Our planet is several billion years old, and man appeared on it not so long ago. And millions of years ago, completely different creatures dominated the Earth - powerful, fast and huge. Of course, we are talking about dinosaurs that inhabited almost the entire surface of the planet many centuries ago. The number of species of these animals is quite large, and it can be said with certainty that the dinosaurs and the Jurassic world as a whole were the most diverse. And this era can be considered the heyday of the life of all flora and fauna.
Life is everywhere
The Jurassic period was 200-150 million years ago. Quite a hot climate is characteristic of that time. Dense vegetation, lack of snow and cold weather led to the fact that life on earth was everywhere: on land, in air and in water. The increased humidity of the air led to the violent growth of plants, which became food.herbivores that grew to gigantic sizes. But they, like smaller animals, served as food for predators, the diversity of which is quite interesting.
The level of the world's oceans was much higher than now, and the favorable climate has led to a rich diversity of life in the water. The shallow waters teemed with mollusks and small animals, which became food for large marine predators. Life in the air was no less intense. The flying dinosaurs of the Jurassic period - pterosaurs - seized dominance in the sky. But in the same period, the ancestors of modern birds appeared, in the wings of which there were no leather membranes, but feathers were born.
Herbivorous dinosaurs
The Jurassic era gave the world many large reptiles. Most of them reached fantastically gigantic sizes. The largest dinosaur of the Jurassic period - diplodocus, which lived on the territory of the modern United States, reached a length of 30 meters and weighed almost 10 tons. It is noteworthy that the animal ate not only plant foods, but also stones. This was necessary so that small pebbles rubbed vegetation and tree bark in the animal's stomach. After all, the teeth of diplodocus were very small, no larger than a human fingernail, and could not help the animal to thoroughly chew plant food.
A no less large brachiosaurus had a mass exceeding the weight of 10 elephants, and reached 30 meters in height. This animal lived on the territory of modern Africa and ateleaves of conifers and cycads. Such a giant easily absorbed almost half a ton of plant food a day and preferred to settle near water bodies.
An interesting representative of herbivores of this era - the Kentrosaurus - lived on the territory of modern Tanzania. This dinosaur of the Jurassic period was interesting for its body structure. On the back of the animal there were large plates, and the tail was covered with large spikes that helped to fight off predators. The animal was about 2 meters in height and up to 4.5 meters in length. The Kentrosaurus weighed just over half a ton, making it the most agile dinosaur.
Predatory dinosaurs of the Jurassic period
The diversity of herbivores leads to the emergence of a large number of predators, because nature always keeps a balance. The largest and bloodthirsty dinosaur of the Jurassic period, the Allosaurus, reached a length of almost 11 meters and a height of 4 meters. This predator weighing 2 tons hunted in the US and Portugal and earned the title of the fastest runner.
He ate not only small animals, but, uniting in groups, hunted even very large prey, such as apatosaurs or camarasaurus. To do this, a sick or young individual was beaten off from the herd by common efforts, after which they were collectively devoured.
A fairly well-known dilophosaurus that lived on the territory of modern America, reached three meters in height and weighed up to 400 kilograms.
Quicka predator with characteristic crests on its head, a rather bright representative of that period, similar to tyrannosaurs. He hunted small dinosaurs, but in a pair or a flock he could also attack an animal that was much larger than him. Great maneuverability and speed allowed Dilophosaurus to catch even a fairly fast and miniature Scutellosaurus.
Sea life
Land is not the only place inhabited by dinosaurs, and the world of the Jurassic period in the water was also diverse and multifaceted. A prominent representative of that era was the plesiosaur. This waterfowl predatory lizard had a long neck and reached a length of up to 18 meters. The structure of the skeleton with a short but rather wide tail and powerful paddle-like fins allowed this predator to develop great speed and reign in the depths of the sea.
An equally interesting marine dinosaur of the Jurassic period is an ichthyosaur, similar to a modern dolphin. Its peculiarity was that, unlike other lizards, this predator gave birth to live cubs, and did not lay eggs. The ichthyosaur reached 15 meters in length and hunted smaller prey.
Kings of the Sky
By the end of the Jurassic period, small pterodactyl predators conquered the heavenly heights. The wingspan of this animal reached one meter. The body of the predator was small and did not exceed half a meter, the weight of an adult individual reached 2 kilograms. The predator could not take off, and before flying, he had to climb a rock or ledge. The pterodactyl fed on fish that it could see onconsiderable distance. But he himself sometimes became a victim of predators, because on land he was rather slow and clumsy.
Another representative of flying dinosaurs was Rhamphorhynchus. Slightly larger than a pterodactyl, this predator weighed three kilograms and had a wingspan of up to two meters. Habitat - Central Europe. A feature of this winged dinosaur was a long tail. Sharp teeth and powerful jaws made it possible to catch slippery and wet prey, and the basis of the animal's diet was fish, shellfish and, surprisingly, small pterodactyls.
Living World
The world in that era is striking in its diversity: far from the only population of the Earth at that time were dinosaurs. And animals of the Jurassic period of other classes were quite common. After all, it was then, thanks to good conditions, that turtles appeared in the form that we are now familiar with. Frog-like amphibians bred and became food for small dinosaurs.
The seas and oceans teemed with many kinds of fish, such as sharks, rays and other cartilaginous and bony ones. Cephalopods, also known as belemnites, were the lowest link in the food chain, but their multi-membered population supported life in the water. During this period, crustaceans such as barnacles, phyllopods, and decapods appear, as well as freshwater sponges.
Intermediate
The Jurassic period is notable for the appearance of the ancestors of birds. Of course, Archeopteryx was not all that similar tomodern bird, it was more like a miniraptor with feathers.
But a later ancestor, aka Longipteryx, already resembled a modern kingfisher. Although birds for that era are a rather rare phenomenon, they are the ones that give rise to a new round in the evolution of the animal world. The dinosaurs of the Jurassic period (photo above) died out long ago, but even now, looking at the remains of such giants, you feel awe of these giants.
