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Related Flashcards
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Cards In This Set
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When did the Mesozoic Era happen?
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251 to 65.5 million years ago
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What are the three periods that the Mesozoic Era consists of?
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Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous
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Triassic period
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- oldest
- lasted about 51 million years |
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Jurassic period
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- lasted about 55 million years
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Cretaceous period
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- youngest
- lasted about 80 million years |
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The Mesozoic Era lasted how long?
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Approximately 186 million years
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What ended the Mesozoic Era?
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An extinction event in which the dinosaurs met their demise
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Basic overview of Mesozoic Era:
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1. Breakup of Pangaea
2. Opening of the Atlantic ocean 3. Opening of the Gulf of Mexico 4. Era of warm climate 5. Following the Permian extinctions, marine life underwent profound change 6. Age of dinosaurs 7. Appearance of flowering plants during the mid-Cretaceous 8. End of Mesozoic marked by a mass extinction |
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Characteristics of the "era of warm climate" in the Mesozoic Era:
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High sea-level and large continental seaways flooding as much as 1/3 of the Earth's total continental area
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What were the changes that marine life underwent following the Permian extinctions?
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- seas dominated by bivalves, gastropods and echinoids
- appearance of sea reptiles - shell-crushing predators like crabs and lobsters - large variety of ammonites |
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Pangaea began to break up _____ when _____
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Near the end of the Triassic period; North America and Africa began to separate
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The Indian Ocean began to open around _____ time as evidenced by major transgressions in eastern Africa and Madagascar
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Middle Jurassic
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India separated from _____ during the _____
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Africa and Australia; Late Jurassic
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South America broke away from ____ during the ____
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Africa; mid-Cretaceous
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Australia separated from _____ near _____
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Antarctica; the end of the Cretaceous
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