Mesozoic era

The Age of Reptiles

Plant Life

Pangea

Climate

252-66 million years ago

Mesozoic Era

• Evolution of Cenozoic Land Mammal Faunas and Ecosystems: 25 Years of the NOW Database of Fossil Mammals. (Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology; Vol. Part F1250). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17491-9
• Gee, Carole T. Plants in Mesozoic Time Morphological Innovations, Phylogeny, Ecosystems. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010. Print.
• “Mesozoic Era.” <i>The Columbia Encyclopedia</i>, by Paul Lagasse and Columbia University, 8th ed., Columbia University Press, 2018. <i>Credo Reference</i>, https://search.credoreference.com/articles/Qm9va0FydGljbGU6NjQ4MjM4?aid=150523.</div>
• Tang, Carol Marie. "Mesozoic Era". Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Aug. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/science/Mesozoic-Era. Accessed 28 September 2024

References

• Splits into the continents of Laurasia and Gondwana
• North America splits from Eurasia and Gondwana
• Africa split off from South America, and Australia
• Antarctica splits from India

Pangea Splits

Pangea splits into supercontinents and as the Mesozoic era continues continents start to go to their designated spaces as they are now in the current time.

Angiosperms

gymnosperms

Seed ferns

Mesozoic Biota

Seed ferns dominated the Triassic Period. Gymnosperms called cycads and conifers flourished in the tropics during the Jurassic Period. Angiosperms began to appear during the Cretaceous Period which are the first flowering plants. The development of seeds allowed plant life to spread out and live on other dry places. Deciduous trees and grasses also appeared during this era while conifers were spreading dominating throughout.

The climate during the Mesozoic era was mostly a greenhouse climate. It is comparable to what the climate is now with the absence of major glaciations. There was one major cooling during the cretaceous period but for the majority of this era was warm.

Mesozoic Climate

thecodonts are the ancestors of dinosaurs and crocodiles

therapsids are mammal like reptiles

Triassic

Dominated by the therapsids and the thecodonts.

These two periods were dominated by different types of dinosaurs. Birds in our present time are believed to be descendants of dinosaurs in this period. Marsupials and placentals appeared in this time and so did the ancestors of modern frogs, salamanders, and toads.

Jurassic and Cretaceous

Permian Triassic Extinction Event

This extinction event killed 96% of marine life and 70% of terrestrial vertebrates on Earth. Though there are other reasons that an extinction of this magnitude happened such as the cooling period on Earth, it is said that the greatest cause of it was from a meteorite. The impact of this asteroid resulted in wildfires, acid rain, months of darkness, and drop of global temperatures. And because this era thrived due to the warm and tropic climate, it led to the dying of many species.