Cretaceous period
Mesozoic's final chapter
The Cretaceous period is the final era of the Mesozoic, spanning roughly 145 to 66 million years ago.
Dinosaurs reached their greatest diversity before the mass extinction that ended the period.
The name comes from chalk deposits laid down during this time.
Tyrannosaurus rex lived during the late Cretaceous period.
- iridium layerMetal-rich geological stratum
- K-Pg boundaryGeological extinction horizon
- mosasaursPrehistoric marine lizards
- Deccan TrapsIndian flood basalt province
- fossilsPreserved ancient organism traces
angiosperms · flowering plants · Jurassic · paleontology · ammonites · mass extinction · coevolution · ankylosaurs · dinosaur bones · extinct · prehistoric · prehistoric life · sea level rise · ichthyosaurs · pterosaur · giant reptiles · volcanic activity · ferns
- Mesozoicdinosaurs, Velociraptor, Brachiosaurus, Spinosaurus, pterosaurs
- erasera, epoch, age, bronze age, Victorian era
- geologic timeeons, eon, epochs, era, epoch
- paleontologydinosaurs, fossil, paleontology, fossil record, dinosaur bones
- animal historydinosaurs, mammoths, extinction, fossils, prehistoric life
- extinctionmass extinction, dodo, extinct, extinction event, extinction rate
Cretaceous periodPrecambrian
Earliest geological eon
ice age · Triassic period · Cambrian period · Jurassic period · Cambrian explosion
Cretaceous, period, periodic, periodical, periodically, periodicity, periods