Late Cretaceous
Before mass extinction
The Late Cretaceous is the latter portion of the Cretaceous period, spanning roughly 100 to 66 million years ago and ending with the mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs.
It was marked by warm global temperatures, high sea levels, and the dominance of iconic dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops.
Late Cretaceous fossils reveal a world vastly different from today.
Prehistoric marine lizards
- plesiosaursPrehistoric marine reptiles
- ammonitesExtinct coiled-shell cephalopods
- marine reptilesOcean-dwelling scaled vertebrates
Space rock collision event
- mass extinctionLarge-scale species elimination
- Deccan TrapsIndian flood basalt province
- volcanismSubterranean magma expulsion process
- firestormSelf-perpetuating intense blaze
ecosystem collapse · shocked quartz · acid rain · nuclear winter · biodiversity loss
Age of Reptiles
- K-Pg boundaryGeological extinction horizon
- chalkSoft sedimentary writing stone
- sedimentaryFormed from deposited material
- GondwanaAncient southern supercontinent
Hardened ancient tree secretion
- coprolitesFossilized animal excrement
- petrified woodMineralized tree fossils
- trace fossilsPreserved signs of activity
- paleobotanyStudy of ancient flora
flowering plants · angiosperms · nesting sites · teeth · eggs · trackways · soft tissue
Fast predatory dinosaur genus
- hadrosaursDuck-billed dinosaur family
- theropodsCarnivorous bipedal dinosaurs
- titanosaursEnormous long-necked dinosaurs
- nesting groundsWhere animals reproduce
mosasaurs
Prehistoric marine lizards
- plesiosaursPrehistoric marine reptiles
- ammonitesExtinct coiled-shell cephalopods
- marine reptilesOcean-dwelling scaled vertebrates
asteroid impact
Space rock collision event
- mass extinctionLarge-scale species elimination
- Deccan TrapsIndian flood basalt province
- volcanismSubterranean magma expulsion process
firestorm · ecosystem collapse · shocked quartz · acid rain · nuclear winter · biodiversity loss
Mesozoic
Age of Reptiles
- K-Pg boundaryGeological extinction horizon
- chalkSoft sedimentary writing stone
- sedimentaryFormed from deposited material
amber
Hardened ancient tree secretion
- coprolitesFossilized animal excrement
- petrified woodMineralized tree fossils
- trace fossilsPreserved signs of activity
paleobotany · flowering plants · angiosperms · nesting sites · teeth · eggs · trackways · soft tissue
Velociraptor
Fast predatory dinosaur genus
- hadrosaursDuck-billed dinosaur family
- theropodsCarnivorous bipedal dinosaurs
- titanosaursEnormous long-necked dinosaurs
Late CretaceousPrecambrian
Earliest geological eon
Archean · Proterozoic · Holocene · Quaternary · Paleozoic
late, later, latest, lately, belated, lateness, prelate, belatedly, Cretaceous