Jurassic Period
201-145 million years ago
The Jurassic Period is the age most people picture when they think of dinosaurs. Giant sauropods stretched their long necks above the treetops, fearsome predators stalked lush forests, and the first birds took flight. Pangaea was splitting apart, creating new continents and oceans, and the warm, wet climate allowed plants and dinosaurs to grow to enormous sizes.
Fun Facts
- âPangaea began splitting into two landmasses during the Jurassic, Laurasia in the north and Gondwana in the south.
- âThe Jurassic had a much warmer climate than today, with no polar ice caps and sea levels much higher than now.
- âBirds evolved from small feathered theropod dinosaurs during the Jurassic Period.
- âSome of the largest land animals ever, like Brachiosaurus and Diplodocus, lived during the Jurassic.
- âThe Jurassic Period gets its name from the Jura Mountains on the border of France and Switzerland.