Brachiosaurus was a sauropod dinosaur that lived during the late Jurassic Period.
The Jurassic Period
What do you already know about the Jurassic Period?
The Jurassic Period started 201 million years ago and ended 145 million years ago. It lasted for 56 million years. This was the middle part of the Mesozoic Era when there were a lot more dinosaurs around than previously in the Triassic Period.
At that end of the Triassic Period lots of creatures once again became extinct. It is not totally understood why, but it is thought lots of volcanoes erupting might have had something to do with it. This meant at the beginning of the Jurassic Period there weren’t very many dinosaurs or other creatures around again. This changed through, as during the Jurassic Period dinosaurs took over the Earth! There was more of them than anything else.
At the beginning of the Jurassic Period dinosaurs were still quite small, like they had been during the Triassic. But throughout the Jurassic Period bigger and bigger dinosaurs existed. It was when massive sauropod dinosaurs lived, such as Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus. Big theropod dinosaurs also started appearing like Allosaurus, who was a terrifying meat eating dinosaur. There were even big stegosaurs living like Stegosaurus, which had plates on his back and spikes on its tail!
There were lots more other creatures on Earth too. There were lots of flying reptiles, including large Pterosaurs. There was also marine reptiles roaming the seas, such as Ichthyosaurs. New creatures such as crabs, frogs and lizards existed for the first time, as well as sharks and rays. Mammals started to become more common during the Jurassic Period, as did insects and it was the first time birds were around too.
Diplodocus roamed the Earth during the late Jurassic Period.
Allosaurus was a scary therapod that lived in the late Jurassic.
During the Jurassic Period land on Earth had started to split up and there were small seas in between the land. Some of the land crashed together as it was moving and huge mountains were created. There would have been lots earthquakes and volcanic eruptions as the land slowly moved.
It was very warm on Earth at that time but it started to rain more, which meant more plants could grow, such as ferns. The land would have started to look a lot greener and there would have been big forests for the dinosaurs to roam through, especially near the coasts. Large parts of the land would have still looked like a desert, especially in land, away from the ocean.
What the Earth looked like at the beginning and at the end of the Jurassic Period, compared to the Earth today.
What we've learnt...
The Jurassic Period was 201 – 145 million years ago. It lasted for 56 million years!
At the beginning of the Jurassic Period there were some small dinosaurs living on Earth, but not loads.
By the late Jurassic Period dinosaurs dominated the world. There were lots of dinosaurs, of different types and sizes!
During the Jurassic Period the land continued to break up, creating seas and causing lots of earthquakes and volcanoes to erupt.
During the Jurassic Period the land became greener as more plants and trees grew. As well as there being more dinosaurs, there were lots of other types of creatures living too.
Test your knowledge...
The Jurassic Period Quiz
If you click the correct answer the box will turn green. If its the wrong answer it will turn red and then show you what the correct answer was. Make sure you read/listen to the questions carefully!
#1. Did giant sauropod dinosaurs live in the Jurassic Period?
#2. Were there lots of dinosaurs by the end of the Jurassic Period?
#3. Was the Jurassic Period…
#4. What happened to the land on Earth during the Jurassic Period?
#5. When was there more dinosaurs…
Results
I really hope you have enjoyed learning all about the Jurassic Period, with me Flash!
Question Time...
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The photos on this page are mainly of dinosaur models. They are used to give you a idea of what the dinosaurs would have looked like, but I can’t guarantee they are 100% accurate!
All photos and illustrations on this page are Whizzbots or Public Domain Images.
Other images on the site may be Shutterstock Images or Unsplash Images, which are credited appropriately and used with thanks.