Jurassic - Research Article from Macmillan Science Library: Animal Sciences

This encyclopedia article consists of approximately 3 pages of information about Jurassic.

Jurassic - Research Article from Macmillan Science Library: Animal Sciences

This encyclopedia article consists of approximately 3 pages of information about Jurassic.
This section contains 685 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Jurassic Encyclopedia Article

The Jurassic period is the second of the three divisions of the Mesozoic era, "The Age of Reptiles." The Jurassic lasted for 64 million years, from about 208 to 144 million years ago. The period is named for rock strata found in the Jura Mountains on the border between Switzerland and France.

During the Jurassic, the supercontinent Pangaea began to break apart. This created two landmasses, a northern mass called Laurasia (North America, Europe, and Asia) and a southern mass called Gondwanaland (South America, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, and India). During the early Jurassic, North America separated from Africa and South America and moved northward, but still remained connected to Europe. By the late Jurassic, the North Atlantic was just beginning to appear between Europe and North America.

Widespread deposits of sand in western North America indicate that the region experienced a desert climate during the early Jurassic. Coral reefs and the...

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This section contains 685 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Jurassic Encyclopedia Article
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Jurassic from Macmillan. Copyright © 2001-2006 by Macmillan Reference USA, an imprint of the Gale Group. All rights reserved.