The Cretaceous period is the longest Mesozoic period of the dinosaurs. Both the Jurassic and the Triassic lasted about 50 million years, but the Cretaceous lasted almost 80 million years! There was no major extinction event at the end of the Jurassic, and the dinosaurs continued to evolve. The cretaceous is when many of the best known dinosaurs evolved, like the Tyrannosaurus rex, or Triceratops. The earth's continents split apart again, but this time, not to two pieces. The continents we see today started forming. North america and south america were both formed, and along with the European islands and Eurasia. India was next to Africa, and Australia was next to Antarctica!
There were many different dinosaur that developed at this time. Hadrosaurs thirved, and large carnivorous dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus rex lived in this time preiod
- Temperature was warmer - Sea levels rises , which created small "seas" inland - There was a giant meteorite crash site in Mexico called the Chicxulub crater. The Meteoric crashed on earth 65 million years ago, during the end of the cretaceous period - Lush forests grew during some parts of the continent during the Cretaceous period - Air was humid, and polar regions were free of ice - The Cretaceous period started 145 million years ago and ended 65 million years ago - Many gigantic dinosaurs appeared in the Cretaceous period, such as the Tyrannosaurus rex, and also the south american Argentinosaurus .