elmoDaJurassicBiotic

__The Biotic During The Jurassic Period__
The Jurassic Period was rich with life, from small plants to the great dinosaurs. Once- cell organisms exist during the period, but aren’t really recognized, they hide behind the fame of the other larger life forms. Plants during this period were cycads, ginkgoes, seed plants, giant horsetails, and much other. There were huge forests with newly flourished ferns and pines. Invertebrates were all over the land in great amounts. Beetles, snails, centipedes, millipedes, spiders, cockroaches, flies, bees, wasps, and ants were just a few of the hundreds of invertebrates that ruled the land with the dinosaurs. The life in the sea is also developing and evolving. Bony fish start to appear alongside with sharks and rays. We see today many horseshoe crabs near shores, but they existed during the Jurassic Period as well. Mammals are not the dominant life form during this time; they are still at an early stage.



The most recognized and admired life is undoubtedly the dinosaurs. They were the rulers of the land. This period was home to the new giant dinosaurs such as the Dicraeosaurus, which measured 20 meters in length, and even bigger ones like the Supersaurus, which measured 40 meters. Another dinosaur that joined the list of “Enormous” was the Brachiosaurus, a dinosaur that weighed 55 tons, or 110,000 pounds. Yet, the majority of large dinosaurs were not carnivores, instead they were herbivores. The carnivores were still in the developing and growing. Some carnivores still attacked and hunted herbivores no matter their size. A few examples of those dinosaurs were the Allosaurus and Megalsosaurus. Some dinosaurs did not have the “privilege” of being so large; the Compsognathus, a carnivore, was an only 50 centimeters in length, being one of the smallest dinosaurs. During the Jurassic Period it’s when the early therapods start to appear, such as the Dilophosaurus and Heterodontosaurus. An interesting fossil was found that showed an animal, later named an Archaeopteryx, that had reptile- like features, but at the same time it had feathers. This had led many scientists to think that birds evolved from dinosaurs. The amount of turtles and lizards that exist during this period is also a great number. Amphibians still haven’t developed during the Jurassic Period. The Jurassic Period was full of life and deaths, but they all helped in the process of the great evolution of the earth and everything in it. Even those once-cell organisms were important because they were the beginning, and as time went by sea life, reptiles, mammals, and amphibians started to appear, and ultimately WE appeared, and now we are the dominant life form on Earth.

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