MESOZOIC ERA

JURRASIC

• Occurred 199.6 - 145.5 million years ago
• Second segment of the Mesozoic Era
• Began after the mass extinction event that ended the Triassic

3 ANIMALS

• Brachiosaurus is one of the biggest land animal yet found
• Diplodocus is the longest land animal but not the heaviest
• Plesiosaurs was very vulnerable since it had no protective "amor"

PLANTS

• Gymnosperms, cone-bearing plants, allowed for wind distribution of pollen
• Ferns
• Gingkoes
• True flowering plants did not evolve until the Cretaceous

MAJOR CLIMATE

• Climate is warm
• There was no polar ice during the Jurassic
• Much of the inland area was dry and desert-like
• Continents were jammed together into a supercontinent

MAJOR EVENTS

• The continent Pangaea split into two major continents: Laurasia and Gondwana
• Division opened up what would eventually become the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean
• Underwater volcanic activity caused ocean floor to spread
• This caused much of today's known land to be covered by water and shallow seas

ILLUSTRATION

RESOURCES

• www.enchantedlearning.com
• www.prehistory.com
• www.scienceviews.com