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Mesozoic Terrestrial Life
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Lecture 24
5/6/98
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| | We continue our discussion of the Mesozoic by examining the terrestrian communities at the time. |
| | The Mesozoic is a time of major changes on land. |
| | Plant communities change from the mesophytic to cenophytic. |
| | Reptiles groups radiate to form all of the modern land vertebrates, plus the dinosuars. |
| | These changes in floras also affected the fauna. |
| | Increased diversity in dinosaur communities may result from flora change. |
| | Triassic and Jurassic floras (mesophytic) |
| | Cretaceous flora (cenophytic) |
| | Jurassic and Cretaceous (205-65 Ma) |
| | Ornithischians (bird-hip dinosaurs) |
| | Iguanodonts (early Cretaceous) |
| | Hadrosaurs (mid-late Cretaceous) |
| | Ankylosaurs (mid Cretaceous) |
| | Ceratopsians (late Cretaceous) |
| | Tyrannosaurus (late Cretaceous) |
| | Archaeopteryx (late Jurassic) |
| | Apatosaurus (Brontosaurus) |
| | probably over 40 m (130 ft) long |
| | Changes in Dinosaur communities |
| | Iguanodonts, Hadrosarus, Ceratopsians |
| | May reflect changes from Mesophytic to Cenophytic floras |
| | evolved around the start of the Jurassic |
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