The Mesozoic Era

Okay so now I am going to go into greater detail about the Mesozoic Era. To quote a previous post, "The Mesozoic era is commonly referred to as the ‘age of reptiles’ as during this time dinosaurs evolved into the dominate animal group on earth. Spanning from 248 million years ago to 65 million years ago the Mesozoic era saw the evolution of not only reptiles but also mammals and birds and ended in the extinction of the dinosaurs."

The Triassic Period

The Triassic Period spanning from approximately 248 MYA (million years ago) and ending approximately 206 million years ago is the earliest period of the Mesozoic Era. During this time period the eart was home to a large supercontinent know as Pangea which was the earths only landmass during the Triassic period. This period saw the occurance of the oldest Dinosaurs, crocodilians and pterosaurs. Conifers and cycads also became common during this period. This Period consists of three Epochs as listed below.

• Late Triassic beginning 227,000,000
• Middle Triassic beginning 242,000,000
• Early Triassic beginning 248,000,000

The Jurassic Period

The Jurassic Period spanning from around 206 MYA and ending around 144 MYA is most likely the most well known period of the Mesozoic Era dur primarily to media such as Jurassic Park. During this time period slowly broke apart forming two continents known as Lauraisa (north) and Gondwana (south). During the Jurassic Period Dinosaurs could be considered the dominate creatures on Earth, flowering plants and birds began to appear and giant marine reptiles occupied the sea. The Jurassic Period also saw the occurance of the oldest known mammals. This Period consists of three Epochs as listed below:

• Late Jurassic beginning 159,000,000
• Middle Jurassic beginning 180,000,000
• Early Jurassic beginning 206,000,000

The Cretaceous Period

The Cretaceous Period began approximately 144 MYA and ended approzimately 65 MYA is a massive Extinction event which caused the demise of the Dinosaurs. The continuing break up of the Earths landmass during this period led to a greater diversification of species including Mammals and birds. Pterosaurs began to decline during this time period and the dinosaurs eventually became extinct. This Period consists of three Epochs as listed below

• Late Cretaceous beginning 99,000,00
• Early Cretaceous beginning 144,000,000

I hope all of this was of some interest or use to someone.

Cya guys.