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MESOZOIC ERA

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 188 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MESOZOIC ERA , in See also:

geology, the name given to the See also:period of See also:time between the Palaeozoic and See also:Cainozoic eras; it is synonymous with the older and less satisfactory See also:term " Secondary " as applied to the See also:major divisions of See also:geological time and with the " Flozgebirge " of the Wernerian school. This era is sub-divided into a See also:lower, Triassic, a See also:middle, See also:Jurassic, and an upper, Cretaceous period or See also:epoch. The duration of the Mesozoic era was not more than one See also:fourth of that of the Palaeozoic era, measured by the thickness of strata formed during these periods. It was an era marked by peaceful conditions in the See also:earth's crust and by a See also:general freedom from volcanic activity. The sediments as a whole are characterized by the prevalence of limestones as compared with those of the preceding era; they are seldom much altered or disturbed except in the younger See also:mountain regions. Mammals, represented by small marsupials, and See also:primitive forms of birds and bony fishes make their first See also:appearance in rocks of Mesozoic See also:age. Saurian See also:reptiles played an extremely prominent See also:part; See also:ammonites and belemnites lived in extraordinary variety in the seas along with the echinoids and pelecypods, which had to a See also:great extent supplanted the crinoids and brachiopods of the preceding periods. The first clear indications of monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous See also:angiosperms made their appearance, while Cycads and Conifers constituted the bulk of the See also:land See also:flora.

End of Article: MESOZOIC ERA

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