Cretaceous Animals
The Cretaceous period was the time when most of the dinosaur species flourished. It occupied the last years of the Mesozoic Era. This period dates back to about 144 million years and ended about 65 million years ago. |
Just before the start of the Cretaceous period, new species of dinosaurs came into being. This was around 120 millions years back. The ceratopsian and the pachycephalosaurs dinosaurs were plant eaters.
In the middle years of the Cretaceous period, the monotreme, marsupial and the placental species emerged. Also, the multituberculate species which appeared like rodents commonly existed in various parts of North America as well as Asia.
The Cretaceous period also gave rise to new flowering plants that started growing in different parts of the planet. New insect species like bees, ants, flies, moths, wasps and beetles were also noted. Some of the paleontologists explain the process of co-evolution with the emergence of new flowering plants and diverse varieties of insects that originated together.
The birds that came into existence during the late Jurassic era diversified during the Cretaceous years. Different varieties of reptiles were also emerging. In addition, many of the mammals flourished during this era. The landscape transformed rapidly due to a lot of tectonic activity. Volcanic eruptions and continental movements were quite common during this period.
With the end of the Cretaceous period, the existence of the dinosaurs also came to an end. Besides, many of the species living during the prehistoric were completely destroyed. Hence, this period is noted for the second-most mass extinction of living species in the earth’s history.
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