Mesozoic

The Mesozoic Era
The Mesozoic era

 The Mesozoic era began approximately 248 million years ago.
 Subdivided into 3 periods:
 Ended about 65 million years ago with a major mass extinction.

Mesozoic Reptiles
Pterosaurs Ichthyosaurus
Stegosaurus Dinosaurs
Triassic Period
248 – 206 million years ago
 Pangaea continued as a single, large landmass through most of the Triassic
period. (248 – 206 million).
 After a slow recovery from the Permian extinction, many kinds of reptiles
evolved. Late in the period, the first mammals appeared.
 Several important new types of organisms evolved during the Triassic. For
example, the first dinosaurs were among the many types of reptiles that
evolved.
Triassic Period
 Most landmasses were fused together in the supercontinent Pangaea during
the Triassic.
 A huge ocean called Panthalassa (meaning “all sea”) occupied the rest of
earth’s surface.
 In the interior of Pangaea, climates on land varied greatly from season to
season. Pangaea had hot summers and cold winters, similar to those in the
interior of North America or Asia today.
Triassic Period
 Several important new types of organisms evolved during the Triassic.
 For example, the first dinosaurs were among the many types of reptiles that
evolved. Later in the Triassic, the first mammals evolved from a surviving
group of mammal-like reptiles.
 Unlike reptiles, most mammals do not lay eggs. Mammals are warm-blooded
animals that nourish their young with milk. Triassic mammals, such as
Megazostrodon were small rodent-like.
Triassic Period
 The fossil record shows that gymnosperms became common during the
Triassic. Gymnosperms are a group of plants with seeds that lack a protective
outer coat.
 Unlike sporebearing plants, gymnosperms do not require standing water, such
as dew, in their reproductive cycle. For this reason, they can use nutrients
and occupy space in drier areas.
 Conifers, which first appeared during the Permian period, are gymnosperms.
Other gymnosperms include cycads and ginkgoes.
Jurassic Period
 As rifts formed between parts of Pangaea, seas opened between continents.
 At the same time, mountain building occurred in some areas, such as western
North America. There, the North American plate moved west over the oceanic
plate.
 Tectonic activity started a wave of deformation that moved inland along the
entire western part of the continent.
 The newly formed Jurassic seas helped to moderate the harsh climate
conditions of Pangaea.
 Generally, climates were mild at all latitudes during the Jurassic.
 Warmer conditions contributed to the development of new life forms.
Jurassic Period
 New developments occurred in the oceans, on land, and in the air during the
Jurassic.
 In the oceans, fish with modern characteristics evolved. Their jaw structure,
scales, and fins were similar to those of fish today.
 Reptiles adapted to life in the oceans. Fish eating plesiosaurs and
ichthyosaurs became good swimmers but kept reptilian teeth and breathed by
means of lungs.
ichthyosaurs plesiosaurs
Jurassic Period
 During the Jurassic period, dinosaurs developed into a varied and widespread
group.
 Some dinosaurs, such as diplodocus, brachiosaurus, and stegosaurus were
plant eaters.
 Meat eating dinosaurs of the Jurassic included allosaurus.
diplodocus allosaurus
Jurassic Period
 During the Jurassic, pterosaurs evolved. These flying reptiles had “wings”
formed from membranes of skin attached to their forelegs.
 But scientists think that birds developed from dinosaurs. In fact, some
dinosaurs had feathers.The feathers may have served for display or to help
regulate body temperature.
 The early ancestors of birds were probably small, feathered dinosaurs that
could glide.
 Later, more birdlike animals, like archaeopteryx evolved. Archaeopteryx still
had reptile like teeth, claws on it’s wings, and a tail.
Cretaceous Period
 The landmasses that had made up Pangaea continued to move apart during
the Cretaceous period. At the same time, Earth’s climates continued to be
relatively warm.
 Early in the Cretaceous, shallow seas invaded much of the western North
America. These shallow seas created great swamps like those of the Paleozoic
era.
 The swamps formed the Cretaceous coal deposits of the western United
States and Canada.
Cretaceous Period
 Dinosaurs of the Cretaceous period evolved many different sizes, shapes, and
ways of living.
 Large slow moving plant eaters waded on four legs in the shallows of swampy
areas. Smaller, faster, meat-eaters ran on two hind legs.
 The Cretaceous was the time of the fierce tyrannosaurus rex, the horned
triceratops and gigantic plant eaters like apatosaurus.
tyrannosaurus rex triceratops apatosaurus

Cretaceous Period
 Other animals groups also appeared and flourished. Snakes evolved early in
the Cretaceous. Mammals with more modern characteristics evolved.
 Flowering plants, or angiosperms, also evolved during this period.
Angiosperms are plants that produce flowers and seeds with an outer
covering.
 Many modern angiosperms; include trees such as willow, birch, and sassafras,
evolved and became common during the Cretaceous.
sassafras willow
Cretaceous Period
 About 65 million years ago, the Cretaceous period ended in a mass extinction.
 The dinosaurs and most other large animals became extinct.
 Smaller reptiles, birds and reptiles were also affected, with some species of
these surviving.
 In the oceans, ammonites were among the species that became extinct.
 Most scientists think that a large meteorite collided with earth and caused
the mass extinction.
 The collision would have created huge quantities of dust that blocked out the
sun, perhaps for years. This in turn caused plants to die and food to vanish for
many dinosaurs.
 With the plant eating dinosaurs perishing, the meat eating dinosaurs would
thus have no food as well.
Cretaceous Period
 Another hypothesis to explain the Cretaceous extinction is that huge volcanic

eruptions in India may have led to climate changes.
 Some scientists think that disease may have wiped out the dinosaurs pointing
to a decline in species even before the mass extinction.
 It is likely that several factors combined together to create the Cretaceous
extinction.
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Mesozoic

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The Mesozoic Era

The Mesozoic era

 Ended about 65 million years ago with a major mass extinction.

tyrannosaurus rex triceratops apatosaurus

 Another hypothesis to explain the Cretaceous extinction is that huge volcanic

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