What Happened with Dinosaurs During the Cretaceous Period?

the Cretaceous Period was the time of the rapid development for the dinosaurs cross the world these ancient creatures have evolved into many impressive forms each one fighting for dominance in the battle for survival the Cretaceous was a time when some of the most awe-inspiring herbivores and most terrifying Predators roam the planet imagine towering Argentinosaurus reaching a height of seven stories a formidable carceral dinosaurs that looks even more threatening than the name suggests or a heavily armored ankylosaurus armed with a club-shaped tail none of these creatures were willing to give up an inch the competition never ceased as there was an endless struggle for the right to survive Only the strongest and toughest species could secure a place at the top of the food chain but this Great era of dinosaur domination ended abruptly and catastrophically with a truly harrowing event that led to the tragic Extinction of most dinosaur species and forever changed the course of life on Earth foreign the end of the Jurassic period marks the beginning of the Cretaceous Period the final period of the Mesozoic Era it spanned over a long period of time from 145 to 65 million years ago during this time many different types of dinosaurs developed on our planet including some of the largest and most iconic creatures to ever exist as the Jurassic gave way to the Cretaceous dominant fauna began to change in New groups of dinosaurs such as the ceratopsians and theropods grew to carry increasingly more importance the Cretaceous Period is divided into two epochs early Cretaceous and late Cretaceous the early Cretaceous Period which took place between 145 and 100 million years ago saw the diversification of dinosaurs and the emergence of new groups such as arithopods and sauropods this was also the time when the first Birds evolved from the small feathered theropods the late Cretaceous which took place between 165 million years ago brought even more dramatic changes to Earth one of the most significant events of this time was the tectonic breakup of the Pangea supercontinent and the separate land masses of laureia and gondwana which ultimately led to the formation of modern continents this created the conditions for the evolution of unique dinosaur fauna on every continent new environment also led to the emergence of new types of dinosaurs adapted to the specific conditions of their habitat the late Cretaceous was also the epoch that saw the appearance of the first flowering plants which had a major impact on the ecosystems of that time making changes to food chains and the ways dinosaurs interacted with Flora further Morris sea levels began to rise flooding low-lying areas and creating the shallow Waters we see today it gave way for the new marine ecosystems to develop at the time the Aquatic Life was Bountiful and varied as the Cretaceous Period went on the continents began to slowly shift apart and take on their current form the once unified landmass of Pangea gradually gave way to the separate land masses of La Asia and gondwana and eventually the modern continents we know today due to this event the dinosaurs that once roamed freely across Pangea were now isolated on their respected land mass surrounded by unique and distinctive flora and fauna during the Cretaceous the Earth was ruled by gigantic creatures each with their own unique strengths and weaknesses at the heart of the North American continent a fierce battle was about to unfold between the most powerful predators and the most persistent herbivores Tyrannosaurus rex the king of the Predators roamed the land in search of his next prey it was one of the largest land Predators ever to have existed reaching a length of 39 feet and weighing about seven tons armed with massive jaws and razor-sharp teeth up to six inches in length was a formidable adversary for any creature it came across the discovery journey of the Tyrannosaurus Rex began at the end of the 19th century the first remains of this Mighty Predator were discovered in the Western United States Discovery was a milestone in paleontology and as it was one of the most complete and largest dinosaurs to have ever been discovered at the time the first specimen discovered was on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York the T-Rex had powerful jaws with a bite force of over 12 800 pounds making it one of the strongest animal bites ever recorded it's assumed that a T-Rex was also a fast runner catching up to its prey the T-Rex could reach speeds of up to 20 miles per hour Triceratops in turn was one of the few creatures that could stand up to the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex Triceratops was a large herbivorous dinosaur that looks somewhat like a modern rhinoceros they reached up to 29 feet in length and weighed up to 12 tons Triceratops had a massive head with its skull making up a third of its entire body it also had a bone frill around his head this frill was made of carotene and blood vessels similar to the feathers of a modern bird and it suggests that like the birds Triceratops may have been sporting vibrant colors colors likely played an important role in socializing as well as demonstrating the specimen's strength or signaling dominance to potential mates or Rivals fossilized skulls of Triceratops have been repeatedly found with abrasions and dents and indicating confrontation with Rivals including predators and fellow Triceratops in the battle for territory or partners one such specimen even had a broken horn and tooth marks and they could be matched to a Tyrannosaurus Rex bite however fossil Studies have shown that the dinosaur itself died of natural causes this shows that with its three horns and protective bony frill the Triceratops was a formidable opponent for any predator the same time a heavily armored ankylosaurus roamed the land on the territory of the modern USA and Canada it reached 29 feet length in a weight of about seven times the Ankylosaurus is also known for its distinctive body armor which includes thick bony plates and a club-shaped tail this armor made the Ankylosaurus virtually invulnerable to Predator attacks in particular the club-shaped tail was one of its most striking features formed from several large fused bones it created a bone mass at the end of the tail that weighed several hundred pounds and this Mass was used as a defense against predators that could be swung with great force breaking bones and even killing the attacker this unique adaptation along with its armor allowed the Ankylosaurus to survive in an environment where Predators constantly hunted for food another unique inhabitant of North America was the Pachycephalosaurus 1943 a paleontologist named Barnum Brown made the groundbreaking discovery of a skull and the hill Creek formation of Montana the dinosaur reached 15 feet in length and weighed about 990 pounds its Latin name meaning fat-headed lizard refers to its most distinctive feature a thick Dome skull up to about six inches thick which was used for budding its head this Behavior could be used for courtship or to resolve territorial dispute despite this feature Pachycephalosaurus were generally peaceful creatures spending their time Grazing In clearings and avoiding conflict we usually think of dinosaurs as fearsome lizards often huge in size however there were also very interesting species on Earth that had in a typical appearance let's fast forward to laurasia second fragment of the once unified supercontinent Pangea in the dense primeval Forest of the early Cretaceous Period there was a small feathered dinosaur known as archeopteryx the archeopteryx was the size of a crow it was one of the first Birds to evolve from small feathered theropods and it spent its days hunting insects in small reptiles among the branches of the ancient trees the discovery of archeopterx dates back to the late 1850s when a German farmer named Jacob Niemeyer discovered a fossilized feather in the sonofin Limestone formation in Bavaria Germany over subsequent decades more complete samples were found the discovery of archeopteryx was significant because it presented the scientific world with the first clear evidence of an evolutionary link between birds and dinosaurs its unique combination of bird and reptile characteristics such as feathers and the wishbone challenged the conventional view of birds as a separate group of animals meanwhile in a different end of the same Woods there was a chase leptoceratops a ceratopsian dinosaur was being pursued by a predator leptoseratops had a compact and agile body which was easily maneuvered relying on four legs in Greek leptoseratops meant thin horn face this animal had a sharp beak a small frill on the back of the head and a short horn on the nose it was about six and a half feet long and weighed approximately 330 pounds since this herbivorous dinosaur was relatively small it could easily fall prey to other Pros lepticeratops was chased by the fast Sauron authorities saranathoides was a carnivorous dinosaur it could reach up to 10 feet in length and up to 6.5 feet in height they had an elongated skull which was compressed vertically they also had a relatively large Brain and sharp teeth a large formidable sickle-shaped Claw on the second toe of each foot helped to grab its prey and most likely rip it open with their deadly tool set their victims stood almost no chance moving further east as we travel through our ancient world we meet a variety of majestic creatures these creatures once considered the vast expanse of Asia their home from towering herbivores to the frightening Predators these leviathans had a myrate of adaptions that allowed them to thrive in their environment the species that undoubtedly ruled over the territory of modern Asia was one of the most ferocious Predators The Tarbosaurus Tarbosaurus was a large theropod dinosaur that belongs to the tyrannosauridai family which also includes famous dinosaurs like the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Albertosaurus Tarbosaurus was a bipedal predator and one of the largest carnivorous species of its time scientists estimate that the adult specimen was about 40 feet long and weighed up to six tons it had a massive skull with powerful jaws long sharp teeth and strong neck muscles these features made it one of the most formidable predators of its time allowing it to kill large prey Tarbosaurus was first described by paleontologist rinken barsbold in 1955 and given the name tarposaurus Batar it is known to have lived in the modern day Mongolia region where several well-preserved fossils of the species have been discovered Tarbosaurus is considered a close relative of Tyrannosaurus Rex and some paleontologists believed that the two species are actually one in the same with Tarbosaurus being an Asian species of Tyrannosaurus Rex genus however most modern research suggest they were separate species latarbosaurus having distinctive features such as longer arms more elongated skull and a less robust build and the T-Rex generally Tarbosaurus could afford to snack on dinosaurs of any size as long as it reached adulthood those that were younger could only manage small creatures such as acidicosaurus silica Source Was A genus of small herbivorous dinosaurs that lived during the Cretaceous Period they were members of the ceratopsian family which also includes famous dinosaurs such as the Triceratops and the styracosaurus translated from Greek silicosaurus means parrot lizard the name was chosen because the skull of the acidicosaurus has a beak-like muzzle similar to a parrot beak the shape of the skull and the position of the eyes suggests that the head movement of the silicosaurus were similar to those of parrots the beak shaped snout is a common feature among herbivorous dinosaurs that allowed them to effectively cut through vegetation was a quadruple dinosaur meaning that it walked on four legs it was one of the smallest ceratopsians measuring about six and a half feet in length weighing only 44 pounds with a small skull a beak-like snout and flat leaf-like teeth was able to feed mainly on soft plants silica source is also known for its unique cranial ornamentation which includes an elongated skull small horns and a frill that may have been used for defense or to show off due to its unique skeletal structure the dinosaur can move with great Speed and Agility which may have helped it evade predators the Velociraptor was another famous Predator that roamed this area unlike Tarbosaurus Velociraptor was a pack animal Velociraptors are known for their intelligence and herd hunting Behavior with their sharp claws and clever hunting tactics they were a formidable opponent for any creature the discovery of the Velociraptor happened in the early 20th century when the first Velociraptor fossils were discovered in the Gobi desert in Mongolia in 1923 a team of paleontologists led by Roy Chapman Andrews of the American Museum of Natural History discovered the first fossils of a Velociraptor in the jatota formation the specimen was the first scientifically recorded Velociraptor it was given the name velociraptor mongolinsis over the following decades an increasing number of velociraptor fossils were found in Asia Velociraptor was a feathered dinosaur this discovery was made as a result of finding fossils with feather Impressions on the arms and tail the name Velociraptor comes from the Latin words velox meaning quick and Raptor meaning thief or robber the name was chosen because of this dinosaur's Speed and Agility as well as its potential as a predator smaller size of velociraptor about six and a half feet long weighing about 33 pounds as well as the features of its skeleton such as a large sickle-shaped Claw on the second toe of each foot suggests that it was a highly dexterous and active Hunter this claw was probably used to catch and hold prey such as small dinosaurs and early mammals Velociraptor is known for its intelligence and hunting Behavior which is unusual for dinosaurs Velociraptor had a relatively large Brain relative to its body size suggesting that it was an intelligent and highly adaptable predator it's believed that they hunted in packs may have been able to communicate and coordinate hunting strategies with each other a fossil of velociraptor mongolinsis and protoceratops and drusy was found at the Gobi desert of Mongolia in 1971. it was called the fighting dinosaurs a skeleton showed two dinosaurs in battle with one another forever imprinted in stone the Velociraptor specimen is a sub-adult and it was preserved with one of its hind legs holding onto the frill of an adult protoceratops protoceratops specimen was also preserved with its mouth open suggesting that it had bitten a velociraptor at the time of death the discovery provided important data about the behavior and Ecology of these two Dinosaurs the position of the skeleton suggests that the two animals were fighting at the time of death possibly over territory or food it also suggests that the Velociraptor was an active Hunter and opportunistic Predator that means that it would use any available prey that comes its way rather than having a specific preference or Diet it also suggests that the protoceratops was able to defend itself against it protoceratops was an herbivore dinosaur that lived during the late Cretaceous it was a quadrupedal dinosaur one of the smallest ceratopsians reaching 8.2 feet in length and weighing about 176 pounds its skull was enhanced with strong jaw muscles and leaf-shaped teeth suggesting it lived mainly on a diet of soft plants protoceratops had a beak-like snout and a distinctive skull that it was adorned with a large bony frill on the back with a pair of small horns above the eyes and a pair of large horns on the cheeks the frill was likely used for showing off or defense our next location is the land of modern Africa a group of the spinosaurus large carnivorous dinosaurs of that time they hunt for food in the mangroves on the banks of a huge River Spinosaurus was one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs that lived during the Cretaceous Period was longer than a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a giganosaurus length was estimated at up to 60 feet with a weight of up to 20 tons Spinosaurus is known for its large sail-like feature on its back made of elongated nerve spines the function of this feature is still debated by scientists but it is believed that it could have been used for thermal regulation courtship or simply to appear more intimidating Spinosaurus led a semi-aquatic lifestyle they could swim and hunt in the water thanks to their webbed feet their long narrow Jaws were studded with large sharp teeth and were perfectly suited for holding slippery prey trying to escape such as fish or amphibians Spinosaurus was a rather sizable animal with large frontal limbs armed with long sharp claws which likely played an important role in holding and killing the prey captured using their teeth before swallowing on another Shore there's a group of iguanodons large herbivorous dinosaurs grazing the Lush vegetation along the riverbank iguanodons were large herbivorous dinosaurs that moved around on all four and also presumably two legs there were about 32 feet or 10 meters long and weighed about four tons they had big narrow heads a keratin beak at the front of the jaw filled with teeth similar to those of an iguana but larger in more frequently placed one of the best known features of the Iguanodon is the spike on the thumb of the forelimb believe they could use it to inflict powerful blows on predators speaking of predators in the same area giant Carcharodontosaurus roamed in search of prey carcara dinosaurs was one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs of its time and probably one of the top predators of the Cretaceous Period in Africa the length of his head alone was 63 inches the total length according to various estimates could reach up to 39 feet and its weight varied from 6 to 15 Tons Carcharodontosaurus was by petal and had a long heavy tail to help them balance the body it was truly a formidable Predator their teeth reached eight inches in length Carcharodontosaurus got its name for its serrated teeth which were similar to those of a great white shark the carcaradon which is why it is also known as the great white shark lizard it's unlikely that any prey was able to stand against a carcharodontosaurus specimen on its own the dinosaur could beast on both Spinosaurus and Iguanodon now let's talk about the real giants the Hinkle formation in South America has become famous for its large number of dinosaur fines of truly colossal proportions of course our list starts with the gigantosaurus giganosource one of the largest known carnivorous dinosaurs which According to some estimates could have been even larger than the famous Tyrannosaurus Rex but giganosaurus was a slow-growing dinosaur that took somewhere between 20 to 25 years to reach full adult size a time frame much longer than the T-Rexes an adult giganosaurus was about 43 feet long and weighed up to 11 tons giganosaurus fossils have been found in Argentina making it one of the best known carnivorous dinosaurs from South America this discovery supports the idea of a rich fauna in diverse ecosystem on the gondwana continent during the Cretaceous Period some research on social behavior suggests that giganosaurus may have lived in groups similar to other theropod dinosaurs this may indicate that it was a social animal that hunted in packs but the giganosaurus was not the only predator in this lush tropical environment competition among carnivorous dinosaurs was fierce giganosaurus had to fight for territory and resources not only with each other but also with other carnivorous dinosaurs such as the mapasaurus mapasaurus is closely related to the giganosaurus was similar in size shape and feeding habits and both were large carnivorous dinosaurs living in South America during the late Cretaceous and both had similar structures of the skull and jaw mapusaurus was a large carnivorous dinosaur about 36 feet long and weighed up to five tons the first remains of a map of source was discovered in Argentina in 2000 multiple specimens were found together which is quite rare in dinosaur fossils the discovery of multiple specimens suggests that map of source was a social animal living in groups and working together to hunt large prey much like modern wolves or lions this unique Behavior among theropod dinosaurs was a very important finding for understanding dinosaur social behavior speaking of Argentina we have to mention the largest dinosaur the Cretaceous Period in fact this dinosaur was one of the largest known dinosaurs to have ever existed we're talking of course about the Argentinosaurus by some estimates Argentina source may have reached 115 feet in length with a total weight at about 100 tons as a sauropod the Argentinosaurus was an herbivore and likely fed on a variety of plants including conifers and ferns its long neck and small head were adaptions designed to reach the highest branches of trees as a large sauropod Argentinosaurus was a slow animal but its large size made it relatively impervious to most predators they had a unique limb structure with very wide hips and short thigh bones this suggests they had a wide stance and that was in order to support their massive weight growth lines found in the bones of Argentinosaurus suggests it had a long lifespan potentially living up to and over 100 years this lifespan is much longer than most other dinosaurs most of which live between 20 and 50 years over millions of years throughout the Cretaceous Australia gradually separated from gondwana and began to shift North the continental drift caused Australia to move away from Antarctica and eventually collide with the Eurasian plate forming the Australian continent as we know it today the climate of Australia at that time was generally warm and humid with Lush vegetation covering much of a landscape within the continent there were abundant systems of rivers and lakes climate in the region was seasonal the dry season gave way to the rainy season this had a significant impact on the dinosaurs inhabiting that region as they had to adapt to changing conditions in order to survive the large herbivorous mataberosaurus grazed on the Lush vegetation heavily present in the region it was a quadrupedal dinosaur with a massive body and a small head mother burasource was a large dinosaur estimated to reach up to 26 feet in length and weighed around three times mataberosaurus fossils have been found in several different locations throughout Australia suggesting this dinosaur had a wide range and lived in isolated populations metaburosaurus had a number of features that allowed them to survive in arid seasonal climates such as their large nasal passages that helped to reduce water loss as an herbivore metaburosaurus fed on a variety of plants including conifers Ferns cycans and ginkgo's during drought Seasons however these dinosaurs had to migrate to new locations in search of food and water unlike our next ornithischian herbivores the Lee ellenosaur the ellenosaur Was A genus of a small bipedal herbivorous dinosaur that lived during the Cretaceous paleontologists estimate it was no more than four feet in length and weighed about 44 pounds for small size as well as the fact that the liaison were bipedal allowed them to move quickly and nimbly through the undergrowth in search of food the mataburra source and the lielinosaur lived in the same ecosystem but differences in their size and other characteristics allowed them to draw on different resources and avoid competition in the early Cretaceous Australia was much closer to the Arctic Circle D in very long nights and days depending on the latitude it's possible that some places didn't see the Sun for weeks or even months at a time meaning that a leelanosaurus had to live in darkness during winter a skull fragment from leelanosaurus show enlarged eyes and proportionally large optic lobes indicating their adaption to low light condition leelanosaur also had long thick fur-like bristles on their body that helped keep them warm during the cold and dark polar nights of gondwana during the early Cretaceous additionally this dinosaur's small size reduced its need for water during dry seasons our story should give you a general idea of where dinosaurs lived in the world during the Cretaceous Period it's worth mentioning that some of the dinosaurs we've listed could have been found in other places than the ones we indicated since the continents themselves were different in the late Cretaceous due to the movement of tectonic plates during this period of time in conclusion the Cretaceous was a time of great diversity of dinosaur evolution from the huge Argentinosaurus to the small agile lielinosaur a huge variety of species flourished during this time however the Cretaceous Period also marked the end of the dinosaur's Reign on earth a global Extinction caused by a meteorite impact according to one Theory destroyed the dinosaurs along with many other species that existed at the time this tragic event marked the end of the era of dinosaur rule but it also opened the door for the emergence of mammals and other animal groups which ultimately led to the Diversified life we see on Earth today once again our planet reminded us that change is the only constant and life is incredibly fragile but we can still theorize what would have happened if the Cretaceous paleogene Extinction had not taken place and the dinosaurs had not met their death what would the world look like today with the evolution of humanity taken a different path or would man have remained the apex predator on planet Earth

Channel: Space Matters

Views: 1,158,825

Keywords: dinosaurs, dinosaur, extinction, Continents drifted apart, Alamosauruses, Tarbosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Carnotaurus, T-Rex, Tyrannosaurus, documentary, earth, earth's history, dinasaurus history, what happened to the dinosaurs?, The end of the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic era, space matters

Id: qOwLKxytWYs

Length: 30min 55sec (1855 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 19 2023