Page 14 - DINOSOUR ATLAS

dinosaur atlas
Jurassic World d archaeopteryx

The earliest known bird was basically
a small theropod dinosaur
equipped with
flight feathers.
The jurassic period was a time of climate change, brought
about by the breakup of the huge, dry supercontinent
Pangaea into two smaller landmasses, and the creation
of many shallow seas. Global temperatures were still
warm because there were no polar ice sheets, but there
was more rainfall. Desert areas shrank as a result, and
much of the world became luxuriant forest.
These changes clearly suited the dinosaurs,
which diversified into a wide variety of
species. But the mammal-like reptiles
became extinct, and their mammal peglike
descendants remained insignificant teeth were
adapted for
for the next 140 million years. eating leaves

long neck enabled
the animal to
browse tree foliage

Jurassic Globe .
During the Jurassic, movements
in the Earth’s crust divided the
giant landmass of Pangaea, forming
Gondwana in the south and Laurasia
in the north. These then started to
split into smaller parts, divided by
warm shallow seas that made ideal
habitats for reef corals, fish,
and marine reptiles.
u diplodocus
The Jurassic was the age of giant plant-
eating sauropods like Diplodocus, which
grew to at least 89 ft (27 m) long. These
immense animals probably lived in
herds, like modern elephants.

ichthyosaurus u
Fast-swimming, dolphinlike
reptiles called ichthyosaurs
flourished in the warm, shallow
seas, where they used their
small, sharp teeth to catch fish.

, Jurassic trees
Forests covered vast areas
of land. They were made up of
coniferous trees such as monkey
puzzles, as well as ginkgos,
tree ferns, and cycads. Spiny foliage
of monkey puzzle may
have evolved to deter
hungry dinosaurs

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