THE CRETACEOUS PERIOD
The Cretaceous, Latin for “chalky”, usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide (chalk), is a geologic period and system from circa 145.5 ± 4 to 65.5 ± 0.3 million years (Ma) ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows on the Jurassic Period and is followed by the Paleogene Period of the Cenozoic Era. The end of the Cretaceous defines the boundary between the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. In many languages this period is known as “chalk period”.
The Cretaceous was a period with a relatively warm climate and high eustatic sea level. The oceans and seas were populated with now extinct marine reptiles, ammonites and rudists; and the land by dinosaurs. At the same time, new groups of mammals and birds as well as flowering plants appeared. The Cretaceous ended with one of the largest mass extinctions in Earth history, the K-T extinction, when many species, including non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and large marine reptiles, disappeared…
(read more: Wikipedia)
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