The Jurassic Period - More Than Just Dinosaurs
What was the Jurassic Period like? Most of us know something about the dinosaurs thanks to Jurassic Park, but what else was happening during this period?
The Jurassic Period lasted more than 60 million years. It began after the Triassic Period about 206 million years ago and lasted until 144 million years ago at the beginning of the Cretaceous period. It is often called the Age of the Dinosaurs. The climate of this period was warm and stable.
The Jurassic Period Seas
In the seas, there were more and more invertebrate species. Belemnites and ammonites increased and were the most important of the invertebrates during the Jurassic Period. Gastropods, or sea snails, were a mollusk that grew plentiful in the Jurassic period. Corals began to produce reefs in the warm seas. There were many types of bony fishes, sharks and rays swimming in the tropical seas.
Ocean Predators
The seas of the Jurassic Period were filled with predators. The ammonites, belemnites, and fish were all excellent hunters. This may be the reason for some species’ numbers growing fewer. There were not as many brachiopods or crinoids as in the previous periods. These animals, that stayed fixed on the sea floor, could not complete with the moving predators for food.
The Marine Reptiles - Mega Predators
The marine reptiles that had gotten their start during the Triassic Period increased in numbers, too. Ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs were most plentiful during the Jurassic Period. They shared the sea with early crocodiles.
Abundant Plant Life Feeds The Dinosaurs
As the land pulled apart, the seas rose. Warm shallow seas again covered parts of Laurasia (North America and Eurasia). With the warm seas touching the land, the climate became more humid and tropical. Plants grew thick and tall. There were so many cycads that the Jurassic is also known as the Age of Cycads. Cycads are a seed plant with leaves that look like palms. They have heavy trunks. Cycads still exist in modern times, but they are not as large or as plentiful as the ones that lived during the Jurassic Period. All of this plant life fed the many different types of herbivorous dinosaurs that developed. Of course lots of herbivores means good eating for the carnivores. So many different types of dinosaurs lived during this period that it has been called the Age of the Dinosaurs.
Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs were the big story during the Jurassic period. The first dinosaurs developed in the Triassic Period but in the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods they dominated. There were Sauropods-dinosaur giants, theropods-two legged hunters and ornithopods-bird hipped plant eaters. Large and small, herbivore and carnivore, dinosaurs ruled the earth. But that is another story. |
