Two hundred and fifty one million years ago, the worst mass extinction event Planet Earth has ever seen ruined the life of the Late Permian Period.
Known as the Great Dying, this colossal extinction, caused by brutal mass volcanism, wiped out ninety six percent of all marine species, and seventy percent of all terrestrial species.
What followed was the Triassic Period, which ushered in a whole new era on Earth - the Mesozoic Era. In the aftermath of this great disaster, evolution was free to run wild.
Huge numbers of species across the world, from arboreal insectivores, to huge ambush predators, were now extinct, leaving many different ecological niches to be filled by those who could step up to the challenge of filling them.
After the extinction, the world was left with many generalists - species
that were efficient at exploiting a wide range of lifestyles and food sources.
We will take a look at the main areas and continents that these peculiar species called home, where we will meet strange gliding creatures, gigantic marine predators, and the bizarre life forms of the world's coasts and shallows; unlike nothing else alive on Earth today.