Age of the Dinosaurs essays

Age of the Dinosaurs essays The "Age of Dinosaurs" also known as the Mesozoic Era began over 245 million years ago. It was divided into three periods call the Triassic (245 to 208 million years ago), Jurassic (208 to 145 million years ago), and the Cretaceous (145 to 66 million years ago). The earth during the Mesozoic Era was very different than it is today. The earth was only one continent whereas today it is seven. This huge super-continent was called Pangea. During the Jurassic period Pangea was separated into two continents known as Laurasia and Gondwanaland, and during the Cretaceous period, the continents as we know them today began to appear. Just as in the future the continents we look much different as know them now. Evidence show that at the beginning of the Triassic period, before the dinosaurs appeared, the global temperature of the Earth was averaged around 50 degrees to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Although the end of the period the temperature became hotter and the humidity became drier. Desserts also began to appear. Ginkgo trees and fern forests began to appear in the Northern Hemisphere while close to the equator conifer forests and cycads appeared. Horsetails grew near bodies of water. Volcano's spewed out great lava flows. In this setting the first dinosaurs began to appear. They were primitive mammal-like reptiles. Many animals such as the Pelycosauria, became extinct, and these similar reptile appears. The carnivorous Cynognathus, a four-legged animal with sharp teeth and large fangs took the Pelycosaurai's place. This dinosaur could take a more nearly upright posture at times, in sharp contrast to the pelycoaurs and the labrinthodonts. The Cynognathus, in anatomy, was actually more like a mammal itself. It even might have been warm blooded and live bearing. As the Triassic period unfolded, the therapsid assemblage declined and new animal life forms appeared. These were the first of the din ...