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Blasts from the past

Plants of the Mesozoic

New greenery appeared on land and in the sea, joining morę ancient plants:

PreMesozoic

Ferns

Horsetails

Cycads

Conifers

Ginkgoes

Mesozoic

Bennettitaleans (now extinct) Flowering plants Palms

Modern seaweeds Grasses

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The Mesozoic world

01: The Mesozoic atmosphere was different from today’s: there was less oxygen and morę carbon dioxide (C0₂).

Tell me morę:

Earth’s moving continents

Landmasses are always moving. Oceans slowly open as continents puli apart, or close as continents push together.

With just one

02: Mesozoic Earth was a hothouse, with warm climates and little or no ice at the poles.

03: Sea levels were high due to the lack of ice. Low-lying regions were often covered by shallow, tropical seas.

04: At the start of the Triassic, conditions were dry and deserts were widespread.

05: The world became wetter during the Jurassic. Tropical forests and other moist habitats appeared.

At the beginning of the Triassic, there was one single supercontinent, Pangaea, and a single enormous ocean, Panthalassa.

Early in the Jurassic, Pangaea split into Laurasia and Gondwana, separated by the Tethys Sea.

Laurasia

Tethys Sea

During the Cretaceous, the continents split apart and moved closer to their current positions.

North

America

South

America

Which of these appeared in the Mesozoic?

(answers at bottom of page)

Eurasia

Africa

Australia Antarctica

ałia

c) Dragonflies

d) Sharks

The earliest birds

Dinosaurs

Turtles

The earliest fossil turtles are from the Triassic. Turtles are unique reptiles where the rib cage has become a Shell.

Pterosaurs

Smali, primitive pterosaurs (flying reptiles) appeared in the Triassic. The group survived to the end of the Cretaceous.

Like pterosaurs, dinosaurs are reptiles. The first dinosaurs evolved from smali, slender-legged reptiles during the Triassic.

evolved in the Jurassic from smali, long-armed dinosaurs. Birds are feathered dinosaurs.

Plesiosaurs

The first plesiosaurs appeared in the Triassic. These seagoing reptiles had long necks and two pairs of paddlelike limbs.

Snakes

The oldest known fossil snakes datę to the Cretaceous. Snakes evolved from burrowing orswimming lizards.

Dinosaur ages 68|69

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