| During the Jurassic, North and South America, Africa, and Australia were joined in a supercontinent near the equator. Europe and Asia had just broken off from the Pangean supercontinent.
There are few outcrops of Jurassic rock in North America, but the best-known of Jurassic strata, the Morrison Formation, is found in much of the Western interior of the U.S. It was during this time that the huge sauropod dinosaurs such as Apatasaurus and Brachiosaurus lived.
Sea level was low but rising during the Early Jurassic, and high throughout the remainder of the period. Climate, in general, was warm, in part due to the position of the land masses nearer the equator.
Many new types of dinosaurs, mammals, and reptiles emerged during the Jurassic, including the plated dinosaurs and the sauropods — heavy, long-necked dinosaurs that walked on four legs. There were also large theropods, or meat-eating dinosaurs, roaming the Earth. The first birds (and bird-like dinosaurs) also appeared during the Jurassic period.
Dinosaurs of the Jurassic period include:
Heterodontosaurus, Lesothosaurus, Syntarus, Vulcanodon, Meglosaurus, Dilophosaurus, Xiaosaurus, Brachiosarus, Ceratosaurus, Dryosaurus, Janenschia, Kentrosaurus, Yangchuanosaurus, Camarasaurus, Camptosaurus, Compsognathus, Allosaurus, Aptosaurus, Diplodocus, Ornitholestes, Stegosaurus, Supersaurus.
Triassic Period Jurassic Period Cretaceous Period
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