It was a period of warm climate, which gave rise to the universal symbol of beauty – flowers. The Cretaceous Geological Period also led to the formation of various new marine species, including multiple species of flying fish.
However, it also led to the evolution of various new species of dinosaurs that could switch between closely located islands. Due to this expansion of seaways, the Cretaceous period led to the extinction of almost all dinosaur species (such as sauropods). During this period, the huge landmasses (known as continents today) had significantly separated farther away from each other. The final time period of the Mesozoic Era, the Cretaceous Geological Period is the longest time period ranging for over 80 million years. It is believed that there was excessive plant decay, though there has been no solid proof to date. The tragic end of the Jurassic Geological Period, however, is famously marked by “The Great Extinction” though scientists are not sure what exactly caused this extinction. In fact, dinosaurs got so diversified that many of them could swim and/or fly. Although dinosaurs started evolving in the Triassic Geologic Period, the Jurassic saw many more and efficient species of dinosaurs which were the strongest species that existed at their time. Perhaps your favorite, the Jurassic period is famously known for the prominent presence and dominance of dinosaurs, who are claimed to have “ruled the earth” during the Jurassic Era like humans do today. These new species mark the beginning of the Triassic Geological Period.
The loss of species was so severe, it led to the evolution of more than a hundred thousand entirely new and different species in each kingdom. The Triassic Geological Period, which started after the Permian-Triassic extinction event – known as the “Great Dying” as in this time period, approximately 96% marine species and 70% vertebrates became extinct or severely endangered. These time periods are also called Geologic Periods. The first is Triassic (250 to 200 million years ago), followed by Jurassic (200 to 145 million years ago), and finally the Cretaceous (145 to 60 million years ago). Set in an extended time period from 250 million years ago to 60 million years ago, the approximately 190 million years of the Mesozoic Era largely encompasses three different time periods. You must be thinking about how long did the Mesozoic Era last. Hence, “Mesozoic Era” stands for an extended period in history wherein intermediate animal species were ubiquitous.
Therefore, “Mesozoic” means “middle animals” or “intermediate animals.” Further, the word “era” means a long and distinct time period in history. “Meso” means “middle” or “intermediate” and “zoic” is a word used in relation to animals. The meaning of the word “Mesozoic” can be better understood by splitting it. In this article, we will talk about everything related to the Mesozoic Era- Mesozoic era facts, definition, timeline, plants, animals and even how the Mesozoic era came to an end. The era was home to various species that marked the gap between older and primitive animals and modern complex animals, thus being the “middle animals”. A collection of Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous geological time periods, the Mesozoic Era was a huge era of diversified life forms, interesting extinction cases, and a pivotal moment for evolution.