Page 86 - DINOSOUR ATLAS

aFter the dinosaurs

u Forests and grasslands
The Early Tertiary was a hot period when
much of the world was covered by
tropical forest. But by the Late long flight feathers
Tertiary, about 10 million years extend the parrot’s
ago, the climate had cooled forelimbs into superbly
efficient wings
and the forests were giving
way to open grasslands. masters oF the air .
Like the mammals, birds evolved
heavy tail many forms during the post-dinosaur
balances the kangaroo era. Their feathers and lightweight skeletons
when it is bounding made them ideally equipped for flight, and their
across the plains on mastery of the air has enabled them to exploit a
its hind legs
wide range of habitats. Some, like this parrot, are
among the most colorful of all animals.

u athletic grazers
The open plains that appeared in the Late
Tertiary were colonized by mammals that
were able to eat grass. Since they had
nowhere to hide, many developed ways of
moving fast to escape danger, such as the
hopping technique of a modern kangaroo.

streamlined body
and powerful muscles
enable a dolphin to
swim like a shark

u sleek success
The mammals have diversified to fill every
habitat left vacant by the extinct dinosaurs,
pterosaurs, and marine reptiles. Most live
on land, but bats have taken to the air, and
whales and dolphins spend their entire lives
at sea. These dolphins may look like fish,
but in many ways they are the modern
counterparts of the Jurassic Icthyosaurus.

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