Editing Phanerozoic (section)

===Mesozoic Era===
{{Main|Mesozoic}}
The Mesozoic ranges from 252 million to 66&nbsp;million years ago. Also referred to as the Age of Reptiles, Age of Dinosaurs or Age of Conifers,<ref>{{cite book |title=Gideon Mantell and the Discovery of Dinosaurs |last=Dean |first=Dennis R. |date=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521420488 |pages=97&ndash;98}}</ref> the Mesozoic featured the first time the sauropsids ascended to ecological dominance over the synapsids, as well as the diversification of many modern [[ray-finned fish]], [[insect]]s, [[mollusc]]s (particularly the [[coleoid]]s), tetrapods and plants. The Mesozoic is subdivided into three periods: the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous.

====Triassic Period====
{{Main|Triassic}}
The Triassic ranges from 252 million to 201&nbsp;million years ago. The Triassic is mostly a transitional recovery period between the desolate aftermath of the [[Permian Extinction]] and the lush Jurassic Period. It has three major epochs: [[Early Triassic]], [[Middle Triassic]], and [[Late Triassic]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/604667/Triassic-Period/225842/Economic-significance-of-Triassic-deposits|title=Triassic|author=Alan Logan|encyclopedia=University of New Brunswick|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426165804/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/604667/Triassic-Period/225842/Economic-significance-of-Triassic-deposits|archive-date=26 April 2015}}</ref>

The Early Triassic lasted between 252 million to 247&nbsp;million years ago,<ref name="Ogg-etal-2016">{{cite book |last1=Ogg |first1=James G. |last2=Ogg |first2=Gabi M. |last3=Gradstein |first3=Felix M. |title=A concise geologic time scale 2016 |date=2016 |publisher=Elsevier |location=Amsterdam, Netherlands |isbn=978-0-444-63771-0 |pages=133–149 |chapter=Triassic}}</ref> and was a hot and arid epoch in the aftermath of the Permian Extinction. Many tetrapods during this epoch represented a [[disaster taxon|disaster fauna]], a group of survivor animals with low diversity and cosmopolitanism (wide geographic ranges).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sahney |first1=Sarda |last2=Benton |first2=Michael J |title=Recovery from the most profound mass extinction of all time |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |date=7 April 2008 |volume=275 |issue=1636 |pages=759–765 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2007.1370|pmid=18198148 |pmc=2596898 }}</ref> [[Temnospondyli]] recovered first and evolved into large aquatic predators during the Triassic.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Prothero |first1=Donald R. |title=Bringing fossils to life : an introduction to paleobiology |date=2013 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |isbn=9780231158930 |edition=Third |pages=504–506}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://palaeos.com/mesozoic/triassic/earlytrias.htm|title=Early Triassic|author=Alan Kazlev|work=unknown|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427233440/http://palaeos.com/mesozoic/triassic/earlytrias.htm|archive-date=27 April 2015}}</ref> Other reptiles also diversified rapidly, with aquatic reptiles such as [[ichthyosaur]]s and [[sauropterygia]]ns proliferating in the seas. On land, the first true [[archosaur]]s appeared, including [[pseudosuchia]]ns (crocodile relatives) and [[avemetatarsalia]]ns (bird/dinosaur relatives).

[[File:Sellosaurus.jpg|thumb|''[[Plateosaurus]]'', an early [[Sauropodomorpha|sauropodomorph]] dinosaur]]
The Middle Triassic spans from 247 million to 237&nbsp;million years ago.<ref name="Ogg-etal-2016"/> The Middle Triassic featured the beginnings of the break-up of [[Pangaea]] as rifting commenced in north Pangaea. The northern part of the [[Tethys Ocean]], the [[Paleo-Tethys Ocean|Paleotethys]] Ocean, had become a passive basin, but a spreading center was active in the southern part of the Tethys Ocean, the Neotethys Ocean.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Torsvik |first1=Trond H. |last2=Cocks |first2=L. Robin M. |title=Earth history and palaeogeography |date=2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |isbn=9781107105324}}</ref> [[Phytoplankton]], coral, [[crustacean]]s and many other marine invertebrates recovered from the Permian extinction by the end of the Middle Triassic.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Zhong-Qiang |last2=Benton |first2=Michael J. |title=The timing and pattern of biotic recovery following the end-Permian mass extinction |journal=Nature Geoscience |date=June 2012 |volume=5 |issue=6 |pages=375–383 |doi=10.1038/ngeo1475|bibcode=2012NatGe...5..375C }}</ref> Meanwhile, on land, reptiles continued to diversify, conifer forests flourished,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Looy |first1=C. V. |last2=Brugman |first2=W. A. |last3=Dilcher |first3=D. L. |last4=Visscher |first4=H. |title=The delayed resurgence of equatorial forests after the Permian–Triassic ecologic crisis |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=23 November 1999 |volume=96 |issue=24 |pages=13857–13862 |doi=10.1073/pnas.96.24.13857|pmid=10570163 |pmc=24155 |bibcode=1999PNAS...9613857L |doi-access=free }}</ref> as well as the first flies.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Blagoderov |first1=V. A. |last2=Lukashevich |first2=E. D. |last3=Mostovski |first3=M. B. |editor1-last=Rasnitsyn |editor1-first=A. P. |editor2-last=Quicke |editor2-first=D. L. J. |year=2002 |title=History of Insects |chapter=Order Diptera Linné, 1758. The true flies |publisher=[[Kluwer Academic Publishers]] |isbn=978-1-4020-0026-3 |chapter-url=http://palaeoentomolog.ru/New/diptera.html |access-date=23 April 2021 |archive-date=24 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224150227/http://palaeoentomolog.ru/New/diptera.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Stubbs2013">{{cite journal |author1=Stubbs, Thomas L. |author2=Pierce, Stephanie E. |author3=Rayfield, Emily J. |author4=Anderson, Philip S. L. |year=2013 |title=Morphological and biomechanical disparity of crocodile-line archosaurs following the end-Triassic extinction |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |volume=280 |issue=20131940 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2013.1940 |pmid=24026826 |pmc=3779340 |page=20131940 |url=http://research-information.bristol.ac.uk/files/16977877/Stubbs_et_al_2013_early_view_online.pdf |access-date=23 April 2021 |archive-date=8 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608150830/https://research-information.bristol.ac.uk/files/16977877/Stubbs_et_al_2013_early_view_online.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://palaeos.com/mesozoic/triassic/midtrias.html|title=Middle Triassic|author=Rubidge|work=unknown|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429191835/http://palaeos.com/mesozoic/triassic/midtrias.html|archive-date=29 April 2015}}</ref>

The Late Triassic spans from 237 million to 201&nbsp;million years ago.<ref name="Ogg-etal-2016"/> Following the bloom of the Middle Triassic, the Late Triassic was initially warm and arid with a strong [[monsoon]] climate and with most precipitation limited to coastal regions and high latitudes.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tanner |first1=Lawrence H. |title=The Late Triassic World |chapter=Climates of the Late Triassic: Perspectives, Proxies and Problems |series=Topics in Geobiology |year=2018 |volume=46 |pages=59–90 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-68009-5_3|isbn=978-3-319-68008-8 }}</ref> This changed late in the [[Carnian]] period with a [[Carnian pluvial episode|2 million years-long wet season]] which transformed the arid continental interior into lush [[alluvial forest]]s. The first true [[dinosaur]]s appeared early in the Late Triassic,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Alcober |first1=Oscar |last2=Martínez |first2=Ricardo |title=A new herrerasaurid (Dinosauria, Saurischia) from the Upper Triassic Ischigualasto Formation of northwestern Argentina |journal=ZooKeys |date=19 October 2010 |issue=63 |pages=55–81 |doi=10.3897/zookeys.63.550|pmid=21594020 |pmc=3088398 |bibcode=2010ZooK...63...55A |doi-access=free }}</ref> and [[pterosaur]]s evolved a bit later.<ref name=pterosaur_distribution>{{cite journal|pages=61–107|year=2008|title=Pterosaur distribution in time and space: an atlas|journal=Zitteliana|url=http://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/12007/1/zitteliana_2008_b28_05.pdf|access-date=24 April 2021|archive-date=6 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806150333/https://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/12007/1/zitteliana_2008_b28_05.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thenational.ae/world/the-americas/giant-bones-get-archaeologists-rethinking-triassic-dinosaurs-1.748676|title=Giant bones get archaeologists rethinking Triassic dinosaurs|work=The National|access-date=14 August 2018|language=en|archive-date=13 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913041111/https://www.thenational.ae/world/the-americas/giant-bones-get-archaeologists-rethinking-triassic-dinosaurs-1.748676|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Britt|first1=Brooks B.|last2=Dalla Vecchia|first2=Fabio M.|last3=Chure|first3=Daniel J.|last4=Engelmann|first4=George F.|last5=Whiting|first5=Michael F.|last6=Scheetz|first6=Rodney D.|date=13 August 2018|title=Caelestiventus hanseni gen. et sp. nov. extends the desert-dwelling pterosaur record back 65 million years|journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution|volume=2|issue=9|pages=1386–1392|language=En|doi=10.1038/s41559-018-0627-y|issn=2397-334X|pmid=30104753|bibcode=2018NatEE...2.1386B |s2cid=51984440}}</ref> Other large reptilian competitors to the dinosaurs were wiped out by the [[Triassic–Jurassic extinction event]], in which most [[archosaurs]] (excluding [[crocodylomorph]]s, pterosaurs and dinosaurs), most [[therapsid]]s (except [[cynodont]]s) and almost all large amphibians became extinct, as well as 34% of marine life in the fourth mass extinction event. The cause of the extinction is debated, but likely resulted from eruptions of the [[Central Atlantic magmatic province|CAMP]] [[large igneous province]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kAup0TOL09gC&pg=PA19 |title=Late Triassic Extinction |author1=Graham Ryder |author2=David Fastovsky |author3=Stefan Gartner |name-list-style=amp |isbn=9780813723075 |date=1 January 1996 |publisher=Geological Society of America |access-date=9 November 2016 |archive-date=13 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713001811/https://books.google.com/books?id=kAup0TOL09gC&pg=PA19 |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Jurassic Period====
{{Main|Jurassic}}
[[File:Sericipterus NT.jpg|thumb|''[[Sericipterus]],'' a pterosaur]]
The Jurassic ranges from 201 million to 145&nbsp;million years ago, and features three major epochs: [[Early Jurassic]], [[Middle Jurassic]] and [[Late Jurassic]].<ref name="Carol Marie Tang">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/308541/Jurassic-Period/257903/Major-subdivisions-of-the-Jurassic-System|title=Jurassic Era|author=Carol Marie Tang|encyclopedia=California Academy of Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150506035157/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/308541/Jurassic-Period/257903/Major-subdivisions-of-the-Jurassic-System|archive-date=6 May 2015}}</ref>

The Early Jurassic epoch spans from 201 million to 174&nbsp;million years ago.<ref name="Carol Marie Tang"/> The climate was much more humid than during the Triassic, and as a result, the world was warm and partially tropical,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hallam |first1=A. |year=1982 |chapter=The Jurassic climate |title=Studies in Geophysics: Climate in Earth History |publisher=National Academy Press |location=Washington, DC |pages=159–163 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230888677 |accessdate=26 April 2021 |isbn= 0-309-03329-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Iqbal |first1=Shahid |last2=Wagreich |first2=Michael |last3=U |first3=Jan Urfan |last4=Kuerschner |first4=Wolfram Michael |last5=Gier |first5=Suzanne |last6=Bibi |first6=Mehwish |title=Hot-house climate during the Triassic/Jurassic transition: The evidence of climate change from the southern hemisphere (Salt Range, Pakistan) |journal=Global and Planetary Change |date=1 January 2019 |volume=172 |pages=15–32 |doi=10.1016/j.gloplacha.2018.09.008|bibcode=2019GPC...172...15I |s2cid=134048967 }}</ref> though possibly with short colder intervals.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Korte |first1=Christoph |last2=Hesselbo |first2=Stephen P. |last3=Ullmann |first3=Clemens V. |last4=Dietl |first4=Gerd |last5=Ruhl |first5=Micha |last6=Schweigert |first6=Günter |last7=Thibault |first7=Nicolas |title=Jurassic climate mode governed by ocean gateway |journal=Nature Communications |date=11 December 2015 |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=10015 |doi=10.1038/ncomms10015|pmid=26658694 |pmc=4682040 |bibcode=2015NatCo...610015K |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Plesiosaur]]s, ichthyosaurs and [[ammonite]]s dominated the seas,{{sfn|Torsvik|Cocks|2017|p=217}} while dinosaurs, pterysaurs and other reptiles dominated the land,{{sfn|Torsvik|Cocks|2017|p=217}} with species such as ''[[Dilophosaurus]]'' at the apex.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Marsh |first1=Adam D. |last2=Rowe |first2=Timothy B. |title=A comprehensive anatomical and phylogenetic evaluation of Dilophosaurus wetherilli (Dinosauria, Theropoda) with descriptions of new specimens from the Kayenta Formation of northern Arizona |journal=Journal of Paleontology |year=2020 |volume=94 |issue=S78 |pages=1–103 |doi=10.1017/jpa.2020.14|bibcode=2020JPal...94S...1M |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Crocodylomorph]]s evolved into aquatic forms, pushing the remaining large amphibians to near extinction.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Foth |first1=Christian |last2=Ezcurra |first2=Martín D. |last3=Sookias |first3=Roland B. |last4=Brusatte |first4=Stephen L. |last5=Butler |first5=Richard J. |title=Unappreciated diversification of stem archosaurs during the Middle Triassic predated the dominance of dinosaurs |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |date=15 September 2016 |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=188 |doi=10.1186/s12862-016-0761-6|pmid=27628503 |pmc=5024528 |bibcode=2016BMCEE..16..188F |doi-access=free }}</ref>{{sfn|Torsvik|Cocks|2017|p=217}} True mammals were present during the Jurassic<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Meng |first1=Jin |last2=Wang |first2=Yuanqing |last3=Li |first3=Chuankui |title=Transitional mammalian middle ear from a new Cretaceous Jehol eutriconodont |journal=Nature |date=April 2011 |volume=472 |issue=7342 |pages=181–185 |doi=10.1038/nature09921|pmid=21490668 |bibcode=2011Natur.472..181M |s2cid=4428972 }}</ref> but remained small, with average body masses of less than {{convert|10|kg||}} until the end of the Cretaceous.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Felisa A. |last2=Boyer |first2=Alison G. |last3=Brown |first3=James H. |last4=Costa |first4=Daniel P. |last5=Dayan |first5=Tamar |last6=Ernest |first6=S. K. Morgan |last7=Evans |first7=Alistair R. |last8=Fortelius |first8=Mikael |last9=Gittleman |first9=John L. |last10=Hamilton |first10=Marcus J. |last11=Harding |first11=Larisa E. |last12=Lintulaakso |first12=Kari |last13=Lyons |first13=S. Kathleen |last14=McCain |first14=Christy |last15=Okie |first15=Jordan G. |last16=Saarinen |first16=Juha J. |last17=Sibly |first17=Richard M. |last18=Stephens |first18=Patrick R. |last19=Theodor |first19=Jessica |last20=Uhen |first20=Mark D. |title=The Evolution of Maximum Body Size of Terrestrial Mammals |journal=Science |date=26 November 2010 |volume=330 |issue=6008 |pages=1216–1219 |doi=10.1126/science.1194830|pmid=21109666 |bibcode=2010Sci...330.1216S |s2cid=17272200 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://palaeos.com/mesozoic/jurassic/earlyjura.html|title=Early Jurassic|author=Alan Kazlev|work=unknown|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150601013323/http://palaeos.com/mesozoic/jurassic/earlyjura.html|archive-date=1 June 2015|access-date=27 April 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Stegosaurus armatus by durbed.jpg|left|thumb|''[[Stegosaurus]]'', a large [[ornithischia]]n dinosaur from the Late Jurassic]]
The Middle and Late Jurassic Epochs span from 174 million to 145&nbsp;million years ago.<ref name="Carol Marie Tang" /> Conifer [[savannah]]s made up a large portion of the world's forests.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Skog |first1=Judith E. |last2=Dilcher |first2=David L. |title=Lower vascular plants of the Dakota Formation in Kansas and Nebraska, USA |journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology |date=1 January 1994 |volume=80 |issue=1–2 |pages=1–18 |doi=10.1016/0034-6667(94)90089-2|bibcode=1994RPaPa..80....1S }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Sauropods: Evolution and Paleobiology|last=Rogers|first=Kristina|publisher=Berkeley: U of California|year=2005|doi=10.1525/9780520932333-017|s2cid=242669231}}</ref> In the oceans, plesiosaurs were quite common, and [[ichthyosaur]]s were flourishing.{{sfn|Torsvik|Cocks|2017|pp=217-218}} The Late Jurassic Epoch spans from 163 million to 145&nbsp;million years ago.<ref name="Carol Marie Tang"/> The Late Jurassic featured a severe extinction of [[sauropod]]s in northern continents, alongside many ichthyosaurs. However, the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary did not strongly impact most forms of life.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tennant |first1=Jonathan P. |last2=Mannion |first2=Philip D. |last3=Upchurch |first3=Paul |title=Sea level regulated tetrapod diversity dynamics through the Jurassic/Cretaceous interval |journal=Nature Communications |date=November 2016 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=12737 |doi=10.1038/ncomms12737|pmid=27587285 |pmc=5025807 |bibcode=2016NatCo...712737T |doi-access=free }}</ref>

====Cretaceous Period====
{{Main|Cretaceous}}
The Cretaceous is the Phanerozoic's longest period and the last period of the Mesozoic.  It spans from 145 million to 66&nbsp;million years ago, and is divided into two epochs: [[Early Cretaceous]], and [[Late Cretaceous]].<ref name="Carl Fred Koch">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/142729/Cretaceous-Period/257709/Major-subdivisions-of-the-Cretaceous-System|title=Cretaceous|author=Carl Fred Koch|encyclopedia=Old Dominion University|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514211348/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/142729/Cretaceous-Period/257709/Major-subdivisions-of-the-Cretaceous-System|archive-date=14 May 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Tylosaurus-proriger.jpg|thumb|294x294px|''[[Tylosaurus]]'', a type of large marine lizards known as [[mosasaur]]s]]
The Early Cretaceous Epoch spans from 145 million to 100&nbsp;million years ago.<ref name="Carl Fred Koch"/> Dinosaurs continued to be abundant, with groups such as [[tyrannosauroid]]s, [[Avialae|avialans]] ([[bird]]s), [[marginocephalia]]ns, and [[ornithopod]]s seeing early glimpses of later success. Other tetrapods, such as [[stegosaur]]s and ichthyosaurs, declined significantly, and sauropods were restricted to southern continents.

The Late Cretaceous Epoch spans from 100 million to 66&nbsp;million years ago.<ref name="Carl Fred Koch"/> The Late Cretaceous featured a cooling trend that would continue into the [[Cenozoic]] Era. Eventually, the tropical climate was restricted to the equator and areas beyond the tropic lines featured more seasonal climates. Dinosaurs still thrived as new species such as ''[[Tyrannosaurus]]'', ''[[Ankylosaurus]]'', ''[[Triceratops]]'' and [[hadrosaurs]] dominated the food web. Whether or not [[pterosaur]]s went into a decline as birds radiated is debated; however, many families survived until the end of the Cretaceous, alongside new forms such as the gigantic ''[[Quetzalcoatlus]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://blog.everythingdinosaur.co.uk/blog/_archives/2018/03/15/pterosaurs-more-diverse-at-the-end-of-the-cretaceous-than-previously-thought.html|title=Pterosaurs More Diverse at the End of the Cretaceous than Previously Thought|work=Everything Dinosaur Blog|access-date=14 August 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=27 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927102331/https://blog.everythingdinosaur.co.uk/blog/_archives/2018/03/15/pterosaurs-more-diverse-at-the-end-of-the-cretaceous-than-previously-thought.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Mammals diversified despite their small sizes, with [[metatheria]]ns ([[marsupial]]s and kin) and [[eutheria]]ns ([[Placentalia|placentals]] and kin) coming into their own. In the oceans, [[mosasaurs]] diversified to fill the role of the now-extinct ichthyosaurs, alongside huge plesiosaurs such as ''[[Elasmosaurus]]''. Also, the first flowering plants evolved. At the end of the Cretaceous, the [[Deccan Traps]] and other volcanic eruptions were poisoning the atmosphere. As this was continued, it is thought that a large [[meteor]] smashed into Earth, creating the [[Chicxulub Crater]] and causing the event known as the [[Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event|K–Pg extinction]], the fifth and most recent mass extinction event, during which 75% of life on Earth became extinct, including all non-avian dinosaurs. Every living thing with a body mass over 10 kilograms became extinct, and the Age of Dinosaurs came to an end.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mesozoic/cretaceous/cretaceous.php|title=Cretaceous|author=University of California|work=University of California|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170611021416/http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mesozoic/cretaceous/cretaceous.php|archive-date=11 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.universetoday.com/36697/the-asteroid-that-killed-the-dinosaurs/|title=K-T Extinction event|author=Elizabeth Howell|work=Universe Today|date=3 February 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505160632/http://www.universetoday.com/36697/the-asteroid-that-killed-the-dinosaurs/|archive-date=5 May 2015}}</ref>