Transcript Mesozoic

About Mesozoic
The Mesozoic Era was the time from 248 million to 65
million years ago. During the Mesozoic, the Earth was
very different than it is now. The climate was warmer,
the seasons were very mild, the sea level was higher,
and there was no polar ice. Even the shape of the
continents on Earth was different; the continents were
jammed together at the beginning of the Mesozoic Era,
forming the supercontinent of Pangaea, but would start
breaking apart toward the middle of the Mesozoic Era.
Mesozoic Climate
IT is unknow for sure what the climate of the
Mesocoiz era was, but evidence suggest that
mammal were endothermic.
Reefs are foun no father north or south during the
Mesozoic than today. Vertebrate fossila are
found much farther than the feef are. It is
unclear if seasonal migration occurred of if the
mammalswere able to in inhabit colder northern
climates
The Three time periods Of the Mesozoic Era.
Triassic (245-208 Million Years Ago), the
Jurassic (208-146 Million Years Ago), and the
Cretaceous (146-65 Million Years Ago).
During the Triassic period, all of the earth's
continents were joined together into a vast
landmass called Pangaea (which was itself
surrounded by an enormous ocean called
Panthalassa). There were as yet no polar ice
caps, and the climate was hot and dry,
punctuated by violent monsoons
The Jurassic period witnessed the breakup of the
Pangaean supercontinent into two big pieces,
Gondwana in the south and Laurasia in the
north, as well as the formation of intracontinental lakes and rivers that opened new
evolutionary niches for aquatic and terrestrial
animals. The climate was hot and humid, with
steady rainfall, ideal conditions for the explosive
spread of lush, green plants.
Cretaceous
During the early Cretaceous period, the inexorable
breakup of the Pangaean supercontinent
continued, with the first outlines of modern North
and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa
taking shape. Conditions were as hot and
muggy as in the Jurassic, with the added twist of
rising sea levels and the spread of endless
swamps--yet another ecological niche in which
dinosaurs (and other prehistoric life) could
prosper.
Life in the Triassic Period
Animals and Plants included:
the therapsids (mammal-like reptiles), archosaurs (from which the
first dinosaurs like Herrerasaurus and Eoraptor evolved, as well as
the first prehistoric crocodiles and pterosaurs), and primitive
reptiles called pelycosaurs (the most famous of which was
Dimetrodon). It was during the late Triassic period that the
mammal-like reptiles evolved into the first mammals.
Marine Life Because the Permian Extinction depopulated the world's
oceans, the Triassic period was ripe for the rise of early marine
reptiles like Placodus and Nothosaurus. The vast Panthalassan
Ocean was soon restocked with new species of prehistoric fish, as
well as simple animals like corals and cephalopods.
These era included: PlantsHexacorallia,Animals- the
Archosauromorph, Archosaurs,and
Diapsid Reptiles.
Animals included fish, amphibians, lizards, insects,
mammals and dinosaurs. Towards the end of the period,
the first birds evolved. Dinosaurs were, however, the
dominating animals in the Jurassic.
In Australia, freshwater lakes held long-necked dinosaurs
which are amongst the earliest dinosaurs in the world.
The plant-eating sauropod Rhoteosaurus brownei, which
was found in 1924 in south Queensland, was about 17m
long and estimated to weight about 20 tonnes.
There are many other dinosaurs found in Australia, but
they are all from Cretaceous Period.
Ray Fish, Sharks, Teleosts, Ichtyosaurs,
Plesioaurs, Mosasaurs, Baculites, Straightshelled ammonite, flourished in the seas, and
saw the first radiation of marine diatoms in the
oceans.
Links
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/mesoz
oic.html
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/me
sozoic/
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/me
sozoic/triassic/
http://www.fossilmuseum.net/Paleobiology/Mesozoic_Pale
obiology.htm
http://www.gondwananet.com/jurassic-plants-andanimals.html