By Kendra Sandford and Raymond Theriault

The Jurassic Time Period extends from about 208 to 144 million years ago, which is from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous time period. The Jurassic Time Period occurs during the middle of the Mesozoic Era, which is also known as the “Age of the Reptiles.” Dinosaurs dominated the tropical earth.

By the time the Jurassic time period came around, the supercontinent Pangaea began to break apart. Pangaea broke into two continents- the northern supercontinent called Laurasia and the southern continent called Gondwanaland. At this time, the Atlantic Sea was formed from a crack in the continent, South America and Africa moved further apart, and India was beginning to move where Asia is today. urassic.htm urassic.htm ography_and_tectonics ography_and_tectonics

During the Jurassic time period, the tectonic plates on the ocean side of Pangaea continued to collide. This caused folds, uplifts, and volcano eruptions. Because of plate movement, the mountains that extend from British Columbia, through to North America and into South America were beginning to form. finds.com/jurassic_period.html finds.com/jurassic_period.html

During the Early and Middle Jurassic time period the core of Pangaea was very arid and hot. Deserts covered what is now the Amazon and Congo rainforests. During the Late Jurassic Time Period the climate was humid, hot, had steady rainfall due to the breakup of Pangaea. These were ideal conditions for the lush green plants that were in the Jurassic Time Period such as Coniferous and ferns. The interior of Pangaea the became more moist, and seasonal snow and ice frosted the polar regions. The average temperature was about 17 degrees Celsius /dinosaurages_3.htm /dinosaurages_3.htm

Because of the huge size of the creatures during the Jurassic, scientists came to the conclusion that atmospheric had to contain more oxygen and more carbon dioxide with higher pressure than the present atmosphere, which is 14.7psi. High temperatures due to a strong greenhouse effect made warm conditions all over the globe, and the poles didn’t even have any ice on them. Instead the poles had forests filled with conifers. The greenhouse effect was caused by the high C02 levels, which are estimated to have been ppmv, which is 5-10 times higher than present values. jonathan/projectbackground2.html jonathan/projectbackground2.html

A Stegosaurs is a armored dinosaur with a large body with spikes and plates on its back and tail. The plates on its back were blood vessels regulating its body temperature. It didn't move very fast and had a small head. An average Stegosaurs averaged about nine meters long, four meters tall and weighed about 6800 pounds. The Stegosaurs ate his leaves by grinding them with flat teeth.

A large animal, with long narrow jaws, long well muscled forelimbs with huge claws and clawed feet. It tore its prey to shreds using claws and its sharp, pointed teeth. It grew up to 40 feet long and walked on its hind legs using its tail for balance.

Sauropods are the largest dinosaur to have ever lived. They were huge tanks ranging up to 112 feet long. Some reached up to 190 feet long. They were built like the other dinosaurs but had extremely long necks and tails. They weighed between tons. Their tail is used as a club to swat away predators, by smashing them. Like the Stegosaurus, the Sauropods has flat teeth and used them to grind their food.

The Compsognathus looked like a small bird, with sharp talon feet and claws. The animal was the size of a large turkey and chased after its prey, using its tail for balance. It tore its prey to shreds using claws and sharp pointed teeth.

Plants that had first been introduced during the Jurassic time period consist of Algae. The Algae died and sank to the bottom of the ocean metamorphosing into chalk.

A large deposit of Methane in the earth caused 80% of all Marine species to die out. Ammonites and belemnites became extinct.

-The Atlantic Ocean began to from during the Jurassic time period -Largest animals to have ever lived -First appearance of Algae -Ichthyosaurus (first Marine Invertebrate) -Methane deposit extinction Wikipedia