Group items tagged

Rather than being a rapid extermination, the extinction may have been a more drawn-out transition. “In our interpretation,” Fanti says, “the end-Jurassic event was global in its effects but was mostly likely a complex sequence of local biological crises that are still poorly documented.”

if there was a mass extinction, it didn’t kill off life planetwide

Paleontologists have long debated whether or not there was a mass extinction at the end of the Jurassic period, 145 million years ago. The group that includes Machimosaurus, called the teleosaurids, is among those thought to have died out.

presented in the collection: Cretaceous reptiles, including an impressive dinosaur co

collection

Our Fossil Plant Collection is a small but important representation of Canadian flora, particularly from the Cretaceous and Neogene (during what was formerly known as the Tertiary).

five-ton animal the size of a car, with a giant bony frill on its head, and you've got a fairly accurate picture of a ceratopsian dinosaur such as Triceratops.

are found only in the Late Cretaceous of North America; they are among the last of the dinosaurs (other than the birds of course).

Ceratopsians were ornithischians, or "bird-hipped" dinosaurs.

The beginning of the Paleogene Period was very warm and moist compared to today’s climate. Much of the earth was tropical or sub-tropical. Palm trees grew as far north as Greenland!

By the end of the Paleogene, during the Oligocene Epoch, the climate began to cool.

The Quaternary Period is a geologic time period that encompasses the most recent 2.6 million years — including the present day. Part of the Cenozoic Era, the period is usually divided into two epochs — the Pleistocene Epoch, which lasted from approximately 2 million years ago to about 12,000 years ago, and the Holocene Epoch, which began about 12,000 years ago

Found between 3.85 and 2.95 million years ago in Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania),

Similar to chimpanzees, Au. afarensis children grew rapidly after birth and reached adulthood earlier than modern humans. This meant Au. afarensis had a shorter period of growing up than modern humans have today, leaving them less time for parental guidance and socialization during childhood.

Au. afarensis had both ape and human characteristics: members of this species had apelike face proportions (a flat nose, a strongly projecting lower jaw) and braincase (with a small brain, usually less than 500 cubic centimeters -- about 1/3 the size of a modern human brain)

won't

These three layers make up a sort of 3-layer cake. Just like a cake, the bottom layer went down first, followed by the middle and the top.

The Paleozoic began with the Cambrian Period, 53 million years best known for ushering in an explosion of life on Earth

After the Ordovician Period came the Silurian Period (443 million years ago to 416 million years ago), which saw the spread of jawless fish throughout the seas.

In the Paleozoic Era, life flourished in the seas.

India continued its slow-moving collision with Asia, which had already started the giant push-up of the Himalaya that continues today. Italy pushed into Europe, giving rise to the Alps. Spain butted France, and the Pyrenees rose.