Dinosaur history spans three periods in the Mesozoic era, each with specific characteristics. Let’s take a look at each one and what dinos were found in them.
Dinosaur
History
You may already be familiar with one of the three periods in dinosaur history. The Jurassic period was made famous by Michael Crichton’s novel, Jurassic Park. It spawned many movies and games after that, but actually contained dinosaurs from various periods in the Mesozoic era.
In this area of Ancient Beasts, we’ll explore these time periods and take a closer look at what it was possibly like during then. We’ll also provide more details on when scientists suspect each dinosaur species lived. Since we’re also incorporating paleobotany and paleogeography on our site, we’ll make sure to add some of these details per period.
Of course, it wasn’t only dinosaurs roaming around back then. In one of the sections, we’ll go beyond dinosaurs and add some other interesting information we think you might find fascinating. Whether we head to the oceans or the skies, stay tuned for an exciting journey.
Dinosaur History
Sections
Welcome to our extensive dinosaur history segment. We’ve decided to divide this area of Ancient Beasts into five sections. The first three will focus on the Mesozoic time periods, while we’ve added two for myths and any other historical facts not related to dinosaurs.
Let’s take a look at what each section covers.
The Mesozoic era started with the Triassic period, which is the shortest of the three. There were significant extinction-level events with which it began and ended. Scientists define this timeline into three sub-periods, namely, Early, Middle, and Late Triassic.
It was only during the Middle Triassic that the first prehistoric reptiles appeared. In this section of dinosaur history, we’ll explore each of these sub-periods and see how dino life began and evolved over time. We’ll also investigate what the events were that defined this Mesozoic time.
After the extinction-level event at the end of the Triassic period, we see the Jurassic period begin. It’s probably one of the more popular times thanks to books, movies, and games that use the name. Jurassic stems from the Jura Mountains from which scientists identified limestone strata from that time.
The Jurassic period is quite lengthy, with Early, Middle, and Late timelines that contain 3 – 4 ages within each of them. It formed an essential time when dinosaur species really found a home on the planet, while there have been intense studies on the geography and botany of that period. You can read all the exciting details here.
The longest period of the Mesozoic era, the Cretaceous period spanned Early and Late timelines with about six ages each. The most famous happening in this time was the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event that wiped out all the dinosaurs. However, the fine line between the end of the Jurassic and the start of the Cretaceous isn’t clear as yet and is still a debate among scientists and scholars alike.
In this section, we’ll look at dinosaur history during the Cretaceous period and see what life was like at that time. There was some shifting in the earth’s plates with several of the continents already forming, so you can expect some paleogeographical discussions.
Of course, dinosaurs aren’t the only interesting historical aspects of the Mesozoic era. There are many other elements that are worth covering, which we’ll be placing here. We have plenty of historians on our team that would like to present some research and details with you, so you can expect to find that content here.
Have you heard the myth that dinosaurs might have had feathers? Did you know that the sounds of dinos in movies come from mating turtles? Yes, we’ve all heard some of these myths before, but which are facts or based on rumors? Welcome to Ancient Beasts’ Believe or Not segment.