole to the South. Their fates would be different, but forever intertwined. One group was destined for grandeur, and before long, their aeroplane-sized bodies thundered across the land. Dinosaurs. The other group was relegated to the shadows to bide their time. Mammals. Us, our distant ancestors.
Fast-forward some 160 million years, through the Jurassic and to the end of the Cretaceous. Temperatures spiked and crashed, sea levels rose and fell, and the supercontinent became the many continents of today. Through all of this time, dinosaurs and mammals lived together, but followed their own paths. No mammal ever got larger than a badger, as they were held in check by the dinosaurs. Conversely, the smart and furry little mammals kept dinosaurs from the small-bodied niches, so there never was a miniature or . Like ships passing in the night, the dinosaurs
