Dinosaurs. From the First to the Last Day Of Life 4K - ReYOUniverse

Life often took strange forms throughout our planet's existence long before

dinosaurs

appeared. They are less popular but no less fascinating. Their ancestors were already fighting a fierce fight for a place in the sun. At that time some unusual body shapes appeared that are hard to believe. existed this was the Paleozoic Era ended with the most massive Extinction in Earth's history eliminated 95 percent of marine species and at least 70 percent of land animals from the face of the planet however a small number of animals managed to survive the Mesozoic Era is the period when

dinosaurs

prevailed on the planet.

They were the most advanced survival machines, perfectly adapted to the environment. They ruled the planet for 160 million years. During this time, dinosaurs developed unique hunting and defense tools, ultra-precise sensory organs, it seemed like they would. they will forever dominate all living creatures but one day in an instant something stopped them this is the complete story of how the most successful creatures on Earth evolved from their ancestors and the rise of these reptiles to their

last

days what was before the dinosaurs on earth how they emerged Dinosaurs occupied all niches in land, air and water over millions of years.

Did

life

develop according to its own laws and create such fascinating creatures? What was unusual about them? Why were these reptiles so big? Why did they not evolve into sentient beings that lived in the ocean and rose into the sky and finally what happened on the

last

day of the dinosaurs a history of the dinosaurs from the

first

to the last day of

life

the supercontinent Pangea The climate has changed, the flora and fauna, the Permian period or simply the permanent period began 300 million years ago on the planet the Paleozoic Era ended and lasted 47 million years until the Mesozoic during that time two continents Laurasia and Gondwanda formed a supercontinent Pangea with the ocean panthalis Meg washing its coasts as you can imagine the merger of two continents significantly changed the climate Flora and fauna of the planet during the previous Carboniferous period the Earth was warm and humid there were many lakes rivers and swamps forests of giant spore plants like ferns and mosses covered the land the trees were 1.5 meters 4.92 feet in diameter Trunks and grew 10 meters 32.81 feet tall Megafungi prototaxites could be seen through the fog of the swamp Vapors those green blue brown Giants sometimes grew more than a two-story building cartilaginous fish lived in the seas they looked like real chimeras the distant ancestor of the shark was perhaps the helicoprion the most terrifying due to a dental spiral with two or three turns its body reached 10 to 12 meters 39 feet and The diameter of the dental spiral reached 90 centimeters (2.95 feet).

Its terrifying lower jaw was equipped with many sharp teeth. Despite all this helicoprion, the Boss did not manage to break through hard shells and only ate soft foods such as squid, krill and shrimp during that time. period, land animals were not numerous, however, some of them were large, even the insects were large and looked like horror movie monsters. Imagine huge dragonflies, magna rights, grace, flying over a lake, their wingspan. they reached more than 30 centimeters a foot the predecessors of our cute dragonflies were ugly and terrifying they had predatory jaws bulging eyes and pointed legs a distant relative of modern centipedes a terrible arthroplurai lived in swamps three meter long insects ate tons of vegetation per year they also They like to eat small amphibians, they destroyed them with strong jaws with sharp teeth.

Most likely, all those giant creatures appeared due to an excess of oxygen in the atmosphere. The oxygen level at that time was 35 percent, it is almost 14 percent. higher than what we have now. There is a hypothesis that the size of insects depends on the high level of oxygen. The respiratory system of insects consists of tracheae. Those are tubes that supply oxygen to various organs because of those tubes. Insects can't grow. Now remember, the larger the insect, the longer. their tracheas at the current level of oxygen in the atmosphere no oxygen will reach the organs during inhalation only if the concentration of o2 were higher the long trachea would deliver oxygen to the organs of the body that is why insects reached incredible sizes during the Carboniferous period If in the future for some reason the oxygen level rises, let's say up to 40 percent, the insects would once again become huge monsters.

Scientists calculated that dragonflies would reach the size of a small airplane. Beetles would reach the size of a small tank. Oxygen also affects the size of animals, but to a lesser extent, science does not offer an exact explanation for why the hypothesis says that higher oxygen levels allow large animals to carry more oxygen to the muscles, furthermore, a Higher level of O2 is good for the development and rapid growth of embryos and eggs. With the onset of the Permian period, the amount of oxygen in the air decreased, so large insects and other species lost their size-based advantage and became smaller.

This evolutionary change did not happen overnight, but took millions of years. The formation of the supercontinent Pangea changed significantly. the climate the climate during the Carboniferous period was practically the same throughout the planet now it became colder and had several areas the southern part of Pangea, including modern India, Australia and South America were under ice, a layer of snow covered polo and it was also hot without rain. deserts within Pangea there have never been more deserts on Earth in those days the coasts had moderate temperatures and humidity due to the ocean in general the permanent climate was more like ours than that of the Carboniferous or the Mesozoic climate change has destroyed the ancient flora and fauna without swamps and swamps Ferns and horsetails could not grow and proliferate as swamps became smaller, spore plant diversity reduced, and gymno sperm began to dominate the planet.

There were all kinds of ginkgos, coniferous trees, and palm-like cicadas with thick trunks and leafy crowns. Also animals. They had to adapt to the new climate and adapt to the arid conditions. They had to reinvent themselves to survive in a new supercontinent. Amphibians were at a disadvantage because their moist, porous skin could not withstand dry air. They could only survive in lakes and swamps. It is not surprising that many amphibian species became extinct; On the contrary, reptiles spread rapidly around the world because they adapted much better than others to the new environment during the Permian period.

Reptiles made up 53 of all tetrapods, compared to 13 in the previous era. At

first

the reptiles were small in size, similar to modern lizards. They fed mainly on arthropods and worms. Over time, the largest species seemed to prey on the smallest. Most of the predators had powerful jaws with strong teeth, good for hunting. Nothing could prevent the reptiles from completely conquering the planet. However, a real catastrophe broke out. on Earth what happened Liz Imagine the last days of the Permian period before the disaster. A 4-meter, 200-kilogram dimetrodon lived in an ocean rich in food. Dimetrodon was one of the most successful predators of the Permian.

It lived during the Early Permian, between 295 and 272 million years ago. The sharp teeth consisted of serrated incisors and fangs, they were perfect for eating reptile meat as an appearance in physiology, however, Dimetrodon is more closely related to mammals than modern reptiles, although it is not a direct ancestor of mammals which It consists of thick skin stretched over vertebral growths. the rear sail was a great advantage the dimetrodon used it for mating games, camouflage and swimming the sale helped regulate body temperature it also gave an advantage in hunting without the sail the body of a reptile heated up to 26 to 32 degrees Celsius in 205 minutes with the sale, it took only 80 minutes, so the dimetrodon could hunt early in the morning before others woke up and move the sale.

It also helped if the enemy, such as the Tramadopids, got in the way. Dramatopids were predatory amphibians about 80 centimeters (2.62 ft) long, well-adapted. To live on land, they use long and sharp upper fangs to attack, however, trematopids were very slow, and they could not hunt early in the morning because they needed time to warm up their cold body, so they were easy prey for the more dimetrodons. big and agile. during the Permian period everyone looked for food a three meter long gorgonopsia was a predecessor of mammals perhaps it was partially covered with hair the gorgonopsia also had saber-shaped fangs and a third pineal eye on the top of its head was like a reptilian periscope used for hunting at dawn was the best time to hunt the gorgonopsia it also had a well-developed brain and cerebellum it had good coordination of movements it also had long and straight hindquarters the gorgonopsia was not afraid to hunt larger prey gathered all the details and You will get an image of the most dangerous predator of the Permian period.

The gorgonopsia even hunted a four-meter herbivorous periosaur. It peacefully ate the bark of the tree with sharp 15-centimeter dagger fangs. The gorgonopsia could bite through the pineal bone armor of a clumsy animal. The hunting strategy consisted of a series of attacks and retreats, first jumping on the prey, then biting into the flesh and retreating, attacking again and again until the dying prey was dead. Cyanodonts were another distant ancestor of mammals. They resembled otters in appearance. They were small up to 60 years old. centimeters 1.97 feet long were warm-blooded and furry, which meant they were not dependent on temperature fluctuations cyanodonts could hunt at night when larger predators were resting hunting together could target larger animals and rarely stayed without prey their success depended on sharp teeth sharp fangs easily tore their prey Incisor pieces captured and bit into the flesh flat molars with many cutting edges chewed up the prey the thickodonts that lived in the depths of Pangea had to move and look for a better place the reptile looked like a modern crocodile with long legs along with dinosaurs and birds it was the ancestor of the crocodile some types of fecodonts could move on two limbs very, very quickly imagine that the tekodonts traveled many kilometers until they found a green oasis there they found herbivorous ethosaurs among the trees those slow and clumsy reptiles were also the precursors of the dinosaurs.

They had shells and spines on their backs to protect them from predators such as thicknessodonts. However, there were also amphibian uscelliums that were easy prey for lunch. 252 million years ago a catastrophe was boiling inside the Earth, scientists found out when they studied the geological layers of the planet and found layers of ash, which supported the hypothesis that the catastrophe was caused by active tectonic changes within the planet after the melting of the continents, the Laurasia Gondwanda lithospheric plates continued to move and, as a result, the southern plate sank. beneath the north and formed huge holes in the surface where India and Siberia now lie, so hot gases and magmas splashed from the interior of the planet to the surface, the hot floating lava eliminated everything that stood in its path when the magma reached the surface at its temperature.

It was one thousand to one thousand two hundred degrees Celsius it is four to five times hotter than a baking oven. What would happen to the cyanide trapped in the middle of the magma river just at the moment when they were reduced to ashes in seconds the eruptions set fire to the planet that spread so quickly that no creature could escape. Magma eruptions and earthquakes caused tsunamis. The high waves would have hit and drowned the dimetrodons and many other animals that lived in the Oasis. Imagine that the secret points and the ecosaurs were lucky and the magman fires did not touch the Oasis.

There were only earthquakes and some dust storms, even in that case the clock was ticking and they were doomed. The magma released a huge amount of methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The temperature of the planet rose by at least two or three degrees Celsius and Methane melted. frozen in the ocean, releasing it into the atmosphere, a greenhouse gas, methane, raised temperatures by another 5 degrees Celsius, all the water on the planet evaporated and the earth dried out. The same thing happened in the Oasis where the ancestors of the dinosaurs lived. The vegetation dried up and most of the animals died again, surviving. the reptiles had to look for anotherplace they kept moving but there was only an arid desert poisonous acid rains fell from heavy clouds it was difficult to breathe due to the particles of lava gases and ash in the atmosphere there was no chance of surviving in such a hell it is a brief description of the greatest extinction in the history of the earth, it is called the Permian Triassic extinction or colloquially as the great extinction, it wiped out between 90 and 95 percent of aquatic species, at least 70 percent of terrestrial species, fortunately some creatures survived. including the sinodonts because they hid in the Burrows the ancestors of the dinosaurs the codons and the ecosaurs survived too soon they would enter a new Mesozoic Era and lead the famous dinosaurs to dominance while the sinodonts the predecessors of mammals would have to adapt and wait their turn it took the planet about 30 million years to recover from the dying large animals had to change and adapt to new conditions and it took a long time, as you know, evolutionary changes take millions of years.

It took nature more than 30 million years to recover from the greatest biosphere catastrophe ever seen. the planet called the Great Triassic Permian Extinction when life began to develop again completely different animals began to prevail those who ruled the planet for the next 160 million years lent their name to an entire era in the development of our planet began their triumphant journey towards the pinnacle of evolution as small creatures with bird footprints thanks to their great adaptability they managed to surpass all large predators these reptiles appeared in the Mesozoic era, also known as the era of dinosaurs, their first remains were found in the period Triassic which began almost 252 million years ago and lasted 51 million years in a Triassic period the Earth was quite different from what it is today the Earth was represented by a single supercontinent of Pangea surrounded by the Waters of the pantherus megaocean the face of Pangea was constantly changing Continental bodies of water appeared and disappeared and mountains were formed it was during this period that the Ural mountain range was formed at the beginning of the Mesozoic Era the planet became warmer the temperature probably increased due to the large amount of carbon dioxide that It was formed as a result of numerous volcanic eruptions caused by the movement of tectonic plates.

Calculations showed that in that period one hundred thousand gigatons of CO2 were emitted into the atmosphere. It is a well-known fact that this gas creates a greenhouse effect. Solar panels enter into As the Earth's atmosphere reaches the surface as short-frequency waves, the planet heats up and begins to emit longer wavelengths of heat radiation. Some of them must go into space, but greenhouse gases do not allow waves of this wavelength to escape, especially CO2, as a result, this causes the increase in the temperature of the planet during the Triassic period the layers of snow at the poles melted due to global warming the climate has become less zonal, making it more homogeneous throughout Pangea the rainy season lasted only three months a year, followed by nine months of drought and then the water bodies became shallow and evaporated drying out almost all vegetation the supercontinent was mostly covered by arid deserts it was very difficult for life to recover after the mass extinction in such conditions life continued to evolve mainly on the shores of bodies of water and near the plants in these The green oases have changed greatly droughts have completely destroyed tree-like Club Moss and many species of fern spores.

The conifers of the Permian period also disappeared and were quickly replaced by new plant species that were more adapted to dry habitats, suja and arakaria emerged and have emerged. Surviving to this day some conifers from that era were grasses without hardwood stems, which allowed the plants to recover faster with the onset of the rainy season. Also cicadas, ginkgo, and other modern palm-like gymnozoa began to spread throughout the supercontinent, however, ferns continued. To dominate many insects flew and crawled between these plants, crickets, beetles, exotic cockroaches with large hairy legs, they preferred to suck the sap of the plants or feed on pollen, but the larvae of predatory insects often devoured their own. species, for example, the gluttonous snout beetles waited for their prey and the cicada cone dragonflies. flying over bodies of water catching insects and 40-centimeter mesotitinids with toothed, sickle-shaped legs, they even hunted small amphibians, sharks and bony fish fought for their prey in the open sea, over time the developed jaws could easily crush shells of crab and seashells, but The Ray Finn fish were not far behind like the modern Pike.

These predators measured more than a meter in length. The newly emerged aquatic reptiles called notosaurs were the largest hunters in the Triassic seas, similar to the giant dinosaurs. notosaurs fished with their sharp teeth they swam very fast and could reach any prey the number of amphibians dominated at the same time other land animals continued to decline even though some species were still quite numerous labyrinthodonts lived in swamps, lakes and rivers on all continents They resembled both frogs and crocodiles and had horizontal hips and shoulders. Length range from half a meter (1.64 ft) to 5 meters (16.4 ft) Labyrinthodonts were carnivores that preyed on their relatives and small fish using ambush tactics.

Gray-green animals blended perfectly into their surroundings waiting for hours with their mouths wide open, their jaws snapping shut when someone got close enough to reach out and crush the prey with their formidable teeth. Labyrinthodonts defended themselves against enemies with firm, shellless bone plates that covered their entire body, since in the Permian period numerous reptiles dominated the planet, however, they changed a lot during the Triassic period. the most advanced forms of reptiles were not affected by the great extinction the distant ancestors of mammals called synodonts were among those animals these small creatures were no larger than a weasel or, more rarely, a large dog, they literally had to survive under the feet of large predators, but cyanodonts knew how to dig deep burrows and often lived in pairs caring for their young.

It is assumed that some of them had already fed their young with milk. Some of these animals could have been marsupials and carried their young on them, plus they were hairy and warm. -Blood cyanodonts did not need to warm up in the morning, they could easily hunt at night, when large predators were asleep, having adapted to new conditions, these reptiles spread throughout the planet and super predators were mostly represented by crocodiles or rather their eight. The ancestors of the meter-long crocodilemorphs, these reptiles, enormous teeth, their ferocity and strength terrify the animals of the Triassic world. A particular species of crocodilemorphs received a no less terrifying name, the Carolina butcher or carnifex carolonensis.

Visually, this three-meter predator resembled a large crocodile, but it preferred to live. land instead of water and could run quickly on its hind legs the ancestors of modern crocodiles had extremely sharp teeth that could cut through thick reptile shells finally the first dinosaurs emerged in the mid-Triassic period paleontologists find their bones predominantly throughout the world In modern Argentina at first these reptiles were not giants, but they grew over time, but what helped the dinosaurs survive in the world of Triassic predators and evolve so quickly, in the first place, many of them were Bipeds, curiously, reptiles stepped on their toes. just like birds and not on their heels like us, that is why the footprints of these small animals look like the footprints of herons.

The legs of dinosaurs were under the abdomen instead of on both sides of the body, as in crocodiles, for example, because of this these reptiles could catch quickly. catch the prey or flee from the predator, in addition, dinosaurs were inertial homeotherms, which means that their body became very hot during the day but did not cool down during the night thanks to their fast metabolism and some species have actually warmed up. with blood, this characteristic allowed them to remain active 24 hours a day, so the reptiles gained an advantage in obtaining food. It has also been discovered that dinosaurs had sedentary breathing.

This process occurred due to air sacs that were special lung growths. Dinosaurs received oxygen from the atmosphere during inhalation and oxygen pockets during exhalation, such a respiratory system turned out to be indispensable in the oxygen-poor Triassic period. Initially the concentration of O2 in the atmosphere was 10 to 15 percent, by the end of the Triassic the figure jumped to about 19, but still it was not enough to put this into perspective - oxygen makes up just over 21 percent of the current atmosphere and in the Carboniferous period it increased to 35 percent. It is also important that the dinosaurs' skin was scaly and water-repellent, it protected the animals from both moisture loss and predators.

Finally the dinosaur eggs had thick shells because of this, the survival rate of the cub was quite high compared to other reptiles, however, the first reptile still had an incredibly difficult time in the harsh world of the Triassic, they constantly fought until the death for his place in the sun. Perhaps this is how dinosaurs survived along with other Triassic inhabitants in what is now South Carolina. 200 million years ago, the rainy season could last nine months and small lakes became vast bodies of water. Naturally, the water always attracts many animals that can drink and hunt nearby. In ancient times, the huge five-meter crocodilemorphs also loved to splash around in ponds in search of a suitable lunch.

They were probably well fed, as there were plenty of fish and small reptiles to snack on during the rainy season. Carnivorous dinosaurs such as the enormous gojirasaurus could also come. The drinking place, the largest of them in the Triassic, was more than five meters long and weighed 150 kilograms. These reptiles probably hunted numerous small animals near bodies of water. Herds of herbivorous dinosaurs could graze in forests covered with lush vegetation near rivers and lakes for millions of years. years their sauropod descendants will grow necks of 10 meters and enormous bodies that weigh tens of tons until now the size of these animals, for example, the saridi of Rio were much more modest, but some of them in the Triassic already measured 10 meters 33 feet long, these reptiles still had elongated legs and not column-shaped as later but they could rise on their hind limbs to reach the tender leaves in the treetops and already had a firm barrel-shaped body. small reptiles could also live among forest trees, many of them were bipedal during the Triassic period, for example, raptor eels, they generally did not measure more than one meter and weighed 10 kilograms.

These agile predators successfully hunted small reptiles and amphibians, catching insects on the fly, they also searched for and crushed the eggs of other dinosaurs with their sharp teeth. In addition to teeth, small predators often hunted in packs, so they could well have attacked to the babies of the enormous dinosaurs. Interestingly, many of them were omnivores and didn't mind eating a few plants for dessert, while the cyanodonts, the ancestors of future mammals, probably stayed in the burrows during the day caring for their young some of their species such as synagnathus They were already quite large, these animals were the size of a large dog, they had wide jaws and sharp teeth, they could clearly defend themselves, however, they probably preferred to go hunting only after dark to avoid huge predators. so the night cold was not a big problem.

Simply put, all the animals were well fed and satisfied during the rainy season, but the water bodies became shallow after the rainy season, leaving only a few fish alive there. There will be fewer amphibians near the coasts. Too voracious crocodiles. More Swiss find it difficult to feed themselves in such conditions. However, predators can always count on some young, careless reptile to get away from aflock of little dinosaurs at the drinking place. A strong large-mouthed crocodile armed with sharp teeth had every chance of getting him for dinner. Large dinosaurs may also have considered smaller dinosaurs as prey.

It can be assumed that small dinosaurs like eoraptors did not starve to death, after all, many amphibians and insects could be found near water. The bodies of herds of huge herbivorous dinosaurs must have had a particularly difficult time. The tree-like plants would completely dry out during the rainless season. The lack of resources may have forced giants like the riacosaurs to migrate in search of remaining forests. Furthermore, they had a great chance of successfully surviving making long transitions spikes and plates on the skin of the animals protected their body from loss of moisture perhaps when the fall became completely unbearable large predators began to hunt each other if a crocodile morphology and a large predatory dinosaur fought, the latter would surely win.

According to ancient paleontologists, reptiles were more mobile than crocodilemorphs, in addition, they often ate carrion in the forests. The smaller predators would probably get some leftovers after the bloody feasts of those at the top of the food chain with the onset of the rainy season, the animals that survived the drought predominantly the dinosaurs. They returned to normal life near lakes and rivers They went about their business searching for food and laying eggs This is how the dinosaurs became stronger on the planet but most likely it was another global catastrophe that made them thrive The Jurassic extinction Triassic occurred 169 million years ago scientists don't have a single hypothesis about what caused it, maybe volcanoes helped the dinosaurs thrive.

The disintegration of the supercontinent Pangea caused intense volcanic eruptions. Numerous eruptions caused huge amounts of carbon dioxide to be spewed into the atmosphere. It created a greenhouse effect and a dramatic Climate change and such changes are usually followed by the collapse of ecosystems; However, the cause of the extinction may not have been related to a global catastrophe. Some scientists believe it could be caused by the cooling of the planet at the end of the Triassic and high mountain polar caps appearing that cooled. The Earth even more so, this led to the Ice Age and a major freezing of the ocean.

Such a sudden change in climate caused another Global Extinction. It is also believed that a huge asteroid collided with our planet, causing a disaster; However, the impact crater has not appeared. However, over millions of years it could have been wiped out by the ocean. In any case, about 50 percent of land animals died by the end of the Triassic. Many ecological niches were left free after dinosaurs were able to occupy them, further strengthening their positions in The evolutionary landscape of the Earth outside the Jurassic period or Jura is probably the most interesting era after watching the famous movie Jurassic Park, an average person could To think that the Earth was populated only by dinosaurs like the T-Rex, in reality it was not. quite so, although the Jurassic period is also known as the age of reptiles, let's start with the statement that the Jurassic period, the second of the Mesozoic Era, is long and complex, it began 201 million years ago and lasted about 56 million of years. name because fossils were discovered and explored for the first time in the Jura Mountains in Switzerland and France hence the name of the period this era is divided into three stages the first which lasted from 201.3 to 174.1 million years ago called the Lower Jurassic at that time life was recovering from the Triassic Jurassic Extinction that caused about half of all animal species on the planet to disappear;

However, the warm, humid climate of the Jura helped life recover quickly. The warm oceans and seas were abundant with fish and land reptiles. Reptiles, including dinosaurs, quickly filled the ecological niches freed by the previous extinction. In the process of evolution, some reptiles gained wings and flew into the sky. The beginning of the Jurassic period marked the heyday of reptiles. Hundreds of species of dinosaurs appeared on the planetplanet. They settled on all continents, including Antarctica. Some reached incredible sizes and proportions. Some, of course, develop formidable shapes. Sometimes they are strange and terrifying. What are the mysteries of the prehistoric reptiles that lived on Earth 200 million years ago?

The continents of the Earth were under the process. formation the single supercontinent of Pangea began to split into separate continental blocks Shallow seas filled the gaps the continents began to take modern shape the bays deepened and separated Africa and Australia the gulf between Africa and America became deeper also in Eurasia the Anglo-Paris German and Western Siberia depressions formed the Arctic Sea flooded the northern coast of Asia in North America the Rocky Mountains and the Andes many volcanic eruptions were forming accompanied by the splitting of tectonic plates and the reshaping of the continents volcanic eruptions released enormous amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and intensified the greenhouse effect the climate of the Jurassic period was generally warmer than today by 5 to 10 degrees Celsius and the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere was four times greater the rains were more frequent and intense compared to the Triassic most of the time The Earth had a humid tropical and subtropical climate.

Large areas were covered with lush vegetation, mainly jungles and forests, consisting mainly of seeds. Ferns and woody plants without flowers. Let us remind you that plants, unlike animals, were lucky, there is no clear evidence of the extinction of flora. At the turn of the Triassic Endura, thanks to the heat and high humidity, the trees in the forest grew tall and large. The cades are widespread in the tropics and subtropics. The heyday era began during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The cicadas reached the peak of diversity. At the beginning of the Jura they looked very similar to palm trees.

The size of it baffled even the famous botanist Carl Linnaeus and caused him to make a mistake in his classification system. The scientist places the acades in the palm tree section. Tall ginkgos grew in temperate climate zones. Ginkgo crowns look like oak trees, but the leaves are small and fan-shaped. It is a pity that only one type of ginkgo tree has survived to this day: ginkgo biloba. Cicadas and ginkgos coexisted with prehistoric conifers. Those trees resemble modern-hued pines and cypresses during the Late Triassic and early Jurassic conifers changed rapidly and reached great diversity during the Early Jurassic.

The mid-latitude floor of eastern Asia was dominated by extinct potozamite conifers that do not appear to be closely related to any extant conifer family. Its needles were wider. The leaves and the tree itself were deciduous. Modern conifers are mostly evergreen, with deciduous trees being the exception. Lush vegetation supported the unprecedented flourishing of life and insects did especially well. They were lucky, apparently there was no extinction of insects in the early Triassic Endura, therefore, forests, fields and banks of the first juries Rivers were full of all kinds of insects imagine predatory dragonflies flying over the water in search of prey, beetles herbivores swarming in the thickets of plants and arachnids such as spiders and scorpions waiting for their prey at the time change Triassic Endura the first butterflies appeared, however, in appearance they were a pale shadow of beautiful colorful butterflies that we admire in our time, at the same time At one time, some creatures flitted through the Jurassic forests that look like modern butterflies, but really weren't.

What is it and how? Can it be explained well? The explanation is an amazing phenomenon. Convergent evolution. Creatures that looked like butterflies in the early Jurassic fluttered like butterflies and even plants pollinated like butterflies were actually calagrams. They belong to a different family of insects and their closest modern relatives are lacewings. in the Jurassic calagrammatity, of course, they could not pollinate flowers, since flowers almost did not exist in nature, they simply appeared, they were small and technically unsuitable for insects, however, let us remember that coniferous seed plants had cones with long nectar and pollen tubes that attracted the The pseudo butterflies of the Jurassic period, therefore, calligrammatity and butterflies are one of many examples of convergent evolution in evolutionary biology.

Convergent evolution is defined as the process by which distant organisms independently evolve similar traits to adapt to similar needs, so different unrelated animals may bear a striking resemblance but live in different areas and on continents, e.g. Tenrecs are a striking example of convergent evolution from a single colonizing ancestor. ten racks have evolved into incredibly diverse species that look like moles, shrews, hedgehogs and even otters, take a look and spot 10 differences. It is not an easy task because tenrex and hedgehogs are similar as brothers, in fact they belong to very distant branches of the genetic tree.

Tenrec arguably has more in common biologically with an elephant than with a hedgehog. If you dig deeper, it turns out that indeed. They only have an external resemblance. Speaking about our pseudo butterflies from the Jurassic, we can say that they were surprisingly similar to real lepidopterans. takes the shortest optimal path and means that on some fantastic exoplanet with Earth-like conditions we might have encountered strange but quite recognizable life forms. Amphibians at that time were giving way to reptiles. Many species became extinct. Only the salamanders, the first frogs and the Sicilians, the legless worms. Similar amphibians still survived among the large species there were still some brachiopods that often grew up to three meters long.

The record holder was found in Lesotho in Africa. Based on its fossilized remains, scientists estimated its size at about 7 meters. Throughout history only priana. Sukis were large amphibians, but they lived and became extinct in the Permian period. Brachiopods had flat bodies and spatulate heads. The mouth had sharp teeth with which predators could instantly destroy the victim despite the proliferation. Later their numbers decreased but the number of reptiles grew rapidly. Before the dinosaurs split into a single group, the overall diversity of reptiles grew in number and species at an impressive rate, gradually gaining dominance in water, on land and in the air, in the warm tropical seas of the Jura they lived real monsters, often terrifying but no less surprising. and beautiful in their own way, they barely managed to break through the bottleneck of the Triassic Jurassic extinction and began to gradually strengthen at the beginning of the Jura.

One of the most notable are the ichthyosaurs. There are many different types of them, on average they were quite large. to four meters, but due to the favorable environment as evolution progressed, individual species reached enormous sizes, the largest shonasaurus known to science grew up to 15 meters, the champion among the shonasaurus is the shastasaurus, which boasts up to 21 meters in length, some species of ichthyosaurs seemed quite strange, the body is exactly like that of a shark, but with agarial crocodile head with a long and narrow snout, it could be considered a bad joke of nature, like a modern platypus, the Interesting ichthyosaurs had very large eyes protected by a ring of bone, which, according to paleontologists, could help at night. hunting was also excellent for diving because the large eyes helped to see at least something with eyes 25 centimeters in diameter temnodontosaurs could still see at a depth of up to 1600 meters 600 meters deep in water human eyes cannot see except in Total darkness It is known that at a depth of 800 and 950 meters the light intensity is approximately one percent of the midday illumination at the surface.

It is interesting to know that ichthyosaurs are viviparous and warm-blooded. It may seem contradictory since we are used to the fact that reptiles crocodiles snakes lay eggs to lay eggs reptiles need land even plantsSea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs while ichthyosaurs breathe air and their native element was water when the reptiles gained wings in the Triassic period the pterosaur appeared early in the Jura were still recovering from the mass extinction of species and the RAM of the Hinkadai family was more or less notable. They ate mainly fish. Reptiles reached a diversity of degrees on earth.

Prehistoric turtles were generally similar to modern ones. The earth was dominated, of course, by Dinosaurs. Paleontologists identified more than 900 different genera and more than a thousand species of non-avian dinosaurs in the early Jura alone. They quickly occupied free niches after extinction. It is a stereotype that all dinosaurs were huge. In fact, they had different sizes. Some did not exceed the size. size of chickens, as some grew to become huge monsters most dinosaurs were carnivores and hunted prey some dinosaurs were hibarius they slowly trampled the forests shaking the ground and nibbling all the vegetation at the beginning of the Jurassic approximately 82.7 BC 74.1 million years interesting Dinosaurs lived on the territory of modern Zimbabwe volcanoes discovered in 1969 on a small island in the Kariba reservoir in Zimbabwe.

It was considered for decades to be the oldest known sauropod and remains one of the most primitive sauropods ever discovered as a ground quadruped. -the herbivore volcanidon already showed the typical sauropod body design with column-shaped legs and a long neck and tail. It is one of the first dinosaurs found on Zimbabwean soil. The Latin name volcanidon literally means tooth of the volcano. The fossils were found in a small sandstone between two solidified lava flows this was enough to obtain a specific name based on the nature of the rock in which the volcanidon fossils were found its habitat the batoka formation was a hot sandy desert it was not the most favorable place for life but it was still there were islands of vegetation, some rivers and an even rarer oasis the length of the volcano reached 6.5 meters the height was up to 2.5 meters it weighed up to 2.5 tons some Researchers are more generous with their estimates and say that it measured up to 11 meters in length and up to 3.5 tons in weight, this herbivorous dinosaur moved on four legs, but could stand up on two legs, for example to eat branches.

The volcano with its relatively small size and ability to move quickly could feed even in the desert due to sparse vegetation. They were not picky about the menu unlike any other natural vegetarian in the entire history of evolution, the volcano itself often became food for predatory reptiles of that time, evidence of this was already received at the time of the first discovery of the remains of Volcanadon and all that. It began with a curious riddle that became an enigma. South African paleontologist Michael Rott discovered several teeth near the remains of the pelvic volcano, however, the head and neck were not found, the shape of the teeth was quite strange, more characteristic of predators, according to scientists, the dying volcano it could bend in agony so that the head is at the level of the pelvis, hence the exposed teeth, another fact in favor of the theory: a similar posture is sometimes found among dinosaur fossils due to such unusual teeth in a herbivorous dinosaur , the researcher mentioned it in the name of the genus if everything is confirmed, the volcanadon would be considered omnivorous like modern bears, however, in 1985, another researcher, Michael Cooper, showed that the teeth probably belonged to an unknown theropod, a dinosaur , most likely, the predator attacked the volcanadon, but not entirely successfully, so it even broke. had a pair of teeth, but this attack was still fatal for the victim, this is how volcanadon ironically and scientifically got its name in honor of the teeth of its own killer, the killer of that same volcanadon has never been identified, it could well be the predator.

Dilophosaurus theropod if we conclude that those two Genera crossed in space and time but to be able to see the incredible Dilophosaurus we need to go back in time to another continent Laurasia where at that time the contours of the future continent of North America were already formed Dilophosaurus Lived in what is now Arizona in the United States between 199.3 and 190.8 million years ago. It was an efficient, fast and incredibly agile predator. It hunted herbivorous dinosaurs. The Latin name Dilophosaurus comes from the Greek words for two crested lizards. It was based on an unusual. bone formation on the skull with two flat semicircular ridges was a decorative organ that played a role in mating games the closest modern example is the crests of basilisks and iguanas a red crest of a rooster belongs to the phenomenon of the same nature the length of the Dilophosaurus body reached seven meters in height up to 2 meters weighed up to 400 kilograms at the beginning of the Jurassic period these are very impressive dimensions for a predator Dilophosaurus was the largest predator at that time, in this sense scientists sometimes refer to it as an early durian The adult T-Rex was a threat to almost any local animal, however, the sarasaurus or skeletosaurus that lived at the same time in the Arizona territory could be hunted by Dilophosaurus only in pairs or even in groups, the first two They were herbivores but could defend themselves in any case.

This theropod from the early Jurassic occupied the top of the food pyramid judging by its narrow jaws and long teeth. It preferred to hunt relatively small animals, taking advantage of its size and strength. Its high speed and flexibility allowed it to catch even very large animals. small and fast dinosaurs such as scatellosaurus, after analyzing the jaws, scientists concluded that, in the absence of large prey, a significant part of its diet could consist of fish and other water inhabitants, sometimes it ate decomposing meat of dead animals . Carnivore that could grow up to three meters (9.8 ft) long. It was one of the first known dinosaur genera.

The name celiophysis comes from two Greek words meaning hollow of reason. Because this is simple thanks to the hollow bones of the limbs celiophysis had an extremely light skeleton celiophysis lived in the late Triassic and early Jurassic approximately 208.5 years ago to 109.8 million years ago according to other estimates the celiophysis proliferated during a relatively short period of 228 to 200 million years ago, these reptiles were common in North America, especially in the New Mexico region, as well as in South Africa. South Africa and Zimbabwe. The slender, stocky predator appears small compared to Dilophosaurus. The body length of the celiophysis reached three meters, the height up to one meter, and the weight.

Up to 30 kilograms, the teeth of the celiophysis are typical of carnivorous dinosaurs, blade-shaped, curved backwards, sharp with small serrations on both the anterior and posterior edges. Although they were carnivorous, they followed a different hunting strategy than the of the large dinosaurs of the Jurassic period, representatives of the genus. They hunted large prey in flocks. The valleys of North America in the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic were mostly deserts, however, there were green oases in the Highland mountains, hills and these plateaus or in the mountain forests, flocks of predatory coeliophyses tracked their prey, presumably using special cries. alert in their language it is possible that the coeliophysis developed some primitive tactics and could hunt a large herbivorous dinosaur they surrounded the prey and attacked together most likely their diet consisted of smaller animals reptiles and lizards their fossils were often found together with the skeletons of celiophysis by the way here is a curious fact for a long time until the early 2000s the celiophysis were considered cannibals, as indicated by the remains found at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico there puppies of their own species were found in the stomach of a prehistoric adult celiophysis however, it later turned out that the fine was misidentified, then the Cubs were classified as hesperosuchus, the usual prey of the celiophysis in general, is one of the most studied Jurassic Triassic theropods, all thanks to the numerous remains found, including several complete skeletons that the Ghost Ranch has. a spooky reputation because there is a cemetery of celiophysis skeletons.

What happened there is not entirely clear, while the coelophysis is among the most notable fossils found at Ghost Ranch. The site is rich with examples of many different species of dinosaurs and crocodiles. They are all notable dinosaurs in the early Jura the name suggests the African country of Lesotho in fact the first remains of this Microsoft were discovered in the high African country of Lesotho these animals lived in the period from 199.3 to 190.8 million ago years the body length of the Lesophosaurus reached two meters and These are the maximum height estimates that vary greatly from 40 centimeters to 1 meter and even more the weight estimates are also in a wide range of 3 to 10 kilograms, since it does not We are not talking about a species but about an entire genus.

Such an error is normal. Lesothosaurus moved on two long, thin legs, which allowed it to develop impressive speed. The five-fingered arms of Lesothosaurus were small but well developed from the outside, they may look like a miniature image of human hands by analogy with our little finger. The fifth finger was bad. developed with these same hands it touched and held the plants it ate rhomboid teeth aligned along the jaws of the lessotesaurus in front of the upper jaw there were 12 teeth similar to arrowheads this light structure of the teeth is not very suitable for grinding hard foods but it is quite suitable for cutting stems or soft leaves.

The body of the minor thorus was elongated in a light that was a bit reminiscent of archosaurs that barely stood on two legs. A long, thin tail was important for maintaining balance when moving quickly in general due to the short skull and The elongated body of the Lesothosaurus was somewhat reminiscent of a bipedal lizard that decided to stand up on two legs and run. In fact, this can be done by some modern reptiles. The phlosophosaurus was a very fast and agile animal, at the slightest sign of danger, it would stand on its legs. It has enemies, of course, at least the coeliophysis themselves when we mention small living beings as typical prey of the coeliophysis.

The sofasaurus fits into this category. The long-legged celiophysis could easily keep up with the laserthesaurus. The latter did not have any means of protection. It wasn't serious. unarmored claws without fangs like lycarein, what is lycurin? Finally, a miniature dinosaur that is difficult to call a dinosaur, but remains very interesting at least because it puzzled paleontologists with many mysteries. Its very name symbolizes lycoranus meaning wolf face. Fangs were found in the remains of the jaw, although the rest of the teeth testify to herbivory. Lycoranus lived in the early Jurassic period approximately 199.6 to 196.5 million years ago in the territory of the modern Republic of South Africa.

The body of the lycarina reached 1.2 meters in height up to 50 centimeters it weighed up to 10 kilograms the lycorean moved on two limbs, which is also characteristic of its relative heterodontitoro lycoranus it had strong, light legs and a long tail to improve balance well-developed upper limbs served as convenient manipulators when eating plant food in front of the teardrop-shaped head behind the hard beak-shaped end there were large sharp fangs because of this they first confused it with a descendant of the toothed lizard animal of the suborder sinodont judging by the jaw The diet of this gourmet dinosaur included everything in a row both succulent stems of ferns and horsetails and more solid foods the roots and bark of trees when predators attacked the lycoranus risk being bitten hard but, Of course, only camouflage and fast legs could save like a rhino from hungry predators.

Finally we want to remind you that not all dinosaurs were giants, many were something between a chicken and a lizard, for example, a lesophosaurus. In addition, 100 million years passed before real giants appeared. We already know the great predatory monster Dilophosaurus. To see other large and incredible herbivores, we will go to the southeastern part of the continent Laurasia the lands of modern China here on the territory of the current province of Yuna in the period from 201.3 to 168.3 million years ago monsters roamed that They are named after the place where the remains of unanosaurs were found. The body length of the yunanosaur reached 13 meters, height up to 4.3 meters, weighed up to threetons this is incomparably small compared to the giants of later periods with their tens of tons of weight but for the early Jura it is already something the unitosaurus moved mainly on four legs but spent a significant part of the time on two in order to reach the chosen branches and trees or menacingly expose its forelimbs when a predator approached.

These peculiar hands of its were quite large and like the legs were equipped with impressive claws at the end of the Yunanosaurus' long neck. It was a small, elongated head, particularly notable are the spoon-shaped teeth, of which there were more than 60 in the jaws, when the jaws were compressed, they were located close to each other, therefore they were self-sharpening. This feature is not found in prasaropods such as unanasaurus. but it appears in later sauropods like Brachiosaurus, therefore animals that lived in different times and are not close relatives have a common characteristic, again we see an example of convergent evolution.

If scientists found only the teeth of Unanasaurus, then by its shape they could misclassify it as a herbivorous sauropod. Unanosaurs move from one natural pasture to another without being particularly picky about their food. Unique teeth made it possible not only to effectively tear off foliage from tall plants, but also to eat small-sized ferns with horsetails. In theory, Unanosaurs could live in herds for the better. defense against predators we see something similar now in the savannahs of Africa when lions hunting herds of buffalo often have to flee when the herbivores counterattack at the end of the first stage of the Jurassic period a cooling trend is established on the planet. cover some areas the ice formation was not strong enough to hit the mammals, these animals were mostly covered in hair and lived in burrows, no wonder cold temperatures harmed dinosaurs who like to live In a warm climate, as we can see in the example of the coelophysis, not all species survive colder climates, of course, much more amazing reptile species lived in the early Jura.

We only know a small part of the crumbs of the remains that have been preserved. The Middle Jurassic period dates from 174.1 million to 163.5 million years ago. The supercontinent Pangea began to separate into Laurasia and Gondwana. Numerous earthquakes accompanied the continental divide. This transformed the appearance of the planet. The Symarium and plate tectonics on the southern coast completely blocked the Teth Sea, turning it into inland and plate movements on the western coast of North America. the Rocky Mountains were formed, the Atlantic Ocean arose as a result of tectonic changes that washed the supercontinent that had not yet divided into two parts, not only changed the appearance of the planet but also changed its climate at the end of the first stage of Durante The Jurassic period, the Earth cooled, some areas were covered in ice, however, scientists doubt that this drop in temperature caused the formation of huge polar caps.

High summer temperatures probably melted the snow and prevented it from accumulating in one place, although small individual glaciers may have done so. formed on the tops of mountains regarding the temperature of the ocean, researchers are almost unanimous during the Middle Jurassic, unlike the land, the ocean warmed about 8 degrees Celsius more than now due to the rather hot and humid climate. Lush vegetation covered most of the land in winter and summer in the southern belt. Groves of palm-like psicus and tree ferns spread. Some of these fern species have survived to this day near the poles. Conifers dominated the forest.

They were the predecessors of modern cypresses. Cedars and use the polar climate with heat. Cold and sometimes snowy summers and winters were very suitable for these plants in other parts of the planet. Non-flowering plants such as Ginkgo and psicus were prevalent in mixed forests. The male cones of these trees carried pollen that was carried by the wind over great distances, allowing the plants to effectively pollinate the female cones and spread throughout the planet. Forest-free areas were filled with thickets of herbaceous ferns and mosses. The luxurious vegetation and warm climate facilitated the development of all living beings and this is exactly the reason why the Middle Jurassic is considered one of the key periods in the evolution of terrestrial life numerous flies and dragonflies flew in the forest and on the banks of bodies of water, while the beetles searched for something in the ground, in 2021 the trills of Arcabullus crickets could already be heard in the dense thickets of China scientists, the United States and the United Kingdom, reproduce their sound based on well-preserved fossils of the Geelongshan formation in China.

The experiment was performed using a resonant mechanism tuned to a frequency of 6.4 kilohertz. The results showed that males emitted pure tonal, that is, musical, sounds in addition to insects. Almost all other animal species successfully reproduced in the favorable conditions of the Jurassic, the only thing was that the number of amphibians continued to decline. The giant crocodilemorphs no longer threatened all living things. At that time, the seven-meter pseudosuchian labyrinths and ravasucia had completely disappeared, only the relatively small crocodiles. similar species survived the ancestors of modern crocodiles were among these aquatic reptiles lived on land and in the waters of the Jurassic period throughout Pangea Marine crocodiles even mastered salt water have long, narrow snouts and sharp teeth perfectly designed for capturing fish Some varieties of marine crocodiles grew tail fins and flippers instead of legs to swim faster.

The warm seas of the Jurassic were full of arthropods. All crustaceans that now live in freshwater bodies used to live in the marine environment. Today only crabs remain in the sea. Additionally, new species of large sea turtles appeared in salt water in the Middle Jurassic, but plesiosaurs would likely steal the spotlight from all of these creatures. The huge monsters were up to 16 meters long, had wide, flat bodies and short tails, and had large fins on their legs. which were very useful in the aquatic environment, curiously, plesiosaurs breathed air and gave birth to their young. There are also facts that suggest that they were warm-blooded.

The most prominent feature of these animals was an incredibly long neck. They had 76 vertebrae shaped like hockey pucks. The modern giraffe would envy a neck like that These animals were not agile but could find food easily using fins They floated in the water for hours swallowing krill and other small sea creatures Swimming alongside other similar species They were commonly called pleiosaurs They had short, large necks The heads of some of them were up to 17 meters long and were the size of modern killer whales or even larger despite being enormous. Pleiosaurs were fast and agile and could be considered the main marine predators of those times.

The Middle Jurassic sky was also full of life. I saw pterosaurs flying in the sky they were not afraid of cold waves they had a soft tissue crest on their head which was probably used for thermal regulation in those days they were more commonly long-tailed animals with many sharp teeth their wide wings nets They were connected to the hind legs. Strong claws made pterosaurs efficient climbers that could have lived in trees. Pterosaurs were predators that ate insects or small vertebrates, but as soon as these flying creatures landed on the ground in search of prey, they found themselves in the world of dinosaurs.

They remain the most common animals on the planet, they constantly fought to survive over the years, each species of dinosaur developed its own defense in a tributary system. Megalosaurus can be considered one of the largest and undoubtedly dangerous predators of those times, it measured up to six meters long. and weighed about 700 kilograms, megalosaurs walked on two powerful hind legs that held the body upright. Using a long, thick tail, these dinosaurs had short but very strong forelimbs and were armed with long, knife-like teeth when they hunted they helped the animals. predators to instantly tear into the meat of praise, but another chicken venator Predator V caused quite a stir in the press in 1998, scientists A rib 50 percent larger than that of an Allosaurus was found in Minden, Germany, but Allosaurus was one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs of the Mesozoic Era.

In the media, the new reptile was unofficially dubbed the Minden monster and scientists began calculating the giant size in At first it was assumed to be 15 meters and then 12 meters long, however some researchers estimate that the animal measured between seven and eight meters long and weighed up to 1.2 tons, but no one in the Middle Jurassic could compete in size with the sauropods, for example with the setiosaur in The first scientists saw them as aquatic creatures similar to very large crocodiles by then, however, they were classified as dinosaurs. The giants were about 16 meters long and weighed about 11 tons, but their tails and necks were shorter than those of most soropods.

They lived in alluvial plains and in the forests where they ate the shoots of the trees of the middle and lower floors, however, along with the other megagiants of the Jurassic, the setiosaurs seem to be the smallest of the family, their older brothers, like the brachiosaurs , were between 18 and 21 meters long, if possible. To measure your weight, the scale would show between 31 and 39 tons. The minerals had their own differences from other sauropods. They had disproportionately long necks and small skulls. Also, what was unusual about the dinosaur's legs is that the front ones were much longer than the back ones. thanks to this they could easily eat leaves from the treetops while maintaining balance with a short but powerful tail, with this tail the lizards could well have crippled the enemy although it is unlikely that many predators would dare to attack such giants, without However, not only were the giants quite comfortable in the Jurassic forest.

Herbivorous dinosaurs. The ornithopods were only about a meter long but were probably very fast. The stiff tail helped the ornithopods maintain balance when they ran on their hind legs over time. They began to graze on all fours more and more often, since it was more convenient this way they ate low vegetation apparently their spine began to bend because of this eventually these dinosaurs developed a hump on their backs like the modern ornithopods bison became. The coolest types of the Jurassic period quickly ran on two legs and were very agile tree climbers, but most of the time they moved or grazed on all fours, probably such a wide range of movements helped these dinosaurs survive among large predators. .

Small cyanodons are considered the predecessors of mammals. They were difficult to spot among other dinosaurs in the middle of the Jurassic. were still widespread throughout the earth, one of the most numerous among the synodonts were the tritelidontidi tritelodontids, which were only 10 to 20 centimeters long, but these babies were far from harmless, perhaps some of them were omnivores, but most ate very small animals. and the insects probably found their prey using a vibrating eye. This is the name of a special set of animal sensors. The sensory system of whiskers. Because of this, as well as other anatomical features, tri-teledontines are considered related to mammals.

Scientists believe that the vibrasai has played. an important role in the evolution of mammals from huge tigers to the smallest shrews; However, in the middle of the Jurassic period the mammals were still quite small but already had a great diversity of species and a large population. New research shows that mammals evolved 10 times faster in the mid-Jurassic, but scientists still haven't figured out exactly what triggered this evolutionary explosion. Environmental changes are cited as one of the potential causes or perhaps properties such as live birth and ferocity and predators helped them survive, plus they were mostly covered with fur that kept them warm at night, so They could well have hunted at night without fear of the predatory dinosaurs that were roosting at the time, this allowed the mammals to thrive in a variety of habitats and adapt to changing ecological systems.

All theanimals found their niche in the Jurassic. Earth and perhaps 170 million years ago one of them lived in the forest near one of the many bodies of water, we can speculate what their life was like. The lush thickets of the forest and the lake were probably densely populated because they were favorable conditions for life. Of several animals, a huge Megalosaurus would come out of the forest towards the body of water in search of dinner. If an equally formidable inventor V went there in search of food, they could engage in a cruel fight. Both dinosaurs are armed with sharp teeth and thick skin.

The banks of the river and the nearby forest would probably be shaking from their fight if, say, the largest inventor V won, he would probably enjoy the enemy's meat and sustain himself well for several days with so many predators lurking around the mammals that he would probably They did not dare to leave their place. They burrowed until night They were not in a hurry They could also hunt in the dark The animals love to eat Conifer cones and Ginkgo seeds The sharp teeth allowed the mammals to easily crack hard seeds and nuts and the fur kept them warm during the night at dawn a very hungry person A 20 centimeter long tritelidant was able to get out of the burrow after a short search he managed to find a small lizard for breakfast that was not yet warm and could not escape quickly enough a half meter young crocodile would come out during the day Taking a sunbath on the river bank he had no idea he was being closely watched by a two meter plesiosaur hidden in ambush when the crocodile decided to return to the river he was immediately snatched away by the Predator while herds of herbivorous dinosaurs grazed on In the forest near the river bank, long-necked brachiosaurs seem to find real pleasure in the young, juicy leaves and shoots in the treetops.

The lower branches were inaccessible to them because the giants could not bend their necks as much as they needed to consume. half a ton of vegetation a day and then the herd had to move to another forest to find food. Sauropods traveled great distances and spread throughout the planet. Unlike them, cetiosauruses could not eat leaves in the middle and lower forest because of their short necks. By not reaching higher, this saves the Sediosaurus from rivalry with the Brachiosaurus, so there was enough food in the forest for both. After a couple of days, Via Venator was able to disturb the unstable tranquility of the forest again.

After having digested his prey, the giant became hungry again and could not find. suitable prey, it would probably have dared to attack the setiosaur or even a larger Brachiosaurus, but it is unlikely to win this time, the herds of sauropods grazing on the grass would probably defend the attack with powerful tails, but with so many animals living in the forest, the V The inventor was destined to end up with at least something for dinner, sooner or later he would have caught smaller prey, like some ornithopod that failed to escape, so day after day life prospered in the forest near the lake in the fertile climate of the Middle Jurassic, but this period was coming to an end in the past, scientists believe a mass extinction could have occurred at the end of the era;

However, additional research suggests that the animal world underwent a major transformation at the end of the Middle Jurassic. These changes were facilitated by the breakup of Pangea and the shift of continental plates at which time some groups of animals became more diverse while other animal species disappeared. Dinosaurs also changed a lot, but what exactly happened to them. Stay tuned for the next episode where we cover what happened after the Late Jurassic. It is the third and last epoch of the period that lasted from 163.5 to 145 million years ago. The Earth at that time was nothing like the Middle Jurassic.

Two supercontinents were formed instead of a Pangea, which was already emerging, a part of the veins eventually split into Laurasia. As a result, in the north of the planet and in Gondwanda, in the south, the Atlantic Ocean arose, but it was still relatively narrow. On both continents, the climate remained very warm and humid, as in the modern tropics or subtropics at the beginning of the Late Jurassic between 164 and 150. Millions of years ago the earth warmed again after a slight drop in temperature the temperature reached daily average of 30 degrees Celsius the planet warmed due to the greenhouse effect resulting from numerous volcanic eruptions filled the atmosphere with a huge amount of carbon dioxide even at that time seasonal fluctuations on the planet became less extreme than at the beginning of the Jurassic this It was due to the expansion of the central Atlantic and the western Indian Ocean these enormous bodies of water made the climate throughout the planet more humid reducing deserts to a minimum at the end of the Jurassic the temperature dropped several degrees the cooling began 150 million ago years and lasted until the beginning of the Cretaceous thanks to the warm and humid climate, most of the lands were covered with thick vegetation throughout the year, the forests were full of ginkgo cicadas and tree ferns, but in general conifers prevailed on the planet, they were the most common among conifers and spread across both supercontinents.

These gigantic evergreen trees were over 60 meters tall, their trunks were huge, and large heavy cones hung from the branches like magical earrings of giants. Pollen from these cones flew thousands of kilometers away, giving rise to new coniferous forests. Despite their gigantic size, conifers were sometimes swept away by powerful water currents during seasonal floods. Many trees took root in the sandy marshes, where they found fertile soil. They often grew under layers of volcanic ash rich in mineral fertilizers. This is how coniferous trees quickly spread to new areas. The lush vegetation made animal life thrive even more compared to the Middle Jurassic.

Forests and coasts were teeming with various insects in the Early Jurassic. The population. They grew more than ever numerous beetles spread everywhere swarming under the forest trees and near the water in search of food predatory dragonflies that already resemble modern ones They flew over the water in search of prey they ate tiny mosquitoes but were often hunted for a many spiders some spiders were true giants like those seen in horror movies one of the largest known fossil spiders with legs more than five centimeters long was found in China in addition to insects the conditions of the Jurassic were favorable to almost all other biological species and only amphibians continue to decline, giving way to reptiles, contrary to this trend, salamanders became more populated and spread throughout the planet, in particular, giant salamanders that lived exclusively in water were one of the most striking species some of these amphibians have survived to this day reaching almost one and half a meter in length on the sides these creatures have enormous folds of skin that increase the surface of the body and improve the absorption of oxygen from the water the warm waters The late Jurassic period was also inhabited by many bony fish, which spread rapidly in the seas and into fresh water.

Some of them were truly gigantic, but no one could compete with the lead disease in terms of size. Scientists discovered that the bones of individuals there measured up to 30 meters long, which is larger than a modern whale shark, but don't think that lead disease devoured all the sea creatures that came. Just because they were so big, according to scientists, it was the size that played a cruel joke on the huge fish, since they were so big, clumsy and unmanageable. The lead disease couldn't be good. Hunters such as modern whales and giant sharks fed on plankton. Krill being the main source of food that was abundant in the seas of the late Jurassic, the lead syphus caught the krill by filtering water through its gills, but the giants themselves also became easy prey for predators and perhaps died. terrible.

Paleontologists have found lead disease scales bitten by what they believe to be pleiosaurs. That even a small marine reptile could easily snatch a piece of meat from such a fish, however, the lead disease was probably much more tenacious than modern whales and was quite difficult to kill. It could be several days before the marine giant died and all this time the predators greet the prey while it was still alive thanks to the abundance of food in the Jurassic waters. Pleosaurs reproduced rapidly and became extremely diverse. New species of long-necked pleiosaurs emerged in the late Jurassic, for example, cryptoklitis and muranosaurs, uranosaurs measured approximately 5 to 15 meters.

Furthermore, their long necks with 44 vertebrae represented half this size. Their body was straight and they relied heavily on plesiosaurs to survive in the cruel Jurassic World. The animals did not need to lift their necks above the water, which made swimming easier. It was also more convenient for them to approach the fish before feeling the changes in water pressure caused by the large plesiosaurs. The sharp conical teeth made it easier for them to hunt prey, especially bony fish and cephalopods. Life also thrived in heaven. The first birds, Archeopteryx, were about the size of a crow. They lived in the tops of trees instead of a beak.

These unusual creatures had a pair of jaws with independent teeth and fingers on their wings, unlike modern birds. , the archeopteryx did not yet flutter in the sky, instead they clumsily glided from branch to branch, the pterosaurs flew better. If you went to the Jurassic and saw a ton of cosmetoid pterosaur in the sky, you would mistake it for a duck or a waiter among others. other things had similar wings in terms of shape and size pterosaurs flying The style with frequent and powerful flapping wings was probably similar to that of an aquatic bird Tena cosmotoids also had long wings and necks, straight jaws and needle-shaped teeth, they were aquatic or semi-aquatic pterosaurs that typically lived in coastal regions and near lakes, where tenacosmatoids captured fish and other small animals they came across.

Whether searching for food or land, every type of reptile imaginable inhabited both Jurassic continents. late, large and small, herbivores and carnivores as fast as modern antelopes and as slow as hippos, here are some of the most fascinating dinosaurs that lived on the planet 163.5 until 145 million years ago Allosaurus was considered a formidable hunter From the Jurassic period, on average the predator measured 8.5 meters and sometimes even up to 9.7 meters long and 3.5 meters high. The giants weighed more than a ton and a half. It is also believed that there were many larger individuals. This is Evidence in some reptile fragments found by paleontologists These findings suggest that dinosaurs were up to 11 meters long and weighed more than four tons All allosaurs had relatively large skulls with short but incredibly massive jaws In 2005, modeling of the jaw arm showed that their bite force was more powerful than that of any modern animal, at the same time, scientists believe that they did not hold their prey as tightly as tyrannosaurs, however, this did not prevent Allosaurus from dominating among the predators of the Late Jurassic, first of all, as we mentioned in previous episodes.

Tyrannosaurs arose only in the Cretaceous period. Second, Allosaurus probably did not rely as much on the bite force of its jaws as monitor lizards, but rather relied on flexible necks and sharp teeth in its struggle to survive. Special grooves in its teeth allowed Allosaurus to easily cut the bones of its prey. Almost as impressive in terms of size and hunting potential, this name was coined by a paleontologist to call large, robust bipedal predators that could grow up to 9 to 10 meters long. It is believed that the torvosaurus had short but very powerful arms, most likely nature equipped them. thumb with a huge claw paleontologists suggested that with huge skulls, strong teeth and powerful, flexible bodies, these reptiles were perfectly adapted to tearing and dismembering large carcasses of herbivorous sauropods, most likely torosaurs were able to break and eat their praised bones, the huge compsognathus predators looked like miniature dwarfs, one of the smallest known dinosaurs, they were about the size of a chicken, however, they were a little longer, between 60 and 90 centimeters, the tails and theThe dinosaur's necks also had different lengths, they weighed about 5.5 kilograms for small animals, avoiding the carnivore, probably the compsognathus a smart move compared to other reptiles of that time they were excellent hunters and fast runners the compsogmathus were not massive they had strong very small hind limbs and forelimbs captured reptiles and small living creatures by tearing them instantly with sharp teeth Scientists speculate that compsognathus could hunt in packs and pose a threat to larger prey;

However, it is unlikely that even a large flock of compsognathus could defeat a Stegosaurus that looked like a super heavy armored tank. Like other sauropods, they were herbivores, so they did not see other animals like these giants. They were up to nine meters long and They weighed up to seven tons. Their backs flaunted thick plates of bone. Paleontologists have long debated how the plates were attached to the animal's back. The community established that they formed two rows, if that is true, the plates of one row grew in front of the spaces of the other row. Some scientists also believe that the plates were mobile and could change their angles.

The growths were believed to defend the stegosaurus from being attacked by larger predators. but the plates were too fragile and left the sides unprotected, giving rise to the theory that they were involved in thermal regulation like at a Spinosaurus sale or were intended to attract a potential mate during the mating season or perhaps the Stegosaurus used them to scare and deceive predators. With red, bony plates filled with blood, these reptiles appear larger and certainly more formidable, however, the stegosaurus also had more serious weapons, there were two pairs of menacing spikes on the monster's tails, each about a meter long. , the spikes were quite efficient for self-defense and others.

Sauropods did not have such massive weapons, but their size was sufficient to protect themselves from predators. All of these herbivorous dinosaurs are very similar. They all had columnar legs, long necks and tails, thick fur, and small heads. However, each of them was unique in their own way. allowed them to better adapt to the environment, for example, the 15-meter Camarosaurus sauropods had unusually large nostrils. Scientists believe that reptiles used this type of natural conditioning system to cool the brain, but Kamarasaurus's neck only had 12 vertebrae and was relatively short. More than three meters long, another sauropod, Diplodocus, had a longer neck with 15 vertebrae, until now researchers argue about how sauropods could live with such necks.

It seems that different giants solve this problem in their own way, most likely Diplodocus held its neck up to 65 degree angle this is evidenced by its powerful vertebrae that could serve as a sturdy spinal base to put this in perspective, brachiosaurs They spent most of their time with their necks erect; on the contrary, the Sarmientosaurus found a few years ago in Argentina almost always kept its neck up. head close to the ground and looked like a giant vacuum cleaner when eating, but back to our Diplodocus, sharp keratinized spikes up to 18 centimeters high stood menacingly on their backs, these creeps were probably used for self-protection and of course Diplo doc as a super .

The weapon was their exceptionally long tails that had up to 80 vertebrae, and yet diplodocus lived in small herds to protect themselves even better. Some individuals in these herds measured 32 meters long, only the supersaurus could compete with the Diplodocus in terms of size according to the bones found. The animals measured between 33 and 34 meters long and weighed more than 40 tons. According to some estimates, only fragments of supersores have been found so far in the state of Colorado, making it difficult to accurately estimate their size. Can you imagine what modern mice would be like? for such giants, incredibly tiny, however, the Jurassic world and enough of those types and they were quite hardy, these mammals adapted perfectly to the environment thanks to their warm blood and newly emerging fur, they were protected from the cold and even their eyesight sharpness allowed them to hunt at night.

When large predators were inactive during the day, they mostly hid burrows in forests and along coasts, one of the largest mammals of the Late Jurassic was castrocada, a semi-aquatic docodont. In fact, even these champions were small, weighing between 500 and 800 grams and their tails were 425 millimeters long. The animals resemble modern otters and their curved teeth closely resemble those of seals, so scientists They assume that the castrocata fed mainly on fish such as otters and seals, at the same time, the animal's wide front legs resembled those of platypuses. They were perfectly adapted to dig and search for food in the ground.

These mammals were already partially covered with hair. These animal species that are drastically different in size, habits and food preferences lived side by side in the Jurassic World. Imagine dense thickets of a tropical forest. near a lake Many different animal species used to live in this fertile corner of the planet. Let's imagine a huge brontosaurus eating in the pond. These reptiles were almost 22 meters long and weighed more than 15 tons, but these giants had heads and brains very small for brains. The size of a walnut brontosaurus was certainly not the brightest in terms of reaction speed and ingenuity, but it did not need them, none of the inhabitants of those places would dare to attack such a monster.

The brontosaurus could spend hours calmly standing on its thick trunk. -like legs in the lake chewing on soft aquatic plants many reptiles probably ran among the thick ferns it was a great lunch for the little compsognathus the fast dinosaurs were quite efficient at catching no less agile reptiles and other small creatures whole herds of herbivorous dinosaurs It is possible that they had met for lunch in the forest. The camerasaurus could easily find food in the lower level of the forest. Their relatively short necks allowed them to eat leaves and young shoots at the underside of giant trees.

Unlike them, the enormous Diplodocus-type sauropods must have been able to gnaw only the treetops. They could not bend their incredibly long necks enough to reach the bottom like scissors. The Diplodocus cut off all the leaves and shoots they could reach. The giants need a feat of up to a ton of vegetation one day when they ran out of food. It probably went in search of a more suitable place. Scientists know this from the pieces of rose quartz found in Jurassic deposits on all continents. Diplodocus swallowed the mineral to improve gastric function. Other sauropods used other minerals for better digestion.

Interesting herbivorous reptiles used a special herd pattern when traveling adult dinosaurs surrounded the young in a dense ring to protect them from predators. There were many predators that didn't mind feasting on the stray young dinosaurs, but the young sauropods were constantly supervised by adults, so the attack would likely result in injury to the predator. or death a herd of giants was quite capable of killing even a large enemy with powerful tails capable of felling trees a predatory dinosaur would hardly take such a risk brother would try to catch smaller prey like a compsognathus but this chicken-sized dinosaur was very fast and could escape easily and at night all the dinosaurs probably went to rest, then mammals like Jeremiah could come out of their burrows in search of food.

These small animals were similar to modern shrews and were between 70 and 100 millimeters long, with wide teeth allowed. chew literally any plant food, including hard seeds and nuts. Before dawn, the Yaromaya would undoubtedly have eaten their share and returned to safety, they certainly did not intend to encounter a large predator, this is how the days of the dinosaurs passed in their favorite era. corner of the planet the usual life of the planet's ancient reptiles and other animals was interrupted once again by the Cretaceous Jurassic extinction turned out to be relatively insignificant, wiping out about 20 percent of all living things on the planet the extinction was caused by the As a result, the tectonic plates sank into the ocean, its waters became cold and extremely deep, which greatly affected marine life such as mollusks and corals, the few survivors moved to the shallow waters, consequently, many chains Food patterns changed and affected other ecosystems.

The giant sauropods partially disappeared. stegosaurus and Diplodocus became extinct but their niche was quickly occupied by new species in the following period the Cretaceous dinosaurs reached their peak there was probably not a single corner of the forest or the coast without these reptiles it seemed that they would dominate the planet forever but a single disaster wiped them all out imagine a dense, humid forest where you can't see the sky because of the trees many tree trunks are very big in the sky you can see some fascinating creatures with some incredible crests Giants make their way out of the bushes crushing everything in their path step can you imagine that this bulletproof armor does not even have a single unprotected place what is this mysterious world maybe some distant planet may remind you of Pandora from the iconic movie Avatar but you don't need to go that far?

In fact, this is what the Earth was like more than a hundred million years ago, then, in the Cretaceous Period, the world was full of incredible creatures. Imagine a multi-ton Momentosaurus that shook the entire forest with one stomp of its huge feet - of course, the ancient reptile. He did not take anything out but used his long neck to reach true delicacies such as the most tender and juicy young shoots in the treetops. The Cretaceous period had so many fascinating animals. Where did the twins of ostriches and kangaroos come from in the early Cretaceous and how did the ancient reptiles create real fighting clubs to train the young?

The Cretaceous or Cretaceous period began 145 million years ago. This is the longest epic of the Mesozoic era. Scientists divided into early and late Cretaceous. The first period lasted almost 45 million years and ended. 101.5 million years ago, compared to the Jurassic period, the Earth changed in many ways, the Cretaceous Jurassic extinction caused a change in food chains that also reshaped other ecosystems and the sauropods partially disappeared and the stegosaurus became extinct, but its niche was quickly occupied by new species. Dinosaurs were at the top of the evolutionary pyramid They continued to thrive on Earth in the early Cretaceous The supercontinent Pangea had split into Laurasia and Gondwanda Tectonic shift began to divide these enormous landmasses into modern continents as the Atlantic Ocean expanded formed the North American courts approximately 110 million years ago the Mid-Atlantic Ridge separated South America from Africa, forming new tectonic plates.

The same process in the Indian Ocean pushed India northward. Australia and Antarctica began to resemble their modern form. At that time the climate on Earth was relatively cool. The cooling of the late Jurassic Epoch lasted until the end of the early Cretaceous. There is evidence to suggest that snowfall was common in areas near the poles. The tropics also became wetter during the Triassic and Jurassic periods in general the Earth was warmer in the early Cretaceous than now the very humid and warm climate of the early Cretaceous caused the forests to spread even further they were full of angiosperms such as Ginkgo cicadas and nitrophytes however the flowering plants still coniferous trees grew near the poles many trees Ferns also grew in the forests and their herbaceous relatives took over the forested areas.

The polypodial signature was extremely common during the Cretaceous and accounted for 80 percent of this class of plants. What makes Pali podialys unique is its photoreceptors, so such ferns could officially carry out photosynthesis in low light, for example in the shade of huge trees due to supercontinence, division and increased movement of tectonic plates, warm seas and shallow, flooded vast areas, a wide variety of marine organisms lived in these bodies of water. Rays, modern sharks, and bony fish became commonplace. huge bony fish Marine lagoons inhabited by Axel ridic fresh lakes and rivers most of these speciesThey measured from 1 meter three feet three inches to 2 meters six feet seven inches long.

The giants ate small fish and krill like their modern relative the coelacans. Excel ridic was elongated and flat and the wide skull allowed the fish to suck food from empty spaces. between stones, cracks and underwater rocks like a vacuum cleaner; at the same time aquatic reptiles were certainly at the top of the food chain in seas and lakes, there were still some ichthyosaurs around but they were mostly replaced by different species of plesiosaur, the amazing makaira rosica was probably about five meters long (16 feet), but it had a short neck, a back neck, and four limbs ending in long, straight fins that allowed this plesiosaur to swim quickly and hunt fish and other aquatic animals.

Once in the mouth of Makira Rosica, the prey had no chance to escape. Scientists believe that the teeth of this animal are unique. They have a triangular shape, numerous grooves and small teeth along the ridges. This weapon helped the predator to hold onto slippery fish. and quickly tear it to pieces before swallowing it, aerial predators also look for food near water, real birds were already flying in the skies of the early Cretaceous and their predecessors, the archeopteryx, were quite populous at that time, these small crow-sized creatures had curved beaks and very sharp teeth that could snap instantly.

Apart from prey such as small reptiles, fish and insects, but most of the niches of aerial predators were occupied by numerous winged reptiles called pterosaurs. If we could see the Draco icran pterosaur in the sky, we would instantly think of the planet Pandora from Avatar, this creature is very similar to the dragon in the iconic image, but do you think this incredible flying reptile decorated itself with a crest just for fun? Well, he didn't put it on like a crown, the crest was on the lower jaw of the icran draco, it helped the reptile to hook the fish and hold it firmly with its teeth and three centimeters of the edge of the jaw of the icran draco with up to 4.5 teeth.

A special hook was also found on its crest, it may have served as an attachment point for a food item. This extravagant creature was probably not as large as a dragon, although its exact size is unknown; only a few very elongated animal skulls have been found so far, some with a predominant blade-shaped crest on the underside of the pterosaur. The skulls measure from 26.8 centimeters 10.5 inches to 28.6 centimeters 11.2 inches long. The humid forests of the Cretaceous period were filled with various insects, including some new species. The oldest ants known today were already creating their colonies. and some relatives of butterflies and moths called lepidoptera began to fly aphids lived in trees grasshoppers sang in the bushes and called wasps flew in the sky termites also existed in the Cretaceous period having evolved from the ancestors of cockroaches in Modern ecosystems play an important role in decomposing plant residues and other debris, just as prehistoric termites played a similar role.

Paleontologists also believe that insects have already developed social behavior by building nests together. Virtually every corner of the planet in the Cretaceous period was full of reptiles. Many dinosaurs. Turtles and snakes lived in forests and bodies of water, but most of them were dinosaurs. There were animals. about the size of a chicken, but mostly large reptiles predominated, other herbivorous reptiles called momentosaurus could easily figure in the record book of the Cretaceous period. If the dinosaurs wrote it, of all the ancient reptiles known to paleontologists, they had the longest necks, these animals measured up to 26 meters. 85 feet long and weighed up to 80 tons and their famous necks averaged around 14 meters 46 feet.

If such a giant somehow miraculously came to our world, he could easily look through the roof of a three-story building; However, there is another candidate for having the longest neck among Cretaceous animals, the seismosaurus with a body of 36 meters, 118 feet and weighing 30 to 50 tons, it could possibly stretch its neck up to 20 meters, but unfortunately not There is enough information to know for sure, only a few bones of herbivorous reptiles have been found, which is not enough for an accurate assessment, however, paleontologists were already able to learn something interesting about the giants. Most likely, seismosaurus lived in the steps and swamps, like brachiosaurs, they spend most of their lives in water. ensure their safety by living in herds, while adults more often lived alone, these dinosaurs ate mainly swamp and aquatic vegetation, but not only huge dinosaurs spread across the planet, mammals also evolved successfully, but were overshadowed ​​​​for reptiles in those days, mammals were still very small, mainly the size.

The shrews were a little larger, some of them already looked a lot like modern animals. The small fanite tribes looked almost like miniature kangaroos. It is even possible that the females carried their young in a fold of skin, a pouch on their belly, and their body was also partially or completely covered in hair had a modern ear structure and some other body parts tribosphenid ​​lived in small burrows deep underground, so they most likely were not easy prey for Cretaceous predators, all of these Animals spent their lives searching for food and often fought in bloody battles. to earn their place under the sun, this was their life in one of the corners of the earth during the Cretaceous period, let's imagine dense thickets of a tropical forest near a warm sea lagoon in the area of ​​​​modern North America, they can safely assume. that this place was densely populated with several animal species perhaps some dark outline rose above the water of the lagoon for hours where they treat logs or some type of vines in fact it was not a huge long-necked plesiosaur like the elasmosaurus looking for prey as much as possible.

The lagoon was probably full of fish like other bodies of warm water of the Cretaceous period. The plesiosaurs had enough food. These large animals were good swimmers and divers and hardly feared attacks from other predators. The plesiosaurs probably hunted calmly in the lagoon for hours until their Bellies were filled with various mollusks, then they went to shallow waters to rest and digest. Mammals such as tribosphonida must have been searching for coniferous tree cones and other angiosperm fruits to feed on. These small herbivorous animals were marsupials, meaning they carried their young in a pouch. the babies could feed on her mother's milk while she tried to get something for dinner.

In the thickets there were many lizards running around and the lizards would be an excellent dinner for flying reptiles, for example, the ikran Draco pterosaur, if it glided to catch the prey with its claws, the agile lizard would of course try to escape into the thicket if the hunt failed. If successful the pterosaur would have to continue hunting it would undoubtedly end up with at least some capture because the thick forests of the Cretaceous were full of small creatures however there were undoubtedly many large animals living there, as well as numerous herbivorous dinosaurs, they probably gathered for lunch in the forest .

The mementosaurs raised their impossibly long necks like fire escapes and nibbled on the tender young leaves in the treetops. When the food ran out, they moved to other forests at the same time. Reptiles preferred to be in herds, which helped them protect their young from numerous Cretaceous predators. This is how dinosaurs and other animals lived on the shores of the lagoon. In the abundance of food and in the favorable climate of the early Cretaceous the life of the animals of the early Cretaceous ended. in reality nothing worth mentioning happened at the end of this era there were no abrupt climate changes extinctions appearance of some animal species or extinction of others scientists simply decided that the appearance of prey nannofossils calcareous discs fera column NOTHING is a good point to divide the period in the Lower and Upper Cretaceous, be that as it may, the dinosaurs continued to evolve and their number and diversity of species grew anyway which incredible reptiles dominated the Earth in the Upper Cretaceous how far did they climb the evolutionary ladder just before that the unexpected disaster would annihilate them forever?

The second stage of the Cretaceous began 101.5 million years ago and ended 66 million years ago at that time the dinosaurs could no longer move freely around the planet inside the earth the tectonic plates continued to move changing the shape of the earth in the surface America gradually moved westward causing the Atlantic Ocean to expand the Western Interior Seaway divided North America into eastern and western parts India continued to head north towards Asia in the southern hemisphere Australia and Antarctica were probably still connected and began to move away from Africa and South America Europe was a chain of islands towards the end of the period the continents began to resemble their modern shape Africa and South America acquired their usual outlines, but India had not yet collided with Asia and Australia , was still part of Antarctica on all continents at the end of the period.

Cretaceous the climate was much warmer than today although it gradually became a little colder towards the end of the Cretaceous the tropics persisted in the equatorial regions and in the north the seasons began to change the summers were quite hot and in winter the temperature dropped significantly The vegetation on all continents was more or less the same The forest consisted mainly of cicadas and ginkcos Conifers were more common near the poles By this time flowering plants had already emerged and by the end of the Cretaceous period they had become quite diverse in the temperate zones In the regions you could see many sequoias and willows and even magnolias and roses decorated the planet with their beautiful flowers where the dinosaurs could take selfies but of course the animals could not do it on all the continents of the planet there were thickets of sassafras these were deciduous trees and shrubs of the laurel family, which are still widespread today, it can be assumed that these plants could survive billions of years of evolution due to their great vitality.

Sassafras could even come out from under stones and grow in such conditions for years. Many insects fluttered and crawled. in the forests and on the banks of water bodies and there were many creatures that would really surprise modern people here, for example, the manipulator modifies whores, today some devices are called that and if we talk about the Cretaceous, this is the name of the extinct predator. cockroach This is a nano monster from the Cretaceous Period with an elongated neck and a freely rotating head The body of the insect measured only 4.5 millimeters 0.18 inches long and two millimeters 0.079 inches wide The cockroach also had unusually long legs according to Scientists this indicates their predatory lifestyle so it was easier for a small predator to chase prey, for example, microscopic mosquitoes, Burmese pagon flies were probably even crueler.

Hunters, they belong to a species that scientists call killer flies. They are powerful, bristly flies with a short, thick proboscis covering a sharp, sucking larynx. and pharynx the term killer flies reflects the aggressive habits of insects that tirelessly waited for prey in an ambush and then quickly trapped it in the fly new creatures also appeared in the warm seas and lakes of the late Cretaceous Modern manta rays and sharks populated In addition to many species of bony bottom fish, sea urchins and starfish thrived and coral reefs continued to grow. The ixosaurs and pleiosaurs gave way to enormous snake-like mosasaurs, some of them true giants and measuring more than 17 meters (56 ft) long, the mosasaurs preferred to live in the open sea and deep coastal waters, sometimes catching small fish. and, more often, they hunted very large, well-protected prey.

They preferred to eat marine reptiles for lunch, especially turtles and plesiosaurs. These dinosaurs even devoured their own species by resorting to cannibalism. Young mosasaurs could attack animals larger than their size. Mosasaurs' teeth were well adapted for cutting and crushing, and their enormous jaw muscles provided tremendous bite force. Mosasaurs dismembered their prey into many relatively small pieces before eating most of them. The giants could not swallow large pieces ofprey. The entire sky of the late Cretaceous period was already quite densely populated by small real birds and their predecessors, the archeopteryx, but the most populated were winged reptiles, pterosaurs, some of them were absolutely amazing creatures, the furless quetzal pterosaur is considered one of the largest known flying animals.

At all times, paleontologists have found bones of individuals up to 10 meters (33 feet) tall but weighing only 70 kilograms (150 pounds) as large as airplanes. The creatures had unusually long and rigid necks. They had a crest on their heads, although their shape is still unknown. and exact size Scientists have calculated that the wingspan of the flying giants reached 16 meters 52 feet. This is taller than a two-story house, but the fantastic properties of the pterosaur do not end there. Perfectly combines the air and land lifestyle. Quetzocoatlas flew effortlessly using hovering flight and wings. flapping their wings at the same time they were quite good at running across the ground on all fours like modern hoofed mammals.

This helped the pterosaur be a successful Cretaceous predator using a long, sharp beak. Quetzo kawatlas captured fish and small vertebrates on land or in small streams. It didn't even avoid charging like a marabou stork and of course the dinosaurs dominated the land on large and small herbivores and slow and super fast predators. Notosaurus became the most common among the giant herbivores of the Cretaceous period. These four-legged reptiles didn't look like much. such as the enormous sauropods of the Jurassic, in that period they had relatively short limbs compared to the columnar legs of the sauropods of the Jurassic.

They did not grow to the height of the megagiants of the Mesozoic Era. On average, the notosaur measured 6 meters and 20 feet long and weighed 3.5 tons, but this animal was quite well protected. Its body was covered with an impenetrable shell of a dense layer of bone plates so that the giants could safely eat. young shoots in the forest without fear of predators. Their elongated snouts with huge jaws, small leaf-shaped teeth and a horny beak were perfectly adapted to their diet, but other predominantly herbivorous dinosaurs, such as Therizinosaurus, can be considered real monsters of the late Cretaceous . These reptiles were probably between 9 and 12 meters long and weighed up to six tons.

They walked on two enormous legs and their forelimbs were very long and reached 3.5 meters. but their terrible claws made them look like Freddy Krueger from the famous horror movie. Although the largest claw specimens found by paleontologists were incomplete - estimated to be almost a meter long - scientists have not yet reached a consensus on why the dinosaur needed such equipment. However, it is obvious that it gave the reptile some survival advantages, for example Therizinosaurus could defend itself with its terrible claws against larger and more aggressive predators like the Tyrannosaurus or fight for territory or a female with dinosaurs of the same species, it is likely that Therizinosaurus also used its claws to put branches with the most succulent leaves in its mouth, but they also ate insects and may have destroyed nests of ants and termites.

Finally, there is a hypothesis that the claws helped the reptiles to rest in a safe place hanging from trees like modern sloths. It seems that there were no creatures in the world more terrible than these reptiles with their Mega claws, but what would you say about Hadrosaurus if you knew it better? These enormous animals measured up to 25 feet 7.6 meters long and weighed 8 tons like chimeras. They had wide noses that resembled the speech of a duck and hooves on their front legs and on their heads there was a hollow helmet, most likely the helmet served as an air bag for the dinosaur and allowed it to keep its head under water. while searching for food or the dinosaur made danger sounds warning relatives by releasing air from the helmet through its nostrils the skin of the hadrosaur was covered with small scales and there were bone growths on the skull there were a large number of teeth on its terrifying mouth some animals had around a thousand teeth it was the dinosaur with the most teeth among all the ancient reptiles that ever existed and yet Hadrosaurus would surely have seemed almost innocent compared to the Triceratops, it would seem that its sole appearance could leave anyone speechless .

These enormous reptiles measured eight meters 26 feet long and weighed nine tons, according to paleontologists. The largest skull among land animals was a surprising find, approximately 2.4 meters and eight feet long, it belonged to a Triceratops, so the monster's head was a little less than a third of its entire body, but it What made the Triceratops' giant head truly terrifying were three horns per one. One horn jutted menacingly above the animal's nostrils and one grew above each eye. An even more unusual feature of the Triceratops was a sort of firm bone collar around its neck. The purpose of this growth, as well as that of the reptile's horns, has long been traditionally discussed. as a defensive weapon against predators, but it is now considered more likely that the horns were used primarily in courtship and fighting relatives.

Everything is like this in modern deer, mountain goats and even rhinoceros beetles. The skin of the Triceratops was also unique, it was incredibly thick and, according to some. In some species, the evidence was bristling, however, the formidable appearance, thick skin, bone collar and horns did not save Triceratops from the attack of the most aggressive predators of the Cretaceous period. In popular culture, you can often see fights of horned reptiles with tyrannosaurs. Scientists confirm that this could be true, they found a Triceratops skull with teeth marks from a Tyrannosaurus rex on the front horn, in addition the heads of these dinosaurs were found separated from the body also with traces of T-Rex bites, although not You must think that the Giants dominated.

Among the dinosaurs of the late Cretaceous, Velociraptors were much smaller than tyrannosaurs, but also very dangerous. Velociraptor, which means Swift Invader is a medium-sized dinosaur, the largest adult specimen known to paleontologists measures 2.07 meters or 6.8 feet long and weighed up to 15 kilograms 33 pounds the jaws of These fast predators and Aggressive animals were equipped with 26 to 28 very sharp, widely spaced teeth on each side and the front legs were crowned with a large claw that could grow more than 6.5 centimeters (2.5 inches) long, most likely used to tear apart or grab a resister. The Cretaceous lake prey rooms in comparison with the fascinating reptiles at that time seemed humble and inconspicuous, basically they were animals that resembled modern mice both in size and appearance, but there were also absolutely amazing creatures among them, for example, the cronopio with long front teeth, paleontologists believe.

This mammal looks like the strange saber-toothed squirrel from the Ice Age franchise. Even though the planet was abundant in food for every taste, all these animals had to fight hard for their place under the Cretaceous sun and spent their lives Constantly searching for prey and in bloody fights for food, the little strutiomimus, which literally translates as an ostrich imitator, actually resembled this modern bird, the strutiomimus, measuring about 4.3 meters 14 feet long and He weighed approximately 150 kilograms 330 pounds. These extravagant animals had beautiful big eyes and rather repulsive toothless jaws. They had long, thin arms and hands, the reptile's three fingers were about the same length and its claws were slightly bent, this probably allowed dinosaurs to sometimes hunt fish and insects, although they mostly ate plants.

Most likely, struthiomimus served as prey for large predators of the Cretaceous, however. It was certainly not easy for predators to deal with these dinosaurs, the reptiles had unusually powerful hind limbs and relatively short and rigid tails, which allowed them to keep the perfect balance when they ran, turned and jumped. The Animus is believed to have been running at between 50 and 80 kilometers per hour. 31 to 50 miles per hour so it could easily escape from enemies, but none of them could compare to ankylosaurs. These Cretaceous creatures armored from head to toe were probably not afraid of anyone in the world, their entire body was covered with a bone-shaped shell. spikes and plates, furthermore, the larger ones alternated with the smaller ones, even the skull and the outside of the lower jaw of this monster were armored, those are some super formidable weapons, however, the monstrous creature did not need them to attack others like these reptiles were. exclusively herbivores the dinosaurs used all their armor only to protect themselves from numerous predators in general the ankylosaurs were huge quadrupedal creatures with short, powerful limbs their abdomen was unusually very low only 30 centimeters a foot from the ground the small triangular teeth on a long tongue and flexible is demonstrated by the fact that these animals could breathe while chewing the leaves, this also allowed them to heat up to a ton of vegetation per day.

Ankylosaurs tended to feed on vegetation at a height of one meter or less. Scientists believe its diet included small, firm cicadas and other angiosperms. Predators. They certainly avoided herds of living fortresses like ankylosaurs, even the famous tyrannosaurs were cautious at that time these reptiles had already begun to dominate among the carnivorous dinosaurs. Tyrannosaurus had a keen sense of smell and vision, powerful jaws, and strong, sharp teeth. The T-Rex weighed up to seven tonnes, suggesting they had impressive muscle mass, the strength and ferocity of these animals was unheard of. There is even a theory that tyrannosaurs from an early age received military training in the best traditions of the Cretaceous.

Scientists believe that the T-Rex organizes itself. special fighting clubs for young people there the reptiles bit each other with terrible force, but most likely they did not try to kill each other. Paleontologists learned this by examining bite marks on the animals' skulls, but T-Rex always hunted alone and only a few animals. on the planet could face them car Credontosaurus was its only worthy rival at the beginning of the Cretaceous these carnivorous monsters measured up to eight meters long and weighed about a ton, that is, they were longer and heavier than tyrannosaurs Carcharodontosaurus were called Dinosaurs with sharp teeth like had strong teeth like daggers thanks to such victories.

Tyrannosaurs became increasingly common throughout the planet, this is evidenced by the growth in their number. Scientists have studied every possible factor that could affect the size of the T-Rex population for as long as they have existed on the planet. Researchers on the planet calculated the population density of these predators, the area of ​​their habitat, life expectancy and the total number of generations. According to the data obtained, around 2.5 billion T-Rex live on Earth in just 2.5 million years, unlike other plesiosaurs. The species, namely elasmosaurus, had incredibly long necks consisting of between 32 and 76 vertebrae at the beginning of the Cretaceous.

Elasmosaurus averaged about six meters long (20 feet) and weighed up to several tons. These extraordinary creatures ate mainly crustaceans and mollusks. Long necks allowed elasmosaurs. submerge your head deeply in the water to collect as many animals as possible with your mouth. This is how perhaps the animals lived in one of the corners of the planet on the shores of a lagoon in a warm, shallow sea. It rained often here and the The banks were probably covered with thickets of tall ferns with long lush shoots. A little further away there was a green forest, there must have been many animals there, most likely it was impossible to call it a peaceful and friendly neighborhood.

The inhabitants of the lagoon had violent fights. All the time the predators were looking for prey and also trying to get something for dinner but at the same time not get into someone else's teeth or claws. Maybe one day a young Hadrosaurus would go out to the Lagoon to cool off and catch small aquatic prey. as we know, its head had a helmet-shaped growth, the dinosaur could swim well if this crest served as an air pocket, most likely the lagoon water was teeming with fish like other warm reservoirs of the Cretaceous and the Hadrosaurus He would probably decide to catch one of them.

They were invited to dinner, but as soon as he entered the water and prepared to hunt, something huge could jump out of his head.the depths for a long time and saw sharp teeth that then dug into the flesh of the Hadrosaurus. Powerful jaws closed that broke the bones of the reptile and the corpse would be dragged underwater. It was probably a mosasaur that jumped out of the sea and successfully hunted. Said prey was very suitable for this aquatic reptile. In the second episode of Jurassic Park, it is shown how a giant mosasaur destroyed a ship with people that could well be that the largest individuals could really do it but of course after having a prey as large as a Hadrosaurus the mosasaurus had its fill and did not go out to hunt for a long time the small inhabitants of this corner of the Like the saber-toothed squirrel, Chronopio foraged for conifer cones and other fallen fruit to feed on, he was careful not to get into the teeth of any predator, and as such a predator would have well appeared from the planet. sky, this hungry cut rose without shelter until it managed to dine on the small animal, but it managed to avoid the claws of a flying predator and launched itself into its burrow, however, in the thickets of ferns there were definitely many reptiles running around, they perfectly met the requirements. food requirements of the flying dinosaur and could easily maintain itself.

As for hunting, in the end it was undoubtedly destined for success, because in the Cretaceous forests there were enough small living creatures, however, many large animals also lived in the forest, herds of herbivorous dinosaurs probably gathered for lunch. The 12 meter Therizinosaurus could reach very high heights. and nodding with the tender young leaves of the treetops when the food ran out they moved to other forests at the same time that the reptiles preferred to be in herds, this lifestyle helped them protect their young from numerous predators of the Cretaceous , unlike them, lower animals such as the six-meter notosaurs fed.

In the middle of the forest tears, these reptiles also lived in herds that helped defend themselves from predators, they certainly had strong bone armor, but together they could also whip the enemy with powerful and hard tails. The tyrannosaurus that probably lived in that forest also went hunting and could take care of it. of your own lunch, for example, catching a small Velociraptor, of course, the T-Rex is an unsurpassed warrior and would easily destroy this reptile the size of a large Christmas turkey, but do not forget that its potential prey ran fast and like everyone The Cretaceous inhabitants were constantly on alert, the Velociraptor had to run quickly and disappear in a thicket and the Tyrannosaurus found it difficult to chase it, however, the Tyrannosaurus would hardly have been left without prey, this Predator always had the opportunity to catch some smaller ones slower. dinosaur but what if the T-Rex came across another huge reptile in its hunting grounds and decided to attack it, for example it encountered an 8 meter Triceratops, it would seem that just by looking at this terrible three-horned reptile with a huge collar around its head is enough to scare away the enemy, but that was not the case with the Tyrannosaurus Rex, this agile and aggressive dinosaur could well have pounced on the enemy, apparently the unbeatable T-Rex could easily avoid the horns and bite the thick skin of the enemy after having killed the enemy.

Triceratops and fed on its meat would have gone to rest deep in the forest for several days and scavengers like Velociraptors and other small dinosaurs could have devoured the remains of the corpse. Therefore, for a long time dinosaurs and other animals spent their days Fighting on the shores of a picturesque lagoon, even in the midst of an abundance of food, they had to fight not for life but for death, in the end there were probably no absolute winners. Among them, all species survived according to the paleontologist's findings, the number of individuals and the diversity of dinosaur species on the planet grew until the end of the Cretaceous period, these animals of course did not know that their last day would soon arrive, so the apocalypse could not have happened. has been predicted by even the most advanced modern analyst using a quantum computer death came from the sky and the impact of a single mountain-sized asteroid destroyed most of the living beings on the planet the celestial assassin was unable to completely convert the planet in a lifeless desert an asaurus became extinct but small and discreet mammals awaited the disaster in burrows deep underground.

They later took advantage of the lack of competition from the huge reptiles and achieved supremacy in the new world of the Cenozoic era, although that is another story, the Triassic. The periods spanned approximately 51 million years from the end of the Permian 251.9 million years ago to the beginning of the Jurassic 201.36 million years ago began after a major biological cataclysm the Permian Triassic extinction The Triassic is of central importance in terms of the origin of modern ecosystems because its beginning marks the end of the Paleozoic and the origin and expansion of modern evolutionary fun. New types of corals formed in the marine environment.

They were much smaller than today. In the early Triassic they clung desperately to each other to form patch reefs that occupied their biological niche. the shell-shaped cephalopod mollusks the ammonoids barely survived the great extinction only one species remained among many they quickly replaced the lost numbers and gave a wide variety of offspring scientists still find many fossilized remains if we look at the fossils they resemble the modern Nautilus of in fact they are close relatives but their periods are distant from each other the shape of the shells of ammonoids is a surprising example of beauty and harmony of nature the spirals of the shells of each mollusk correspond exactly to the golden ratio that can be observed as a beauty almost everywhere in nature code had an influential effect on many cultures in medieval Europe fossil aminoids were thought to be coiled snake rings, which is why people called them snake stones and believed in their magical healing properties in the period Triassic, however, the oceans were inhabited by many species of fish.

Much more interesting creatures were the marine reptiles, particularly the pachy plurosors and notosaurus, which were common in the Middle Triassic, especially in the waters of the Tethus Ocean, there were also many lizard-like placodontius plesiosaurs and esceptosaurus. The first ichthyosaurs appeared in the Triassic and spread. quickly in almost all the world's oceans ichthyosaurs were not dinosaurs but represented a separate group of marine vertebrates they shared the world's seas with other large groups of large marine reptiles the plesiosaurs and mosasaurus the environment was unusually favorable a perfect balance between foods available and dangerous enemies ichthyosaur literally means fish lizard the name is quite appropriate because they look like a combination of fish and reptile the first ichthyosaurs had long, flexible bodies and probably swam undulating like living eels the more advanced ichthyosaurs had compact bodies very similar to those of a crescent-shaped fish Ichthyosaurs with tail-like tails appeared in the early Triassic because ichthyosaurs were so specialized and modified for life in the ocean that we don't really know which group of vertebrates were their closest relatives.

They could have been a branch of the diapsids, the large group of vertebrates, or descended. of a distant relative of turtles If the last memory is true then it was a return to the ocean Evolution regressed many times millions of years later the same thing happened when land mammals returned to the Sea and evolved into dolphins and whales with the shape of these. Ichthyosaurs are like living tuna and mackerel, which are the fastest fish in the ocean, like them. Later ichthyosaurs were built for Speed. We can also compare ichthyosaurs with dolphins. The ichthyosaurs actually gave birth to well-developed young ichthyosaurs that never had to leave. water to lay eggs still breathed air and lacked gills in the 1990s and in 2012 Japanese scientists finally showed that ichthyosaurs were warm-blooded and ichthyosaurs were two to four meters long on average due to the more favorable environment some species reached enormous sizes as they evolved the largest is the shonisaurus that grew up to 15 meters the record belongs to a shoni sowing shastasaurus that had a length of 21 meters the Triassic began with the largest mass extinction in the history of the Earth and ended with a series of substantial extinctions the extinction was the most widespread in the oceans marine reptiles almost completely disappeared some species of plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs survived invertebrates such as bronchiopods and mollusks especially gastropods suffered greatly an entire class of marine eels conodance disappeared due to Completely it is roughly estimated that between 23 and 34 percent of all marine life disappeared.

What caused the end of the Triassic extinction remains to be determined. Some scientists blame huge, widespread volcanic eruptions as the trigger. About 200 million years ago, an increase in atmospheric CO2 caused ocean acidification and global warming that killed 76 percent of marine life. and terrestrial species on Earth, other scientists blame asteroid or comet impacts. In fact, one of the largest craters on the planet. The manokuigan reservoir in Quebec dates back to a late Triassic period. Later radiometric dating places it approximately 13 million years before the Triassic Jurassic extinction event. The mass extinction created vacant ecological niches that were immediately filled by surviving species.

This devastating event cleared the way for dinosaurs to dominate the Earth for the next 135 million years. Many new dinosaurs emerged in large numbers on land and in the ocean. The Jurassic period spanned from 199.6 million. 145.5 million years ago the Jurassic was a time of significant global changes in continental configurations, oceanographic patterns and biological systems during this period, the supercontinent Pangea began to divide into a large northern continent, Laurasia, and a southern continent, Gondwana. The Jurassic was characterized by a warm temperature. Humid climate that gave rise to lush vegetation and abundant life. The beginning of the Jurassic was conventionally marked by a temperature peak corresponding to the eruption of enormous volcanoes of the central Atlantic magmatic province.

Ocean surface temperatures during this period are believed to have exceeded 30 degrees Celsius. The equatorial and subtropical zones were so arid that life was literally squeezed into the northern and southern latitudes or into the ocean. Later, species that survived the Late Triassic extinction began to recover in the early Jurassic, the devastated ecosystems of tropical reefs gradually began to recover. Brachiopods were numerous and diverse. They are marine animals with two shells, one upper and one lower. The right and left halves of each shell are mirror images. They moved to a new niche and remained almost unchanged throughout the Jurassic period.

Echinoderms proliferated in large numbers. and the colors even today are very diverse and include starfish, brittle stars, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, sand dollars and crinoids and at this time this riot of shapes and colors was simply incredible, the Jurassic period was excellent for the development of crustaceans, it was then that the first king crabs appeared. Fossil hermit crabs date back to at least the Early Jurassic, 200 million years ago. To protect themselves, hermit crabs look for abandoned shells. When they find one that fits them, they crawl inside for protection and carry it with them wherever they go.

The habit of living in a borrowed shell gave rise to the name the hermit crab. Amanoidias were ocean-dwelling mollusks, especially cephalopods, they were devastated by the Late Permian extinction, however, they recovered fairly quickly to evolve and change, in fact, repeating the success scenario of the Triassic period. What about the ichthyosaurs that dominated the Triassic oceans? They also went through difficult times during the Great Extinction, but managed to overcome the evolutionary bottleneck due to evolutionary advantages. Ichthyosaurs were once again the kings of the ocean at the beginning of the Jurassic and reached the top. of species diversity the Jurassic period was the heyday of the temnodontosaurus it was a formidable predator whose name translates from Greek as lizard with sharp teeth in fact it has a huge body up to 9 or even 12 meters long a large mouth with sharp teeth huge eyes upwardsUp to 25 centimeters in diameter, its formidable size inspired fear in the sea dwellers of those days, the urinosaur is a member of what still appears to be a small group of ichthyosaurs that specialized in asymmetrical jaws, judging by its bite and other characteristics, the scientists concluded that the urinosaur followed exactly the same predatory strategy as a swordfish.

Its elongated upper jaw with thick, sharp teeth was used as a weapon to attack potential prey from the back during the Jurassic period. The dominance of ichthyosaurs was threatened by competing species of plesiosaurs, however, they could only compete in Plesiosaurs are ancient marine reptiles, they appeared in the late Triassic and grew in number during the Jurassic period. Six types of plesiosaurs cross the Triassic-Jurassic barrier and give a powerful boost to their evolution. Plesiosaurs, although predators, fed mainly on mollusks and fish, only the largest species. They could afford to diversify their diet with sharks and other plesiosaurs, in turn they could become prey for sharks, which were numerous in the Jurassic period.

This period lasted from approximately 145 to 66 million years ago. It is the third and last longest period of the Mesozoic Era. When dinosaurs ruled the earth, the planet was ice-free and forests extended to the poles; However, some cooling trends occurred in the Jurassic that intensified until the early Cretaceous. Snowfall was common at higher latitudes and the tropics became wetter than in the Triassic and Jurassic periods. life was still as diverse as in the Jurassic, there is not a big difference between these periods, ichthysaurs flourished, but only in the early and middle crustaceans, towards the end of the period, they became extinct and did not survive the so-called oxygen-free event .

The essence is that, due to a number of reasons, the oxygen content in the atmosphere and in the ocean decreased relatively sharply, there were a few such events in the history of our planet and all of them had the most dramatic effect on the biosphere , marine reptiles survived throughout time. Cretaceous Period without any problem, more families appeared at the end of the Cretaceous, one of them the mosasaurus, the modern varanas are their direct but distant descendants. Mosasaurus were air breathers, good swimmers, and well adapted to life in the warm, shallow inland seas of the late Cretaceous.

As the ichthyosaurs became extinct, mosasaurs took their place and became the dominant marine predators. Some representatives reached a length of 13 to 17 meters. Back then there were reptiles that managed to lead aquatic and terrestrial lifestyles very well. The most striking example of such a combination is the Spinosaurus. One of the most spectacular carnivorous dinosaurs in the history of amazing reptiles was quite large, since for a predator the largest representatives reached, according to estimates, 12 to 16 meters and weighed up to 12 tons or more. The reptile had webbed feet and a tail-shaped characteristic which made it a fast and agile swimmer the size and shape of the dorsal and caudal vertebrae formed a kind of sail that presumably served as a hydrostabilizer little by little the oceans and seas of the planet began to look more like the what we have now manta rays, fish and sharks were common back then the amino idea peaked they grew enormously at the end of the Cretaceous the largest parapozosia sepenredensis lived during the late crustacean period in marine environments in what is now Westphalia Germany A specimen was found in sepenrod in a looted house in Germany in 1895.

It measured 1.8 meters in diameter, being not even a complete shell but only apart from that it is estimated that the size of the amino idea was about 2.5 meters you can see on display at the West Falling Museum of Natural History in Munster Germany The Earth 66 million years ago, the end of the Cretaceous Period of the Mesozoic Era, parts of the supercontinent Pangea almost completely separated, the planet looked very similar to its modern state, but not exactly the same. South and North America were eventually divided. at the end of the Cretaceous Period Africa Australia and Greenland had the same shape as today at the same time the contours of Europe and Asia were just beginning to form mountain ranges of Siberia Mongolia the Andes and the Cordillera the continents were actively emerging the Cretaceous Period lasted 79 million years and became the longest period of the Mesozoic Era the planet's climate changed several times during this time it was relatively cold at the end of this period polar caps formed at the poles Winters have become harsher in some places the temperature It fell below -10 degrees Celsius and as low as -45 degrees Celsius in Alaska, but the world was still warmer than it is now.

Lush vegetation covered the surface of the continent. It was during this period that flowering plants, conifers, ginkgo and other trees from earlier times emerged and formed thick forests. which also included modern looking walnut and beach ash. The grass produced by these trees made the topsoil more fertile for emerging grasses. With the arrival of flowering plants, insects also had to evolve, butterflies and bees began to fly spreading pollen, fruits with seeds developed from pollinated flowers that provide food for many animal species, including birds, this is what which drove the evolution of some herbivorous dinosaurs, as well as many species of mammals.

The number of wavy carnivores, insectivores and primates increased under these favorable conditions. It is true that they have not yet become as large as most mammals are now back then. They were small rodents and predators, for example, in Argentina a fossilized head of a Chronopio dentia cutus measuring 20 centimeters long was found. This small mammal is called the saber-toothed squirrel because of its elongated snout with long fangs. Presumably this species ate some insects, but larger animals did. Already appearing in Madagascar, the remains of a huge Marmot Ventana sertichi were found. This herbivorous mammal had a rather unusual appearance.

It had enormous crests on both sides of its skull for self-protection and an excellent sense of smell. The animal weighed 9 kilograms and was three times larger. than modern marmots, however, the sudden mammoth was the true giant among the mammals of the Cretaceous period. It had a body of one meter and weighed 12 to 14 kilograms. Outwardly, repeno mammoths resembled a modern Tasmanian devil or a stocky dog, this predator even hunted small or new ones. Dinosaurs were born, and yet dinosaurs were the pinnacle of prehistoric evolution. They were at the top of the Mesozoic food chain. A large number of dinosaur species of various sizes populated all continents.

The smaller ones were oculo dentavis with Gray. The head of this miniature reptile measured no more than the 14 millimeter beak included. Unfortunately, paleontologists have not yet found the torso bones, but given the size of its head, this dinosaur was no larger than a modern hummingbird. By some estimates, Alamosaurus was one of the largest animals to ever exist on Earth. 29 meters tall, weighed 38 tons and had a tail 12 meters long, five hours until impact, the day life on Earth completely changed. All animals, young and old, continued with their day as usual, searching for food and hunting. a herd of 50 alamosaurs went to the Yucatan Peninsula in search of fresh vegetation, these giants were herbivores, they had to consume up to a ton of vegetation per day to stay in shape, it could take them a few days to eat leaves from an entire forest, which made them lead a nomadic lifestyle in the middle.

The ancient predator Tarbosaurus that lives in the territory of what is now Mongolia and China also searched for food. This 14 meter long species is considered the largest among the predatory dinosaurs of the Cretaceous period. Our Tarbosaurus set out to hunt for prey in the medium-sized floodplain. The animals and small dinosaurs used to come there for a drink, so the hunt was going to be a success like any Tarbosaurus. This reptile walked on two hind legs, it had two fingers. The four limbs were disproportionately small in relation to the rest of the body and yet were very useful for holding prey or capturing fish with long claws, although the main weapon of the tarbosaurus was about six dozen long, sharp teeth that reached up to 85 millimeters three hours until impact, meanwhile, an adult pachyocephalosaur was also spending its day in North America, this 4.5 meter long dinosaur.

It weighed around 450 kilograms and looked quite formidable. Its skull was protected by a 25-centimeter-thick dome of bone that surely softened blows when the Great Reptile fought its enemies. The back of the dome had bony projections and short spikes protruding from it. up its snout Pachycephalosaurus was mainly herbivorous, crushing leaves, seeds and fruits with its relatively small and sharp teeth, however, it seems that this dinosaur also included meat in its diet, ate small amphibians, shelled animals, mammals, perhaps even newborn dinosaurs, that day our Pachycephalosaurus approached the ocean where he found it. many trees with nutritious seeds, there could also be many huge ammonite mollusks, lizards and other bugs and small lagoons, meanwhile, a female ankylosaurus went to the forest for lunch in western North America, she was leading four newborn cubs , this reptile looked like a nightmare. chimera, had reached the size of a rhinoceros or even an adult African elephant, the body of this tetrapedal monster was covered by powerful bone armor and had a huge club-shaped protuberance on its tail, but despite its intimidating appearance , the ankylosaurus was a harmless herbivore.

The mother of the Cubs did not seek to kill anyone with her club. The story served to protect themselves against predators and cannibalistic reptiles and thus protected by their mother's formidable story, the family entered a thick forest near the newly formed Rocky Mountains for two hours. Until Meanwhile, young dinosaurs caused a real massacre in North America. Hundreds of kilometers from the site of the impending disaster, a distracted Carnotaurus wandered into the territory of the Tyrannosaurus Rex and did not notice its owner in time at a speed of up to 50 kilometers per hour. Carnotaurus can easily flee from its opponent, who alone can run at 40 kilometers per hour, but the T-Rex came into view too unexpectedly, the smell of the intruder gave it away a while ago, the T-Rex had an excellent sense of smell compared to other dinosaurs and in terms of vision precision, even a hawk could be jealous of this predator, in addition, the reptile's vision was binocular, its eyes could look in different directions and then the information from each eye was combined to create a single visual image, which It allowed the dinosaur to accurately determine the distance to its prey and that is why the T-Rex furiously attacked the enemy to protect its territory and get a delicious meal at the same time, you will see that this dinosaur never missed the opportunity to enjoy the meat of his own species.

Carnotaurus now to fight back if we saw this fight and had to bet that everyone would put their money on the T-Rex, the Carnotaurus had no chance, the weight difference was huge. Tyrannosaurus weighed up to 6.8 tons and outweighed Carnotaurus by almost five tons. Its muscle mass and therefore its strength was several times greater, even with its horn-shaped projection over its eyes, the Carnotaurus had no chance to fight against the T-Rex's super powerful jaws. The Tyrannosaurus quickly tore the opponent to pieces and began its feast immediately. a great stroke of luck for the reptile According to some estimates, the T-Rex needed up to 110 kilograms of meat per day, this is equivalent to the daily intake of three or four lions, since it was preoccupied with lunch, the reptile did not want to look upwards. and that's why he didn't see the bright light in the sky, which grew in the second 10 minutes until the impact of a huge asteroid approaching the planet in a few minutes will kill 75 percent of all living creatures causing the extinction event of the Paleogene Cretaceous in 1980.

Scientists hypothesized that it was the impact of an asteroid that caused this disaster. They found much more iridium in 66-million-year-old clays around the world than in the upper and lower layers. This is a very rare substance on Earth, but there is a lot of it. some types of asteroids, which is why iridium is sometimes called a space metal, scientists suggested that the metal was probably washed up by an asteroid in acollision. Ten years later, another team of researchers determined the exact location of the impact crater with a diameter of 180 kilometers. It was discovered in the Yucatan Peninsula and was named Polluelosalube.

Its age coincides with the extinction of the dinosaurs. Polluelosalube has an enormous amount of iridium and as we move away from the center of the crater, less and less metal is found, as well as 25,000 fossil fragments. of animals were recently found in New Jersey Quarries these creatures died on the same day at the end of the Cretaceous Period this was further evidence of the mass extinction that followed the asteroid impact two minutes before the impact, while our Tyrannosaurus was enjoying his lunch, a 10 kilometer rock weighing several billion tons flew into the atmosphere the pull of gravity is becoming extremely strong accelerating the object to a fantastic speed of 20 kilometers per second like a piston the asteroid crushed a 20 kilometer column of air after another along with friction this process heated the giant rock to tens of thousands of degrees Celsius making it much brighter than the sun at the same time the tyrannosaurus was taking a short break from his lunch he raised his head and was blinded by the light From the burning sky the dinosaur quickly lowered its head, closing it even with its eyelids closed, the heat incinerated the reptile's skin.

He set fire to the trees and grass around him. A second later, the asteroid disappeared over the horizon, leaving the sky bright behind. The Tyrannosaurus Rex had a little break, but just for a moment nothing happened for a few seconds, but then the sky set. dazzlingly bright the asteroid crashed into the Gulf of Mexico near the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula the energy released by the impact was approximately equivalent to 10 billion Hiroshima atomic bombs in one second the asteroid penetrated about 20 kilometers into the earth's crust everyone was to put this into perspective, a relatively recent eruption of the Krakatoa volcano caused the eardrum structure of half of the crew members in one of the 70 kilometers away from the ship, the asteroid impact was a million times more powerful, furthermore, the shock waves rushed in all directions faster. that the speed of sound just after the collision were so strong that they skinned animals alive they lifted them into the air they made them spin and crush everything even hundreds of kilometers from the crater the heaviest dinosaurs flew like balloons the T-Rex held a severe concussion and he died in an instant immediately the shock wave lifted his body into the air for several seconds the wave continued to propagate circling the world several times but even before killing the T-Rex the asteroid destroyed the herd of alamosaurs that I saw previously the animals were grazing right next to where the infernal rock fell the dinosaurs could not escape the unthinkable Heat burned everything to the ground turning the bones of the animals into Ash while the female ankylosaurus with her four babies peacefully ate leaves in the forest They were hundreds of kilometers away from the impact site, however they died even before the alamosaurs.

The red-hot asteroid caused enormous fires as it passed through the atmosphere. One of them exploded where a family of ankylosaurs was grazing. The fire instantly incinerated the forest, leaving the reptiles with no chance to survive, the asteroid also removed 15 billion tons of rock from the planet and placed them high in the sky, a small portion flew into outer space, while the remaining part, including rocks the size of a house, They began to fall from orbit at the same time as glass rained down. It started it was raining hot five millimeters Rock balls, stone hail and scorching rain have killed countless animals, however, the Pachycephalosaurus that was hunting near the ocean in North America was lucky not to die from the fires and the rocks falling from the sky, but a little later, when a gigantic 100-meter tsunami emerged from the ocean, to get an idea of ​​its scale, consider the devastating tsunami in Japan of 2011.

The waves were barely 10 meters high, However, almost the entire island state suffered losses, but the gigantic tsunami caused by the asteroid impact plunged thousands of kilometers into the earth and flooded almost the entire territory of the future US. Traces of waves have even been found in North Dakota. One of these waves dragged the Pachycephalosaurus to the bottom of the ocean and buried it in the area's abyss. In modern Mongolia, at that time an elderly Tarbosaurus was searching for prey. Fifteen thousand kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion, hundreds of species of dinosaurs still roam the forested areas, as the disaster approached as the asteroid impact triggered a series of terrible earthquakes.

At 11.2 points, the tremors were approximately 50 times stronger than any earthquake known to humanity, the most powerful Chilean earthquake of 1960 having a magnitude of 9.5. Increasing this number by one point would mean a 30 times more powerful energy release. The planet was shaking so hard that all the volcanoes woke up and began to erupt about 70 billion tons of sooty pulverized stones. Ash and carbon monoxide rose as a result of the eruptions and then began to fall again. to the atmosphere its friction against the air caused a huge increase in temperature a huge cloud of hot dust burst through the planet burning everything in its path it approached Mongolia at a speed of 18,000 kilometers per hour the temperature here rose to 150 degrees centigrade an hour and a half after the impact all living beings died or rather almost all beings our Tarbosaurus and several other animals managed to escape by hiding in an underground cave.

They could hide here while the Killing Cloud passed, assuming the temperature started to drop. This was followed by acid rain that flooded the Earth because several hundred billion tons of sulfur compounds were dumped into the troposphere. along with other rocks because weak sulfuric acid poured from the sky all over the planet, poisoning bodies of soil and water. A dense layer of dust, ash and soot enveloped the planet after volcanic eruptions that let in no light or heat, even at midday. as dark as night the temperature dropped 28 degrees centigrade impact The winters began when hunger and thirst drove the Tarbosaurus and other animals out of the cave they saw a world that looked strikingly different from before it was cold, dark and sacred desert Decomposition mushrooms and the moles were able to reproduce in such conditions there was no food for the dinosaurs on the planet countless animals died of hunger our Tarbosaurus also did not manage to survive perhaps it was the last dinosaur on the planet however it can be assumed that occasionally preserved dinosaur eggs have been found intact somewhere underground, young individuals were born from them after some time, small groups of dinosaurs emerged here and there, but cold climate, hunger and disease contributed to their final disappearance, the era of dinosaurs came to an end Finally, the Cenozoic era began, the dust clouds dissipated over the planet over several decades and the heat and light of the sun were finally able to reach the surface.

Nature revived from the ruins. First, huge horsetails and ferns emerge again. , were closely followed by angiosperms and grasses, other animals that had been dominated by dinosaurs for millions of years were ready to bravely march into the new era. The mammals, some of them survived the disaster in underground burrows, others stayed in the trees. They adapted well to extreme conditions We reproduced quickly and consumed relatively little food on which they were guaranteed to thrive The renewed planet The success of mammalian evolution led to the rise of Homo sapiens, who is now the dominant species on Earth, but was a long way from setting the dinosaur record as it has been a few million years since we conquered the world, only time will do it. show whether people will rule the planet for 160 million years as ancient alien lizards