Notes

Middle and Recent Earth History
~Objectives:
+Compare and contrast characteristic life-forms in the Mesozoic & Cenozoic Eras.
+Explain how changes caused by plate tectonics affected organisms during the Mesozoic Era
+Identify when humans appeared on Earth

~*~THE MESOZOIC ERA~*~

+250 Million years ago >> 65 million years ago
+Marked by plate tectonic changes
(aprox. 250 mil years ago pangaea exsisted. (broke first into continents and then spread during the mesozoic.
+Large EXPLOSION (pun) of reptiles + dinosaurs
+we can currently tell that dinosaurs were (a bit) unlike reptiles
>>is now believed that Dino's were probably warm blooded.
+Take fossil records via bone structure
+MORE LIKE THOSE OF PRESENT DAY MAMMALS
+active as fuck hell yea
+Tracks left in the ground shows that they were fast as hell
+Probably good mothers??? (built nests in large clusters aka large families)
>>very nurturing>>would stay with the eggs instead of leaving them there and moving on
+Something about birds
>> first birds
>>WITH FEATHERS
>>AND THEY COULD FLY

+First saw the appearance of Mammals hell yea
>>very small like rodents but ya know they were the first.

+Gymnosperms > seed-bearing plants >> similar to pines >>super abundant hell yea
+Angiosperms > flower-bearing plants >> like cacti maybe? >> ALSO SUPER ABUNDANT HECK YA
+Mesozoic Era ended though and ya know. everything died off basically.
MASS MOTHERFUCKING EXTINCTION
Different theories on why they all died
>>plate tectonics
>>meteor/comet/asteroid came crashing down and blew everything up
>>>>meteor/comet/asteroid created a dust cloud and blocked out the sun so the plants died and then the animals had nothing to eat but each other and the herbivores died so the carnivores died too.
>>pangaea stopped happening. (environments changed fast and moved)
>>lots of the living creatures/plants couldn't adapt and died
>>cuz ya know the world they were living on was MOVING AROUND AND CHANGING SUPER FAST

~*~THE CENOZOIC ERA~*~

~65 million years ago marks the beginning of the CENOZOIC ERA
eYY we're in this era right now cool
+Shit ton of mountain building
>>Appalachian mountains and the Alps were "built" at this time
>>>>cuz ya know the continents are shifting and colliding and the earth goes UP when it collides not down.
+Further eVOLUTION OF MAMMALS
>>larger and sub-dividing (whatever the fuck that means)
>>>>when Australia got separated, new mammals began to "form"
>>>>>>shit like kangaroo's because Australia has a ton of those
>>>>oh and Marsupials (mammals that carry their young in a pouch- FUCKING KANGAROO'S THATS WHAT THAT IS)