Picture yourself standing among the various dinosaurs 252 million years ago, when hurtling from the sky a massive meteorite colliding into the earth resulting in one of the largest mass extinction to come, commonly referred to as the Permian-Triassic extinction, in Earth’s history shifting Earth into a new era: The Mesozoic Era. Frequently mentioned to as “Age of Reptiles” due to the amount of reptiles that predominated the lands, however they were not alone; land-dwelling vertebrate animals and vast amount of plants, insects and fish also existed among them. By the time span of 180 million years the Mesozoic Era has been divided into three major divisions, from oldest to youngest, Triassic Period, the Jurassic Period, and the Cretaceous Period.
…show more content…
Among all the various creature starting their new lives in the ocean among them are four most important and most likely easiest to recognized and they were, Ichthyosaurus, Liopleurodon, and the Plesiosaurus. The Ichthyosaurus would best be described as the prehistoric dolphin. They were roughly about 6 feet and had long pointed snout which they used to catch fish. The Plesiosaurus, which actually not a dinosaur but a sauropterygian (aquatic reptile), was one of the largest animals that lived up till the cretaceous period. Growing up to about 23 meters (about 75 feet) the plesiosaurus ate mostly squid like creatures with giant mollusks, and with it enormous size it probably didn’t have to defend itself to much but if it needed to it would’ve used its strong jaws to attack. Finishing with one of my favorite aquatic animals the Liopleurodon. With a bite reaching up to 4 inches and growing to a length of 82 feet the Liopleurodon was a very fierce carnivore that fed on mostly whatever it could find. Just like modern day sharks, it was able to use its nose to smell underwater allowing to find prey from some …show more content…
Another series of extinction took place, however not as severe as the pervious extinction, Dinosaurs still continued to thrive on Earth up until the End of the Cretaceous Period. With Pangaea broken up during the Jurassic Period, it was during the Cretaceous that the land masses Laurasia and Gondwanaland continued to finally break apart, forming the continents we see today. The climate during this period was mostly warmer and humid than the weather of today, due to the active volcanism associated with the sea-floor spreading. Although most of the organisms of the Cretaceous Period were present during the Jurassic, new species started to emerge. It was during this period that the most famous dinosaur emerged; Tyrannosaurus Rex. This dinosaurs was a vicious beast, with its 5 foot long heavy skull and its 4 foot long jaw, this predator was able to consume up to 500 pounds of food in just one bite. Growing up to be about 40 feet long and 20 feet tall this dinosaurs would dominate the lands up till the end of the Cretaceous. While the dinosaurs thrived on the lands, the mammals continued to live and grow. Placental mammals and marsupials began to evolve during the late Cretaceous Period which would later become to the mammals we see today. The plants of the Cretaceous Period were similar to Jurassic’s, which included the cycads, ginkgoes, conifers, and ferns. However a new type of plant was seen during the
Among all the various creature starting their new lives in the ocean among them are four most important and most likely easiest to recognized and they were, Ichthyosaurus, Liopleurodon, and the Plesiosaurus. The Ichthyosaurus would best be described as the prehistoric dolphin. They were roughly about 6 feet and had long pointed snout which they used to catch fish. The Plesiosaurus, which actually not a dinosaur but a sauropterygian (aquatic reptile), was one of the largest animals that lived up till the cretaceous period. Growing up to about 23 meters (about 75 feet) the plesiosaurus ate mostly squid like creatures with giant mollusks, and with it enormous size it probably didn’t have to defend itself to much but if it needed to it would’ve used its strong jaws to attack. Finishing with one of my favorite aquatic animals the Liopleurodon. With a bite reaching up to 4 inches and growing to a length of 82 feet the Liopleurodon was a very fierce carnivore that fed on mostly whatever it could find. Just like modern day sharks, it was able to use its nose to smell underwater allowing to find prey from some …show more content…
Another series of extinction took place, however not as severe as the pervious extinction, Dinosaurs still continued to thrive on Earth up until the End of the Cretaceous Period. With Pangaea broken up during the Jurassic Period, it was during the Cretaceous that the land masses Laurasia and Gondwanaland continued to finally break apart, forming the continents we see today. The climate during this period was mostly warmer and humid than the weather of today, due to the active volcanism associated with the sea-floor spreading. Although most of the organisms of the Cretaceous Period were present during the Jurassic, new species started to emerge. It was during this period that the most famous dinosaur emerged; Tyrannosaurus Rex. This dinosaurs was a vicious beast, with its 5 foot long heavy skull and its 4 foot long jaw, this predator was able to consume up to 500 pounds of food in just one bite. Growing up to be about 40 feet long and 20 feet tall this dinosaurs would dominate the lands up till the end of the Cretaceous. While the dinosaurs thrived on the lands, the mammals continued to live and grow. Placental mammals and marsupials began to evolve during the late Cretaceous Period which would later become to the mammals we see today. The plants of the Cretaceous Period were similar to Jurassic’s, which included the cycads, ginkgoes, conifers, and ferns. However a new type of plant was seen during the