Weekly Blog Post - "WAC - Era Report" (9|18|17-9|24|17)

WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM: ERA REPORT

My era is the Mesozoic era, or also known as the reptile era, since this was the time when the dinosaurs lived (plus small mammals). During this era, there were three periods- the Triassic Period (this was the period that followed the mass extinction at the end of the Permian Period), the Jurassic Period (this was the period where Pangea began to break apart), and the Cretaceous Period (the final period, meaning chalk). Many dinosaur species were widespread across it. The continents for all the Triassic and most of the Jurassic stayed together as Pangea, finally breaking apart towards the end of the Jurassic. Then, in the Cretaceous period, the continents stayed apart, with South America stuck to Antarctica, as was Australia. North America and Canada were a little closer than they are now, but Greenland remained connected to what is now Europe.

The plants during the Mesozoic era were Sequoias, cycads, birch trees, and conifers. 

• A sequoia is a subspecies belonging to a main species known as a redwood tree, which belong to a bigger classification of Sequoia sempervirens. 

• Cycads are a very seedy plant that were once very abundant and extremely diverse, much more than they are now. Their scientific name is Cycadophyta. 

• And finally, conifers. Conifers are a plant that are also known as Pinophyta and are part of a division of vascular land plants. Their scientific name is Pinophyta.

The animals during the Mesozoic era were dinosaurs (I will be talking about one of the several species), small mammals (I will be talking about one of the several species), Belemnites, Baculites, PLacenticeras, Helioceras, and several more. 

• One of the dinosaur species is a velociraptor, a very swift dinosaur with a raised sickle-like claw on each of its feet. Velociraptors are part of a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaurs that lived during the Cretaceous period. 

• A mammal that lived during the Mesozoic era is a creodont, a carnivorous mammal that is distantly related to mice and other rodents. The scientific name of a creodont is creodonta. 

• And finally, the third animal I will talk about is a baculite. A baculite is a species of ammonite and was also known as a "walking stick rock". The shell was made of several camerae (chambers) and was connected to the baculite through a narrow tube called a siphuncle. Each of the camerae were separated by walls called septa. The scientific name of this animal is Baculites vertebralis.

The major climate during the Mesozoic era was around 50º to 60º F. One major geologic event during the Mesozoic era was that during the end of the Jurassic period, Pangea began to break apart. Then, in the Cretaceous period, the continents stayed apart, with South America stuck to Antarctica, as was Australia. North America and Canada were a little closer than they are now, but Greenland remained connected to what is now Europe. Another geologic event was the asteroid that hit the earth and was 10-20 kilometers in diameter. The asteroid hit the earth north of the Yucatan Peninsula of what is now the Gulf of Mexico. The crater is 300 kilometers and is the second largest crater in the whole world. The result of the asteroid impact blotted out the sun for about 6 months, leading to extremely cold climates that killed the dinosaurs, as well as all the marine reptiles and flying pterosaurs. Ammonoids and belemnoids were wiped out as well as many species of snails, and coral lost about 2/3 of their members. Coral wasn't the only species group that lost their members--land plants, mammals, fish, brachiopods, and amphibians.

In the Mesozoic era, the Triassic period was the time of the Ammonites, while the Jurassic period was the time of the dinosaurs, while the Cretaceous period was the time of the flowering plants. The asteroid impact ended the Jurassic period and led to the Cretaceous period. Many species of dinosaurs and other animals were spread out across the periods of Triassic and Jurassic, while the Cretaceous period was the time for small mammals, birds, and many plants. The Mesozoic era was the era of the reptiles.