Download In Brief - Royal BC Museum

THE AGE OF THE DINOSAURS
News Release – Jan. 23, 2003
For Immediate Release
The Age of the Dinosaurs – The Mesozoic Era
•
The Mesozoic Era began 250 million years ago and is mid-life in the Earth’s history. It was made up of three
periods: Triassic (205-250 million years ago), Jurassic (140-205 million years ago), and Cretaceous (65-140
million years ago). Preceding extinctions created new opportunities for life on Earth. The Mesozoic was
The Age of the Dinosaur.
•
Dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago and no one knows exactly why. One widely accepted theory
is that an asteroid struck Earth and changed global climates and made it impossible for plants to convert the
sun’s energy. This caused a collapse in the Earth’s food chains, triggering global extinctions.
•
Pangaea (Pan-jee-uh) was a supercontinent made up of all the Earth’s continents. It lasted for about 100
million years and during the three periods of the Mesozoic it slowly separated into the continents that are
now familiar to us.
Mesozoic China
•
Triassic China was a warm, even subtropical place. It was joined to Pangaea and located in the northern midlatitudes of the globe. Today, China is considered to have a treasure trove of vertebrate fossils from this period.
The landscape was ruled by four-footed creatures such as the ancient relative of modern mammals, Lystrosaurus
(LISS-troh-SOR-us), which was about the size of a big dog and looked like a pig. Another creature, Lotosaurus
(LOH-toh-SOR-us), was a large lizard with a backbone of spines holding up a sail. The creatures of this time
were small and a reminder that evolutionary change often comes in small packages.
•
China in Jurassic times was isolated geographically and developed a unique set of huge dinosaurs such as the
Mamenchisaurus (MAH-men-chee-SOR-us), with the longest neck in history, and the Yangchuanosaurus
(YAHNG-chew-ahn-oh-SOR-us), with teeth like steak knives.
•
Cretaceous China was filled with dinosaur-like birds and bird-like dinosaurs. Recent discoveries from the Gobi
Desert revolutionized our understanding of dinosaurs and scientists can now trace the evolution of birds from
dinosaurs of this era. Some scientists even say dinosaurs did not become extinct, but evolved into birds.
Paleontologists believe the specimen of the Sinosauropteryx (Sine-oh-sor-OP-ter-iks) in the exhibition may have
been an ancestor of true birds.
Mesozoic British Columbia
Several First Nations groups who live in B.C.’s interior tell their children that the world was born from the waters of
surrounding lakes. This creation myth is oddly close to the way scientists explain how the land mass of British
Columbia came to be.
•
Triassic B.C. was an underwater world. Wandering fragments of land and ocean crust drifted towards the
western coast of the North American continent, which was located near the present B.C.-Alberta border. Our
understanding of B.C.’s evolution comes from marine deposits found in places like Wapiti Lake, B.C. Huge
marine reptiles like the Ichthyosaur from northern B.C. ruled the waters, which was 23 metres long and may
have been the largest predator that ever lived.
•
In Jurassic times, mountains formed and land emerged from the sea. The ancient oceans were full of shelled
creatures. Clams are still with us, but the ammonites disappeared with the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
THE AGE OF THE DINOSAURS
•
British Columbia as we know it today arrived in the Cretaceous period, between 65-140 million years ago. A
great inland sea separated what is today Alberta and B.C. from the rest of western North America. Vancouver
Island and parts of the mainland coast drifted towards their present locations. The east side of Vancouver
Island was a verdant subtropical forest with huge palms like the Phoenicites (FEE-nih-SIGH-tees). Crabs like
the Longusorbis (LON-goo-SOR-bis) specimen in the exhibit skittered across the bottom of the sea and along
the shore. Thus far, Longusorbis has been found in only one place on Earth, near Campbell River. Huge
extinct reptilian predators like the Elasmosaur (a-LAS-mo-SOR) hunted B.C.’s Cretaceous waters. It looked like
a giant turtle with a snake threaded through it.
-30-
Contact:
Chris Higgins, Royal BC Museum
Marketing and Media Relations
Phone: 250-387-2101
Email: [email protected]