This section contains information about some of the three geologic eras that make up the Mesozoic Era which was the time period that dinosaurs roamed. If there's something that you'd like to see me add to this page, please feel free to contact me!
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TriassicThe beginning of the Triassic is marked by the Permian-Triassic extinction event that occurred about 251 million years ago. Direct evidence has not been found to prove the cause of this extinction, but there are many theories (ranging from vulcanism to impact events). What is known, however, is that the Permian-Triassic extinction was the most catastrophic extinction event in Earth's history; 95% of all Earth's species were killed! During the Triassic period, all of the planet's land masses were connected to make one large supercontinent called Pangaea. The earliest dinosaurs appeared late in the Triassic period. The first dinosaurs were mostly small and bipedal. Some of the earliest dinosaurs include Coelophysis, Eoraptor, Herrerasaurus, and Prosauropoda! The end of the Triassic period is marked by the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event. |
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JurassicThe Triassic-Jurassic extinction event which marks the beginning of the Jurassic period happened about 200 million years ago. About half of the species known to be living before this event went extinct at this time. The Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction made it possible for dinosaurs to evolve and become increasingly large, dominant, abundant and diverse. During the early part of the Jurassic, Pangaea split into Laurasia (the northern supercontinent) and Gondwana (the southern supercontinent). The climate was warm and humid which allowed plant life to thrive and lush jungles to cover much of the landscape. The Jurassic was the golden age for sauropods such as Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, and Brachiosaurus. Theropods such as Megalosaurus, Dilophosaurus, Torvosaurus, Compsognathus, and Allosaurus also roamed. Stegosaurus also appeared in the late Jurassic! |
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CretaceousThe Cretaceous lasted about 80 million years and marks the end of the Mesozoic era. During the Cretaceous, Laurasia and Gondwana broke into preset day's continents. New groups of mammals, birds (who descended from dinosaurs), and flowering plants appeared during the Cretaceous. The Cretaceous may have seen more dinosaurs than ever before. In fact, some of the most famous dinosaurs like Triceratops, Velociraptor, and Tyrannosaurus lived during the Cretaceous. Other Cretaceous dinosaurs include: Spinosaurus, Giganotosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Gallimimus, Ankylosaurus, Troodon, Saurolophus, and Utahraptor. The end of the Cretaceous is marked by the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) extinction event which happened about 65 million years ago. The impact event that created the Chicxulub crater, a large crater that is buried underneath the Yucat´n Peninsula in Mexico, is believed to be the cause of the K-T extinction event. After the K-T mass extinction, all dinosaurs (except for birds) and many large reptiles disappeared. |
