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34<TD BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF WIDTH=577> 35<!--CONTENT--> 36<TABLE BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0><TR><TD> 37<FONT COLOR=#666633 FACE=VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA SIZE=+1><B>The Age of Dinosaurs</B></FONT><BR> 38<!-- No index start 1 --><FONT COLOR=#666633 FACE=VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA SIZE=-2><FONT COLOR=#999966><B>The Mesozoic Era</B></FONT> | <A HREF="DINOAGE02.asp"><B>What Were Dinosaurs?</B></A><BR><A HREF="DINOAGE03.asp"><B>The Great Extinction</B></A> | <A HREF="DINOAGE04.asp"><B>The Fossil Remains of Dinosaurs</B></A></FONT><BR><!-- No index end 1 --> 39</TD><TD WIDTH=50> </TD> 40<TD><A HREF=javascript:(popupdino('dinoage_prnt.asp'))><IMG SRC="gx/printver.gif" ALT="" WIDTH="17" HEIGHT="17" BORDER="0"></A></TD><TD><FONT COLOR=#000000 FACE=VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA SIZE=-2> View printable page version.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE> 41<P><FONT COLOR=#993333 FACE=VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA SIZE=-1><B>The Mesozoic Era</B></FONT> 42<FONT COLOR=#000000 FACE=VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA SIZE=-1> 43<BR>The Age of Dinosaurs is the <A HREF=javascript:(popupdino('gloss/prnt/dnoglosm_prnt.asp#Mesozoic'))>Mesozoic</A> Era, which is divided into three 44periods: the Triassic (245-208 million years ago), Jurassic (208-145 million 45years ago), and Cretaceous (145-66 million years ago). The earliest dinosaur 46fossils, recently discovered in Argentina's Ischigualasto basin, have been 47radiometrically-dated as 228 million years old. (This discovery has led 48some scientists to characterize the southern region of South America as 49The Cradle of Dinosauria.) After existing for 163 million years, the 50dinosaurs disappeared at the end of the Cretaceous Period, 66 million years 51ago.<BR> 52<BR> 53The Earth's appearance during the Mesozoic Era was quite different from 54its appearance today. The reason for the difference is that although the 55surface of our Earth seems rock solid, it is not. The surface of the Earth 56is changing constantly, although most of the change is extremely slow. 57For example, the east coast of the United States is moving away from Europe 58and Africa at a rate of one to three inches per year. This movement is 59known as continental drift. <BR> 60<BR> 61The rate of continental drift, one to three inches per year, is insignificant 62to humans, who might see their continent move six feet (1.82 m) or so during 63their 70- or 80-year lifetimes. But when we speak of the Earth's past, 64we are talking about hundreds of millions of years. A lot can happen in 65a million years.<BR> 66<BR> 67When the Triassic Period began, 245 million years ago, there was only one 68continent on Earth, a super-continent called <A HREF=javascript:(popupdino('gloss/prnt/dnoglosp_prnt.asp#Pangea'))>Pangea</A>. Pangea separated 69into two lesser continents, <A HREF=javascript:(popupdino('gloss/prnt/dnoglosl_prnt.asp#Laurasia'))>Laurasia</A> and 70<A HREF=javascript:(popupdino('gloss/prnt/dnoglosg_prnt.asp#Gondwanaland'))>Gondwanaland</A>, during the Jurassic 71Period; and during the Cretaceous Period, the modern continents began to 72appear (although they were not in their present-day locations).<BR> 73You could think of today's world maps as snap-shots of the way the continents 74look today. In the future, they will look quite different.<BR> 75<BR> 76<B>Environment</B><BR> 77In general, the climate of the <A HREF=javascript:(popupdino('gloss/prnt/dnoglosm_prnt.asp#Mesozoic'))>Mesozoic</A> 78Era was warmer than that of 79today, and there appears to have been little difference between summer 80and winter. It is incomplete, however, to picture dinosaurs as moving through 81either a tropical or desert landscape. These settings did exist, but there 82were forests, as well, and a range of mild climates. In whatever mental 83picture of dinosaurs and their environment that one develops, there should 84be one very common plant missing -- throughout the Mesozoic Era, there 85were no grasses! Small ferns provided the only ground cover there was. 86<BR> 87<BR> 88Evidence suggests that at the beginning of the Triassic Period (245-208 89million years ago), before the appearance of dinosaurs, the global temperature 90averaged around 50º to 60º F (10º to 15º C). Toward 91the end of period, however, the global climate began to become drier and 92hotter; deserts began to appear on much of Pangaea's surface area. In the 93northern hemisphere, gingko and tree fern forests flourished, while near
94the equator were forests of conifers and cycads. Horsetails grew near bodies 95of water.<BR> 96<BR> 97Rainfall increased and the oceans rose during the Jurassic Period (208-145 98million years ago). Lush vegetation, resembling the profuse growth in today's 99rain forests, covered much of Earth's surface, displacing former desert 100areas. Evidence of the abundant plant life can be found in the extensive 101coal fields that date from this period. Benettitalean cycads, ferns, and 102tree ferns (leaves perched high atop thin trunks), conifers, and giant 103club moss dominated the forests and marshlands.<BR> 104<BR> 105As the Cretaceous Period (145-66 million years ago) progressed, the giant 106forests of the Jurassic began to disappear. Toward the middle of the period, 107a gradual global cooling began, and different vegetation began to develop. 108Flowering plants (angiosperms) appeared, including beech, fig, and magnolia, 109and seed ferns became extinct. In the Late Cretaceous, dinosaurs inhabited 110forests that would have closely resembled those of today.<BR> 111<BR><FONT COLOR=#000000 FACE=ARIAL,VERDANA,HELVETICA SIZE=-2> 112<B>Footnote:</B> In December, 1994, scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens 113in Sydney Australia, announced the discovery of 39 prehistoric pine trees, 114thought to have been extinct since the Jurassic Period. One of the most 115significant botanical finds of the century, the trees have been peacefully 116thriving in a secluded rain forest for 150 million years -- a real-life 117Jurassic Park.<BR></FONT><BR><BR> 118<!--ENDCONTENT--></TD><TD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH=13 BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF><IMG SRC="gx/dinobone.gif" WIDTH="13" HEIGHT="1" ALT="" BORDER="0"><BR></TD> 119<TD BGCOLOR=#E2D8A9 VALIGN=TOP WIDTH=142><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> 120<html> 121<head> 122</head> 123<body> 124<p></p> 125<!-- No index start 2 --> 126<p><span style="color: #6c8553; font-family: VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA;" color="#6c8553" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA" size="-1"> <b>Jurassic Art</b></span><br /> <span style="color: #e2d8a9; font-family: VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA;" color="#e2d8a9" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA" size="-2"><span style="color: #e2d8a9; font-family: VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA;" color="#e2d8a9" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA" size="-2"> <a href="http://www.dinodatabase.com/index.asp">Database Home</a><br /> <!--<a href="http://www.arts-letters.com/dino/dinosaur.html" target="_blank">Jurassic Home</a><br /> <a href="http://www.arts-letters.com/dino/compo.html" target="_blank">Compositions</a><br /> <a href="http://www.arts-letters.com/dino/clipart.html" target="_blank">Clip Art</a><br /> <a href="http://www.arts-letters.com/dino/flexart.html" target="_blank">Flex Art</a><br /> <a href="http://www.arts-letters.com/dino/clipart_manager.html" target="_blank">Clip Art Manager</a><br /> <a href="http://www.arts-letters.com/dino/features.html" target="_blank">Features/Specs</a><br /> <a href="http://www.arts-letters.com/dino/activities.html" target="_blank">Activities</a><br /> --> <a href="https://www.arts-letters.com/">Order Software</a><br /><br /></span></span></p> 127<center> 128<table width="75%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 129<tbody> 130<tr> 131<td bgcolor="#ffffcc"><img width="1" height="1" src="http://www.dinodatabase.com/gx/dinobump.gif" border="0" /></td> 132</tr> 133</tbody> 134</table> 135</center> 136<p><span style="color: #e2d8a9; font-family: VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA;" color="#e2d8a9" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA" size="-2"><span style="color: #e2d8a9; font-family: VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA;" color="#e2d8a9" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA" size="-2"><img width="1" height="5" src="http://www.dinodatabase.com/gx/dinobump.gif" border="0" /><br /> <img width="1" height="9" src="http://www.dinodatabase.com/gx/dinobump.gif" border="0" /><br /></span></span></p> 137<div align="center">
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