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225 Million B.C. - Mesozoic Era - Triassic Period - First small dinosaurs. Reptiles surpassed amphibians. Lava flows in east North America. Giant ferns, cycads dominant among plant life. Modern corals and insects.



206 Million B.C. - Giant reptiles.

200 Million B.C. - Mammal-like reptile (Lycaenops). Great landmass: "Pangea" begins to split apart. (see tectonics)

190 Million B.C. - Jurassic Period - Great expansion of the Dinosaurs through diversity and size. Sierra Nevada Mountains uplifted.



180 Million B.C. - First primitive (reptile-like) birds: Archaeopteryx, Archaeornis. World-wide tropical weather. North Pole flourishes with plant life.





136 Million B.C. - Cretaceous Period - Giant Dinosaurs rule the Earth. Mammals small and very primitive (opossums). Rocky Mountains begin to rise.

135 Million B.C. - Flowering plants.



75 Million B.C. - Pteranodons, Pterodactyls: giant flying dinosaurs.



70 Million B.C. - Expansion of mammals. (See: The Evolution of the hoof.)



65 Million B.C. - Cenozoic Era begins.

The Asteroid that caused the mass extinction of the dinosaurs, weighing approx. five-trillion tons, and approx. 6-10 miles in length, crashed down in the Gulf of Mexico, burrowing sixty miles into the earth's mantle. Thus, causing tidal waves, and molten ejecta rain that burned 1/4 of the earth's plant-life. The sun was blocked out world-wide for months by a global cloud of soot, sulfuric acid, and debris, causing an "asteroid winter". An analogy to this would be like shaking a glass Christmas ornament filled with water and artificial snow. The glass represents the Earth's atmosphere. This total eclipse starved the herbivores, which, in turn, starved the carnivores. When the cloud cleared, it cleared on a planet with no more giant dinosaurs. Thus, paving the way for the succession of mammals.