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Images & Information
Images & Information
Public Domain from the United States Geological Survey (USGS); diorama by Masato Hattori and maps courtesy of Colorado Plateau Geosystems Inc.
Warm with dry interiors of continents
Reptiles were dominant; crocodiles were abundant
First dinosaurs appeared
Mammals appeared
Warm tropical conditions
Giant plant-eating dinosaurs were stalked by smaller carnivorous animals; small mammals lived in the undergrowth
Flying reptiles and birds appeared
Shallow oceans contained a wide variety of animal life from plankton to huge marine reptiles
Conifers and cycads (cone-bearing, palm-like plants) were abundant
A mild climate
Dinosaurs, reptiles, birds, mammals, and insects diversified
Flowering plants appeared
A massive tsunami and climate change occurred when a large meteorite crashed into the Gulf of Mexico at the end of the Cretaceous period (80% of the world's plant and animal species became extinct, including dinosaurs)
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