The Jurassic Period took place about 210 million years ago. It went on for
about 70 million years. The Jurassic Period was one of periods in the Mesozoic
Era.
The life forms that were present during the Jurassic Period were not all of
the life forms in Jurassic Park. The Tyrannosaurus rex and Tricerastops had not
evolved until after the Jurassic Period. During the Jurassic Period the largest land
animals of all were around. These giant animals were known as sauropods. The
Diplodocus, the Brachiosaurus, and the Apatosaurus were all saouropods that were
around during the Jurassic Period. There were also some rodents, no larger than
rats, that roamed in the foliage, and were a number of the early mammals. They
all were herbivorous and ate the lush vegetation that grew in their surroundings.
Other herbivorous were the stegosaurus that had plates on its back that were used
as protection from carnivores. The predators during the Jurassic Period were small
but horrifying carnosaurs, like Allosaurus, and Dilophosaurus. The fast
coelurosaurs were deadly but tiny. They traveled in packs and scavenged. The
Jurassic also had some of the first birds. The Archaeopteryx was supposedly a
coelurosaurian ancestor.
The sea was also full of life. Some of the ocean life consisted of the
ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and crocodiles that were much larger than they are
today. There were also were modern looking sharks and Rays that were the same
size and had similar characteristics. Also there were larger squids, octopus, and
nautilus of the present. Ammonites with their coiled external shells were also some
of the life in the sea during the Jurassic Period. dinoflagellates and
coccolithophorids were microscopic single celled organisms that lived in the
ocean.
The Jurassic Period also had an abundant source of vegetation. The floras
were different than they are today. In the Jurassic Period many plants grew that
arent around today. Ferns, ginkgoes, bennettitaleans, and the real cicadas grew in
the Jurassic Period. Some conifers were also around, including the relatives of
living redwoods, cypresses, pines, and yews. Even though dinosaurs were drawn
with palm trees or any other flowering plants. It doesnt mean that they were
around, because most of them were not around and are not the same as the ones
today.
The life of the Jurassic Period affected us today by producing our oil we
use. Some of the organisms that died 200 million years ago during the Jurassic
Period had converted into oil, that we use to fuel our cars and machinery. When
the creatures died 200 million years ago they were decomposed and after a while
were deep in the ground where they ended up changing chemically. Under the
pressure there bones and fossils were turned into oil. We learned how to pump this
oil out of the ground and make it useful by burning it.
Burning the oil can create pollution. When we burn the oil it lets off gases
that create smog. The smog then can trap in sunlight rays that are suppose to
bounce of the Earth into outer space. It then can create the Greenhouse Effect.
Which can melt the polar ice caps and cause another Ice Age.
Bibliography
www.jurassicperiod.com
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