What was the Jurassic Period?
The Jurassic period was a geologic period in the middle of the Mesozoic. It extends from about 200 million years ago to 145 million years ago. During the Jurassic period, the dinosaurs continued their dominance of the land, while marine reptiles such as ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and marine crocodiles occupied the sea. The Jurassic period is one of the periods of life on Earth most familiar to the average person, because it has been extensively romanticized since the initial discovery of dinosaur fossils in the early nineteenth century. The entire Mesozoic is referred to as the “Age of the Dinosaurs”, just as the more recent Cenozoic is called the “Age of Mammals.” The sauropods were the dominant reptiles on land, including Camarasaurus, Diplodocus, Brachiosaurus, and numerous others. The largest sauropods were the largest terrestrial animals ever to exist. Experts in biomechanics think the largest sauropods approached the theoretical size limits that a land animal could be and still su
