BASIC GUIDE

By: Shannon Stewart

Mesozoic Era

The Mesozoic Era spanned 251.9 to 66.0 million years ago. Pangea was a large part of the Era. During the Era, Pangea started its separation and allowed the rocky mountains to come up. The Plate tectonics allowed for the earth to start its changed resulting in modern day land placement.

251.9 to 66.0 million years ago

Introduction and Event

The climate was warm and there were less temperature differences between equatorial and polar latitudes compaared to today. The atmosphere was also rich in Carbon Dioxide. Animals at the time consisted of dinosaurs, pterosaurs, ammonites, sharks, plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, mosasaurs, pseudosuchians, insects, and early mammals. The reptiles and dinosaurs ran the earth at this time. Animals that could not live in an area with a lot of carbon dioxide, were not around.

Climate & Animals

The Mesozoic Era is also known as "The Age of Reptiles." During the era the only thing to walk the earth was reptiles and dinosaurs. This era includes the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods. The era ends with the giant meteorite that we know as the one that killed the dinousaurs. The meteorite created a mass extinction on the land that affected every animal to walk the earth. The meteorite was massive and there was no surviving the explosion for the dinosaurs. At the beginning of the era, Pangea was one supercontinent but as time passed Pangea started to be pulled apart due to the laws of plate tectonics. during the triassic period, rift basins formed. This was the start of Pangea separating. The basins later turned into our oceans.

Facts

“Geological Society of America.” The Geological Society of America, www.geosociety.org/. Accessed 26 Sept. 2023. Moullade, Michel, and Nairn A E M. The Mesozoic. Elsevier Scientific Pub. Co., 1978.

Works Cited