Mesozoic Era Project

Mesozoic Era

Occured 252 million to 66 million years ago during the Phanerozoic Eon. Includes the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods.

Events

By: Alix Fyall

Fun Facts

Ichthyosaurus

Triadobatrachus

World

References

Fun Facts

1. While photosynthesizing plants had been around for some time, it was during the Cretaceous Period that the first flower plants began to appear. (USGS, n.d.)
2. Up until the Jurassic Period, animals had evolved to live in water or on land. Now the first flying animals were making an appearance, such as the first birds and flying reptiles. (USGS, n.d.)
3. Due to the shifting of continents and higher sea levels in the Cretaceous Period, a majority of continents had become sets of islands. (USGS, n.d.)

Events

Mass Extinction

During the final period of the Mesozoic Era (Cretaceous Period), an asteroid made contact with the planet in what is now recognized as the Gulf of Mexico. This caused ~80% of life on earth (animals and plants) to face extinction. The survivors of this event were small mammals. This was due to their having a stable body temperature during climate change and the lack of competition from larger reptiles. (Holz, 2015)

World of the Mesozoic

Climate, Atmosphere, and Life

• It was during the beginning of the Triassic Period that Pangea was beginning to break up into sections. Thanks to the high temperatures, sea levels rose drastically and, in turn, increased the number of marine species. (Holz, 2015)
• Due to the warm climate, there was no evidence of any ice formed at the poles for the duration of the Mesozoic. However, there were some short-lived mini-ice ages. (Holz, 2015)

• As far as animal life was concerned, reptiles as a whole saw a rapid increase in population. This could have been due to the high temperatures of the earth at the time, meaning they didn't need to spend energy warming themselves. (Forel et. al, 2022)

References

Active Wild Admin. (2021, June 23). Mesozoic Era Animals List: Animals That Lived In The Mesozoic Era. Active Wild. https://www.activewild.com/mesozoic-era-animals/

Holz, M. (2015a). Mesozoic paleogeography and paleoclimates – A discussion of the diverse greenhouse and hothouse conditions of an alien world. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 61, 91–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2015.01.001

Marie-Béatrice Forel, & Crasquin, S. (2022). Bounded by crises: An overview of the evolution of marine ostracods during the Triassic. Marine Micropaleontology, 174, 101925–101925. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marmicro.2020.101925

Mesozoic | U.S. Geological Survey. (n.d.). Www.usgs.https://www.usgs.gov/youth-and-education-in-science/mesozoic#:~:text=This%20era%20includes%20the%20Triassic

*All animal pictures came from Active Wild.