Group 3

THE MESOZOIC ERA

 THE MESOZOIC ERA

• Its name is derived from the Greek term meaning “middle life.”
• On the early period of this era, Earth’s climate was generally warm and there
was less difference in temperature between equatorial and polar latitudes.
• Mesozoic was a time of geologic and biological transition.
 TRIASSIC
TRIASSIC PERIOD
WORLD (252-201 MYA)

• At the beginning of the Triassic period, all of the continents were

joined as one, Pangaea.
• It is difficult for life to exist in the center regions of the continent,
which is why most of the living forms lived near the seaboards.
• The race that had dominated the Permian period, Synapsids, slowly
gave way to the Archosaurs, the early ancestors of dinosaurs.
 LATE TRIASSIC PERIOD
• The fragmentation began with continental drifting during this period.
• Dinosaurs eventually evolved along with crocodilians, other sea-reptiles
and nocturnal mammals.
• The Triassic's climate was generally hot and dry, with strong seasonality.
• Triassic period ended with a mass extinction accompanied by huge volcanic
eruptions about 208-213 million years ago.
TWO GROUPS OF DINOSAURS
Ornithischian
- Hips were similar to modern bird hips
- Carnivorous short-necked
- Herbivorous, long-necked
Saurischian
- Hips were similar to reptile hips
- Herbivorous with grinding-teeth
- Herbivorous without grinding-teeth
 EARLY TRIASSIC SPECIES
Eozostrodon Theriodontia Proganochelys Pterosaurs
 LATE TRIASSIC SPECIES

Pisanosaurus

Eoraptor Lesothsaurus
 JURASSIC PERIOD
(201.3 - 145 MYA)

• The supercontinent Pangaea is still gradually drifting.

• As the continents rifted and ruptured, thick sequences of marine sediments
accumulated in large linear troughs along their margins.
• Ecology of marine ecosystems began to change, as shown by a rapid increase in
diversity of marine organisms.
• Dinosaurs dominated the near-tropical Earth during the Jurassic, and many new
groups appeared.
JURASSIC WORLD
 LATE JURASSIC PERIOD
• Birds are believed to have evolved from dinosaur ancestors during this period.
• Plant life had evolved from Bryophytes, the low-growing mosses and liverworts
that lacked vascular tissue and were confined to swampy moist areas.
• Collisions added to the growth of the North American continent and its mountain
chains.
• Jurassic climates can be reconstructed from the analyses of fossil and
sediment distribution and from geochemical analyses.
 JURASSIC SPECIES

Ankyloasaurus
Triceratops
Diplodocus
 JURASSIC SPECIES

Tyrannosaurus Rex Allosaurus

 JURASSIC SPECIES

Ichthyosaurus

Archaeopteryx
 CRETACEOUS PERIOD (145 - 66 MYA)

• Known to be the longest period.

• Various segments of Laurasia and Gondwana had already started to rift apart.
• Climate was generally warmer and more humid than today.
• Sea level was higher during most of the Cretaceous than at any other time.
• Most continental landmasses were transgressed but not always at the same time.
• Ice sheets and glaciers were almost entirely absent except in the high mountains, so,
although the end of the Cretaceous was coolest, it was still much warmer than it is
today.
 CRETACIOUS WORLD
• Cretaceous world had three distinct geographic subdivisions: the
northern boreal, the southern boreal, and the Tethyan region
CRETACIOUS SPECIES
 HOW COULD A METEORITE IMPACT CAUSE A MASS
EXTINCTION?

• The impact caused shock waves, tidal waves, and sent a tremendous amount of
dust into the atmosphere
• As the dust re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, it would have instantly heated the
atmosphere causing tremendous forest fires
• The dust could have caused the Earth’s climate to cool in the long-run by blocking
sunlight
• Plants, animals, etc went extinct due to the climate changes and competition
between organisms
 OUT-DATED HYPOTHESES
(OF HOW THE DINOSAURS DIED)

• Hay Fever - caused by flowering plants

• Dinosaurs were so big, that they crushed themselves
• Mammals out-competed the dinosaurs
• Mammals ate all the dinosaur eggs
• Cosmic rays killed the dinosaurs