Question: When was the last dinosaur on Earth?
Answer:
The dinosaur’s final chapter was the Maastrichtian Age, the last portion of the Cretaceous Period of the Mesozoic era.
When was the last dinosaur on Earth?
Also known as the Maestrichtian Stage, this phase began about 72.1 million years from the present day and ended approximately 66 million years ago. It’s the final part of the Upper Cretaceous series. The preceding parts of this series include the Cenomanian, Turonian, Coniacian, Santonian, and Campanian phases.
The word Maastrichtian was named after the city of Maastricht in the Netherlands. The chalky rocks formed during the Maastrichtian Age can be found in this area, in England, and other parts of Northern Europe. Norwich Chalk and Trimingham Chalk are examples of this type of rock.
The Maastrichtian Age can be divided into biozones. Calcareous microfossils of Borinsonia parca, Lithraphidites quadratus, and Micula mura are characteristic of these shorter periods of time.
Occurring for six million years, this time in history ended with the extinction of the dinosaur species. Scientists believe that dinosaurs’ ecosystems were functional right up until the end of their existence. It can then be assumed that many types of dinosaurs were still in existence across the globe at this time. Fossils of the Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus rex have been discovered in the Hell Creek rock formation in North America. Through thorough inspection of the fossil evidence, these fossils existed during the Maastrichtian age.
The triple-horned Triceratops was a large beast, mirroring the elephant in both size and dietary preferences. The Tyrannosaurus rex lived alongside the Triceratops. This 40-foot bipedal carnivore tipped the scales at over 11,000 pounds. With a bite force measuring over 35,000 newtons, this predator easily devoured its prey.
Evidence of the carnivorous Acheraptor, the chicken-like Anzu, the herbivorous Edmontosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus, and Ankylosaurus were also found in the Hell Creek rock formation.
