Lesson 3.

Life during the Mesozoic

Period

General Biology [1/2]

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Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
The age of the
dinosaurs is an
important era in
Earth’s history.

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 Many people are well familiar with what
dinosaurs are, but most of us do not know their
real story.

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When did the dinosaurs start to
walk on Earth’s surface?

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Learning Competency
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to do the following:

Describe general features of the history of life

on Earth, including generally accepted dates
and sequence of the geologic time scale and
characteristics of major groups of organisms
present during these time periods
(STEM_BIO11/12-IIIc-g-8).

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 Learning Objectives
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to do the following:

● Describe Earth’s condition during the Mesozoic

era.

● List possible life forms present during the

Mesozoic era.

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What do you think did the Earth
look like during the Mesozoic
Era?

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 Earth’ Geologic Time Scale

● The Mesozoic Era is really famous for the presence of

dinosaurs.

● It is termed as the age of the dinosaurs which lasted

for almost 180 million years that spans from an
estimated 250 to 65 million years.

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Earth’ Geologic Time Scale

Divisions of the
Mesozoic era

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 Mesozoic Era

Plate Tectonics

Land masses are still

intact

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 Mesozoic Era

Plate Tectonics

Until it separate on the next eras

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 Mesozoic Era

Environment
● During the Mesozoic
era, the overall
environment was
unusually warm. Also,
the polar ice caps were
not yet formed.

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 Mesozoic Era

Period Environment Life Forms

Dinosaurs evolved in
The environment of
the late-Triassic along
the Triassic period was
with crocodilians,
Triassic generally warm. The
flying reptiles, sea-
continents were still
reptiles, and
connected as one.
mammals. 13
 Mesozoic Era

Period Environment Life Forms

A tectonic shift took place,

Dinosaurs
several rifts were formed
continued as the
and filled with water,
Jurassic dominant species
forming, what would later
and evolved to be
become many of today's
gigantic.
oceans and seas. 14
 Mesozoic Era

Period Environment Life Forms

The environment
The climate
evolved to the point
remained similar
that flowering plants
Cretaceous to that of the
(angiosperms) began
Jurassic period,
to appear for the first
warm and humid.
time. 15
What allowed the appearance
and dominance of dinosaurs
during the Mesozoic era?

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Life Forms During Mesozoic Era

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 Life Forms During Mesozoic Era

● During the Mesozoic era, dinosaurs evolved,

specifically at the end of the Triassic period.

● These organisms started to diversified in forms and

sizes until the Jurassic period.

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 Life Forms During Mesozoic Era

● During the early

Mesozoic, the land was
mainly dominated by
ginkgophytes, cycads,
ferns, and other
unusual plants.

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Triassic Period

Timeline of the Triassic

Period

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Triassic Period

Dominant
species during
the Triassic
period

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Jurassic Period

Timeline of the
Jurassic Period

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 Jurassic Period

Transition in dinosaur species from Triassic to Jurassic

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Jurassic Period

The Jurassic
period dinosaurs
were still among
the dominant
species on Earth
during this
period.

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Cretaceous Period

Timeline of the
Cretaceous Period

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Cretaceous Period

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Could an asteroid really cause a
mass extinction of the dinosaurs
during the Mesozoic era?

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 Check Your Understanding

Complete the table below by providing the important

events that happened during the given time period.

Period Environment Life Forms Important Event

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

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 Check Your Understanding

Compare the three different eras based on the given

criteria.

Environmen Earth Important

Era Life Forms
t Topography Events

Precambrian

Paleozoic

Mesozoic

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 Let’s Sum It Up!

● The Mesozoic Era is famous for the presence of

dinosaurs. It is termed as the age of the dinosaurs
which lasted for almost 180 million years and
spanned from an estimated 250 to 65 million years
ago.
○ The Mesozoic era has three major periods,
namely, the Triassic, Jurassic, and
Cretaceous periods.
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 Let’s Sum It Up!

● The Triassic period started around 251 million

years ago. It lasted for around 50 million years. The
Triassic period involved two large extinction events,
where dinosaurs were not yet diverse as it would
become later in the Jurassic period.

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 Let’s Sum It Up!

● The Jurassic period started with a large extinction

that took around 208 - 200 million years ago. The
Pangaea separated significantly that may have
caused the mass extinction related to volcanic
activities due to the movement of the continental
plates. These events allowed the dinosaurs to rule
the planet.
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 Let’s Sum It Up!

● The Cretaceous period started approximately 144

million years ago. It can be directly translated as
"chalk" that is based on its abundant chalk
deposits. This period also marks the end of the
dinosaur age due to the “Great Extinction”.

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Let’s Sum It Up!

The summary of life forms present during the Mesozoic Era 34

Challenge Yourself

With the dominance of dinosaurs

during the Mesozoic era, do you think
they played important roles in the
evolution of current animals and
plants that we have on Earth?

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Bibliography
Aleksandr Ivanovich Oparin. 2003.The Origin of Life. Massachusetts: Courier Corporation.

Johnson, G.B., and Raven, P.H. 2001. Biology: Principles & Explorations. Austin: Holt, Rinehart, and
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Matthew S. Dodd, Dominic Papineau, Tor Grenne, John F. Slack, Martin Rittner, Franco Pirajno,
Jonathan O’Neil & Crispin T. S. Little. 2017. Evidence for early life in Earth’s oldest hydrothermal
vent precipitates. Nature: 543, pages 60–64.

Rakesh Kumar Rastogi. 2007. Concepts of Biology XII. New Delhi: Rastogi Publications.

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