Thread by @IsaiahCTorre

Volcanic Dawn: The Complete Series- A Megathread

I: The Garden of Pangaea

The Late Triassic period, 205 million years ago. A typical scene in what will become Southern Germany. Flocks of Eudimorphodon (early pterosaurs) soar over vast conifer forests, patrolling the waterways for food. (1/3)

A herd of Lisowicia (giant dicynodonts) gather at a brook for their morning drink, intimidating a pair of Teratosaurus (predatory pseudosuchians). Watching nearby, a Proganochelys (primitive turtle) basks in the sun, while a Plagiosaurus (small amphibian) hunts for fish. (2/3)

Just upriver, a pair of Plateosaurus (early sauropodmorph dinosaurs) browse on ferns. A Liliensternus (primitive theropod dinosaur) dashes by, momentarily disturbing a grazing aetosaur (herbivorous pseudosuchian).

Life on Pangaea is thriving. For now... (3/3)

II: The Shadow of Death

It is now the end of the Triassic, 201 million years ago. In what will become Nova Scotia, Canada, the peace of a lush forested river valley is broken a billowing black shroud rising into the sky and series of ear-splitting sonic booms. (1/2)

For 30 million years, the Pangaean supercontinent has been slowly rifting. Now, the surge of the mantle below rips the continental crust apart in violent volcanic eruptions. Huge volumes of magma gush from fissures along the boundaries of North America, Africa and Europe. (2/2)

III: Inferno of The Palisades

+1 week

In mere days, lava pours out over hundreds, maybe thousands, of square kilometers along the Eastern Seaboard of the US as the continents tear apart. Near what will become Manhattan, the once peaceful landscape is turning inside out. (1/2)

Seeking shelter in a lake, a female Rutiodon (phytosaur psuedosuchian) watches as geysers explode from the ground and fountains of lava set the valley ablaze. One day, the remains of these lava flows with be known as The Palisades of the Hudson River. (2/2)

IV: The Burning Rift

+1 Year

As the eruptions continue, nothing living along the east coast of North America and the north coast of Africa is left alive. Near the edge of the fissures, in what is now Morocco, what was once a lakeside community is now a living hell. (1/2)

Amid the flows, the charred corpse of a metoposaurian amphibian lies alongside blackened tree stumps.

In time, the eruptions will cover an area of over 11 million square km and ultimately form the Atlantic Ocean basin. But in the process, they set off a global disaster. (2/2)

V: A Devil's Due

+25 Years

Decades pass, and the eruptions pour millions of tons of dust, ash and toxic gases into the atmosphere. Brief but suffocating volcanic winters ravage the globe. In what is now Brazil, a hungry Zupysaurus (primitive theropod dinosaur) feasts on- (1/2)

the corpse of a rhynchosaur (herbivorous archosauromorph) as a haze of volcanic glass drifts down.

Steeled against the cold by their feathers and warm-bloodedness, the early dinosaurs endure while the bigger reptiles and protomammals suffer from hypothermia and starvation. (2/2)

VI: Stifling Days at Ghost Ranch

+75 Years

As the years pass, huge quantities of carbon dioxide released by the eruptions trigger intense global warming. In what is now New Mexico, animals struggle to find relief from the heat as the landscape around them dries out. (1/3)

In a drying river, a Redondasaurus (large phytosaur) tries to cool off as two Desmatosuchus (large aetosaurs) approach. A Postosuchus (predatory pseudosuchian) eyes the armored beasts hungrily from the opposite bank. (2/3)

Nearby, a Protosuchus (primitive crocodillian relative) warily approaches for a drink, while an Effigia (bipedal pseudosuchian) hunts for insects along the baking riverbed. Meanwhile, a male Metoposaurus leaves the water to seek shade after fertilizing his mate's eggs. (3/3)

VII: Strangled Bloodlines

+100 Years

A century into the crisis, CO2 levels rise to over 600 parts per million. As global temperatures rise, many species around the world suffer intensely.

In Germany, a mother Nicrosaurus (phytosaur) is driven by extreme hunger and- (1/2)

heat stress to eat her own offspring. The hatchlings that do survive, all males, struggle to endure the outside stifling conditions. Reptile species whose reproduction is affected by temperature are endangered, as the warming ends up producing only males. (2/2)

VIII: Carrier's Constraint

+250 Years

As the atmosphere changes, the climate swings wildly between extreme cold and suffocating heat over mere decades. And while CO2 levels reach record highs, oxygen levels begin to plummet.

In what is now Arizona, herds of aetosaurs- (1/2)

struggle to survive. A thirsty Typothorax looks for seeps in a dried riverbed, while a herd of Paratypothroax wander aimlessly in search of food. With their primitive reptilian lung design and sprawling posture, they’re not adapting well to the increasingly thinning air. (2/2)

IX: Fugitives from The Fire

+500 Years

With the increase in global temperatures, the climate becomes harsher and drier, and wildfires become more frequent. In New Mexico, a violent lightning storm sets a drying forest ablaze, igniting a firestorm. (1/2)

As the inferno advances, a pack of Coelophysis (small theropod dinosaurs) take advantage of the chaos to pick off prey. Three of them surround a weakened Desmatosuchus. With a bird-like lung system, the dinosaurs are better adapted to deal with the decreasing O2 levels. (2/2)

X: A Stormy Brine

+1K Years

The climate crisis spreads to the oceans. Rising global temperatures and acid rain change the chemistry of the seas, killing off plankton and shattering the food chain.

In what will become Switzerland, a once-thriving shallow sea is ravaged by-(1/2)

violent tropical storms loaded with toxins. Below the surface, once-vibrant coral reefs have turned into pale graveyards. Deprived of food in the polluted water, many creatures, from fish and bivalves, to basal ichthyosaurs and placodonts, die in incredible numbers. (2/2)

XI: Day of The Nest Raider

+5K Years

As oxygen levels plunge to record lows, many species begin to die out. In Germany, a weakened mother Lisowicia lays a clutch of defective eggs. As she leaves, a trio of tiny Megazostrodons (early mammals) raid the nest. (1/2)

Thanks to the advent of a diaphragm, the first mammals can adapt to low O2 levels. While not as efficient as the dinosaurs' air sac system, it allows the mammals to breathe better than their primitive cousins like Lisowicia and reptiles like Smok (predatory archosaur). (2/2)

XII: Anoxia

+10K Years

As the volcanism-induced global warming continues, the oxygen in the oceans begin falling to lethally low levels. In what is now Austria, the warm, stagnant waters kill off countless animals. (1/2)

Unable to breathe, a Placochelys (armored placodont) drowns and drifts to the seabed while eel-like conodonts suffocate. Meanwhile, methane gas released by the warming rises from the ocean and into the atmosphere. All over the world, methane increases tempuratures further. (2/2)

XIII: Cinders and Sulphur

+15K Years

The added injection of methane doubles global temperatures, throwing weather systems into chaos. In the American Southwest, acid rain bleaches the charred corpse of a Dolabrosaurus (drepanosaur) in the aftermath of a raging firestorm.

XIV: The Apex is Dead

+20K Years

After twenty thousand years, the worst phases of the excess volcanism subside. In the rapidly changing world, many lineages that had reigned during the Triassic face extinction.

In Germany, the corpse of one of the last living Smok is- (1/2)

washed away by a climate change-induced flood. After being dumped in a desert basin, it becomes a sumptuous feast for a roving pack of coelophysids. Unable to survive the environmental deterioration, most of the primitive archosaurs die out, while the dinosaurs endure. (2/2)

XV: Euxinia

+50K Years

With the sudden decrease in oceanic O2 levels, deadly hydrogen sulphide spreads. Under these conditions, many marine plant and animal species die, while toxic anaerobic bacteria thrive. Across the world, coastlines stink of rotten egg gas and death. (1/2)

In what's now China, the shores along the Tethys sea - tinged green with toxic bacterial blooms- are littered with corpses. Huge shastasaur carcasses rot in the heat alongside shriveled masses of Traumatocrinus (floating crinoid), dead mawsoniid coelacanths and ammonites. (2/2)

XVI: The Edge of Survival

+180K Years

The environmental devastation lasts for millennia as the eruptions persist. Many species have already vanished, with more gradually fading way. In those places where life still hangs on, the dinosaurs are quickly taking over. (1/2)

In New Mexico, a pair of Daemonosaurus (small basal theropods) scavenge for food among the remains of their former competitors, while flocks of Coelophysis swarm madly over the dunes. Among the the dead, an early mammal fights one of the last cynodonts over a centipede. (2/2)

XVII: Death Of a Supercontinent

+600K Years

After over half a million years, the eruptions finally draw to a close. In their wake, Pangaea has been split in half and the Atlantic Ocean is born. (1/2)

On the newly created US East Coast, a deteriorating Rutiodon skeleton overlooks volcanic islands in the young seaway. By now, some 75% of all species are gone.

In time, the remains of Pangaea will split into the continents we know. Out of the wreckage, nature starts over. (2/2)

XVIII: A Bold New World

+1 Million Years

Nova Scotia, Canada. The beginning of the Jurassic, 200 million years ago. Immediately following the mass extinction, Earth is a low oxygen, super-greenhouse world dominated by deserts. A perfect environment for dinosaurs. (1/2)

After a long trek, a herd of primitive sauropodomorphs file down towards an oasis, passing by the skull of a now-extinct predatory pseudosuchian. With their competitors gone, the dinosaurs quickly take over. They will come to dominate Earth for the next 140 million years... (2/2)

XIX: The Shape of Things to Come

+8 Million Years

Arizona, the Early Jurassic, 193 million years ago. At night in a river valley, a Dilophosaurus (early neotheropod dinosaur) is on the hunt. Underfoot, a meek but agile Kayentasuchus (basal crocodylomorph) sprints away. (1/3)

In the undergrowth, the small mammals Dinnetherium and Haramiyavia hunt for insects and other invertebrates.

While crocodylomorphs will diversify later in the Jurassic and Cretaceous, they will never take over in the fashion of their early relatives. (2/3)

Meanwhile, the early mammals have also survived the mass extinction. But as they continue to evolve over the next 135 million years, they will survive only as small-bodied forms, growing no larger than a cat, living mostly quietly in the shadow of the dinosaurs. (3/3)

XX: The Once and Future Kings

+50 Million Years

Colorado, 150 million years ago. It is the Late Jurassic period, and dinosaurs now fully dominate life on land. Here on the plains of western North America, many species thrive, including the giant sauropods. (1/4)

Along the banks of a shallow river, a herd of 30-meter long, 40 ton Supersaurus lumber through groves of conifers, looking for fresh, tender leaves. Not far away, a family of Barosaurus- three 25 meter long adults and one 5 ton calf -crash through stands of pine. (2/4)

Herds of Camarasaurus- adults standing over 20 feet high- gather to feed and drink, alongside herds of heavily-armored Stegosaurus (plated ornithischian dinosaurs). From the forest edge, a pair of Allosaurus (carnosaurid theropods) watch for a potential kill. (3/4)

Not far away, a resting Torvosaurus (megalosaurid theropod) watches a herd of Camptosaurus (small ornithopods) flee a pair of Ceratosaurus.

With their advanced air sac system, dinosaurs have become the largest, most dominant land animals ever. It's now an age of giants... (4/4)