Period FAQs

what periods did dinosaurs live

by Mrs. Ashlee Nikolaus Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago
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Dinosaurs lived during three periods: Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous.

  • The Triassic period began 250 million years ago and ended 200 million years ago.
  • The Jurassic period began 200 million years ago and ended 145 million years ago.
  • The Cretaceous period began 145 million years ago and ended about 66 million years ago.

The 'Age of Dinosaurs' (the Mesozoic Era) included three consecutive geologic time periods (the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods).

Full Answer

Did dinosaurs exist before humans?

So the answer is; Yes, dinosaurs have existed long long before humans or any other mammal. One would have to be deliberately ignorant to believe otherwise. This is the way science works. Many ideas are postulated and researched in any field. The postulations are weeded out and the ones that fit the model become a part of the theory.

When did the dinosaurs first appear on Earth?

The dinosaurs appeared on Earth between 243 and 231 million years ago, which means they lived on Earth for a very long time. The dinosaur was extremely successful, especially since modern humans (Homo sapiens) have only been around for 200,000 years.

Which era did dinosaurs live in?

The 'Age of Dinosaurs' (the Mesozoic Era) included three consecutive geologic time periods (the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods). Different dinosaur species lived during each of these three periods.

What period did the pterosaur live in?

The earliest known pterosaurs lived about 220 million years ago in the Triassic period, and the last ones died about 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous period. They ranged from pigeon-sized with a wingspan of 18 inches to ultralight-airplane-sized Quetzalcoatlus with a wingspan of 36–39 feet.

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How long ago did dinosaurs live?

Evolutionists claim dinosaurs lived millions of years ago. But it is important to realize that when they dig up a dinosaur bone it does not have a label attached showing its date. The Bible states that God made the land animals, including dinosaurs, on Day Six ( Genesis 1:24–25 ), so they date from around 6,000 years ago.

What does it mean when someone finds a dinosaur bone?

When someone finds a dinosaur bone, he gauges the depth of the bone in the sedimentary layers and then uses the date that is assigned to that depth. As Christians, we look at this same evidence: dinosaurs and the depth at which their bones are buried. Then we look at the biblical explanation of the geologic layers.

What does a mummified dinosaur remind us?

A mummified dinosaur reminds us that evolutionary ages are often only superficially accurate.

What is the most diverse group of animals?

Dinosaurs are among the most amazing and diverse group of animals to ever walk the planet.

Do dinosaurs have troubled Christians?

For decades, dinosaurs have troubled Christians who didn’t know how to explain them from the Bible.

Is the dinosaur story a myth?

The evolutionary story has changed about the so-called time of the dinosaurs, and the old story is now considered a myth and false narrative.

Did humans and dinosaurs live at the same time?

According to the Bible, humans and dinosaurs originally lived at the same time; they were not separated by millions of years. There are many biblical and extrabiblical clues that humans continued to have first-hand knowledge of dinosaurs after the Flood. The Bible mentions several large, mysterious animals.

When did dinosaurs go extinct?

They first appeared about 250 million years ago and became extinct 66 million years ago . These animals were divided into the avian and non-avian. Birds are the only existing avian dinosaurs, but all non-avian dinosaurs became extinct.

When was the last dinosaur?

Cretaceous Period - 66 to 145 million years ago. The last of the dinosaurs existed during the Cretaceous period. The land subdivided further into the continents we know today but located in different positions. The dinosaurs evolved independently and created a more diverse species.

Why Did Dinosaurs Disappear?

The mystery deepens considering that other large mammals such as elephants, giraffes, and mammoths survived. Other species including crocodiles, frogs, mammals, turtles, snails, and sea creatures also survived. Scientists propose that the extension could have occurred due to the collision of the planet and an extraterrestrial body such as a comet or meteor, or a series of volcanic activities that affected the earth at a global level . The events changed the weather patterns, and the dinosaur’s large body could not adapt to the change.

What dinosaurs were in the North Atlantic Ocean?

The dinosaurs that existed at the period were known as Triassic dinosaurs, and they include the Coelophysis. As the period ended, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions caused the continent to break into two, and the North Atlantic Ocean was formed.

What happened when Pangaea split?

Both continents were habitat by dinosaurs. The high amount of CO2 in the atmosphere resulted in the drop in temperature while the formation of the new ocean led to increased rainfall.

What was the Triassic period?

Triassic Period - 201 to 252 million years ago. During the Triassic period land existed as a single landmass known as Pangaea and most animals and plants exhibited near similar characteristics. A large part of Pangaea was covered by desert and there were no polar ice caps.

Did the Triassic period end mass extinction?

It is evident that mass extinction occurred as the Triassic period ended but the causes elicit hot debates among researchers. Several large animals became extinct, but the dinosaurs survived and evolved into several subspecies. When Pangaea split, it formed Gondwana in the south and Laurasia in the north.

What period did dinosaurs live in?

The Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods were marked out by geologists to distinguish among various types of geologic strata (chalk, limestone, etc.) laid down tens of millions of years ago. Since dinosaur fossils are usually found embedded in rock, paleontologists associate dinosaurs with the geologic period in which they lived—for example, "the sauropods of the late Jurassic."

What era were dinosaurs in?

Ages of the Dinosaurs (The Mesozoic Era) This chart is a simple overview of the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods, all of which were part of the Mesozoic era. In brief, this incredibly long period of time, measured in "mya" or "millions of years ago," saw the development of dinosaurs, marine reptiles, fish, mammals, ...

What was the marine life during the Cretaceous Period?

Marine Life During the Cretaceous Period. Shortly after the beginning of the Cretaceous period, the ichthyosaurs ("fish lizards") disappeared. They were replaced by vicious mosasaurs, gigantic pliosaurs like Kronosaurus, and slightly smaller plesiosaurs like Elasmosaurus.

What was the first continent to form during the Cretaceous?

During the early Cretaceous period, the inexorable breakup of the Pangaean supercontinent continued, with the first outlines of modern North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa taking shape. North America was bisected by the Western Interior Sea (which has yielded countless fossils of marine reptiles), and India was a giant, floating island in the Tethys Ocean. Conditions were generally as hot and muggy as in the preceding Jurassic period, albeit with intervals of cooling. The era also saw rising sea levels and the spread of endless swamps—yet another ecological niche in which dinosaurs (and other prehistoric animals) could prosper.

What animals were in the Jurassic period?

Mammals: The mouse-sized early mammals of the Jurassic period, only recently evolved from their Triassic ancestors, kept a low profile, scurrying around at night or nesting high up in trees so as not to get squashed under the feet of bigger dinosaurs. Elsewhere, the first feathered dinosaurs began to appear, typified by the extremely bird-like Archaeopteryx and Epidendrosaurus. It's possible that the first true prehistoric birds had evolved by the end of the Jurassic period, though the evidence is still sparse. Most paleontologists believe that modern birds descend from the small, feathered theropods of the Cretaceous period.

What is the Cretaceous period?

The Cretaceous period is when dinosaurs attained their maximum diversity, as ornithischian and saurischian families branched off into a bewildering array of armored, raptor-clawed, thick-skulled, and/or long-toothed and long-tailed meat- and plant-eaters.

What were the plants that were found in the Triassic period?

The Triassic period wasn't nearly as lush and green as the later Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but it did see an explosion of various land-dwelling plants, including cycads, ferns, Gingko-like trees, and seed plants.

How long did dinosaurs live?

Dinosaurs lived on all of the continents. At the beginning of the age of dinosaurs (during the Triassic Period, about 230 million years ago), the continents were arranged together as a single supercontinent called Pangea. During the 165 million years of dinosaur existence this supercontinent slowly broke apart.

When did dinosaurs go extinct?

Dinosaurs went extinct about 65 million years ago (at the end of the Cretaceous Period), after living on Earth for about 165 million years. If all of Earth time from the very beginning of the dinosaurs to today were compressed into 365 days (one calendar year), the dinosaurs appeared January 1 and became extinct the third week of September.

Why did dinosaurs grow so big?

Why did some dinosaurs grow so big? Paleontologists don't know for certain, but perhaps a large body size protected them from most predators, helped to regulate internal body temperature, or let them reach new sources of food (some probably browsed treetops, as giraffes do today).

How were dinosaurs separated?

Dinosaur communities were separated by both time and geography. The 'Age of Dinosaurs' (the Mesozoic Era ) included three consecutive geologic time periods (the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods). Different dinosaur species lived during each of these three periods. For example, the Jurassic dinosaur Stegosaurus had already been extinct...

What is the tertiary period?

The Tertiary is a system of rocks, above the Cretaceous and below the Quaternary, that defines the Tertiary Period of geologic time. T

What is the geologic time scale?

A geologic time scale is composed of standard stratigraphic divisions based on rock sequences and calibrated in years.

How old is the Earth?

Year Published: 2008. The Geologic Time Spiral - A Path to the Past. The Earth is very old - 4.5 billion years or more according to scientific estimates. Most of the evidence for an ancient Earth is contained in the rocks that form the Earth's crust.

How long did dinosaurs live?

Dinosaurs lived on all of the continents. At the beginning of the age of dinosaurs (during the Triassic Period, about 230 million years ago), the continents were arranged together as a single supercontinent called Pangea. During the 165 million years of dinosaur existence this supercontinent slowly broke apart.

When did dinosaurs become extinct?

Dinosaurs went extinct about 65 million years ago (at the end of the Cretaceous Period), after living on Earth for about 165 million years. If all of Earth time from the very beginning of the dinosaurs to today were compressed into 365 days (one calendar year), the dinosaurs appeared January 1 and became extinct the third week of September. (Using...

Why did some dinosaurs grow so big?

Paleontologists don't know for certain, but perhaps a large body size protected them from most predators, helped to regulate internal body temperature, or let them reach new sources of food (some probably browsed treetops, as giraffes do today). No modern animals except whales are even close in size to the largest dinosaurs; therefore,...

Were dinosaurs warm-blooded or cold-blooded?

Scientists have conflicting opinions on this subject. Some paleontologists think that all dinosaurs were 'warm-blooded' in the same sense that modern birds and mammals are: that is, they had rapid metabolic rates. Other scientists think it unlikely that any dinosaur could have had a rapid metabolic rate. Some scientists think that very big...

Can USGS photos of fossils be downloaded or viewed online?

Some fossil photos can be viewed and downloaded from the USGS Photographic Library and our Multimedia Gallery . Fossil photos can also be viewed as published plates within many online USGS publications. Visit the USGS Publications Warehouse to search for publications. The best keywords for searches are author names, such as William Cobban, Norm...

What was the name of the supercontinent that dinosaurs lived on?

At the beginning of dinosaur history (the Triassic Period), there was one supercontinent on Earth called Pangea. Many dinosaur types were spread across it. However, as Pangea broke apart, dinosaurs became scattered across the globe on separate continents, and new types of dinosaurs evolved separately in each geographic area.

How were dinosaurs separated?

Dinosaur communities were separated by both time and geography. The 'Age of Dinosaurs' (the Mesozoic Era) included three consecutive geologic time periods (the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods). Different dinosaur species lived during each of these three periods. For example, the Jurassic dinosaur Stegosaurus had already been extinct for approximately 80 million years before the appearance of the Cretaceous dinosaur Tyrannosaurus. In fact, the time separating Stegosaurus and Tyrannosaurus is greater than the time separating Tyrannosaurus and you.

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