Triassic Plants | Jurassic Plants | Cretaceous Plants |
Horsetails were an important source of nutrition for plant-eating dinosaurs. These primitive vascular plants were fast-growing and resilient (they could propagate using underground runners which a grazing dinosaur wouldn't eat). This meant that a hungry dinosaur could eat the plant without killing it, since the plant would regrow from the rhizome (the underground stem). |
Williamsonia sewardiana was a cycadeoidphyte (a bennettitalean). It had a woody stem and simple leaves. It lived from the Jurassic period through the late Cretaceous period. Williamsonia was a bennettitalean (a primitive gymnosperm that resembled cycads but was not a cycad). Williamsonia had a long, thin, branching, woody trunk covered with spirals of broken-off leaf scars. |
There was a tremendous boom in both plants and animals caused by the advent of flowering plants and the decline of less adaptable species (like conifers and seed ferns). This reshuffling of species led to the heyday of dinosaurs during the late Cretaceous period.
Other Cretaceous period plants included: Podocarpus, Betulaceae (like Alnus), Araliaceae (like Aralia), conifers (like Araucarioxylon, Metasequoia, and Pinus), Corneaceae (like Cornus), Cycadeodias (like Cycadeoidea), Fagaceae (like Quercus - oak), Filincophyta (like Dryophyllum), Filincophyta (like Tetrastichia ), Ginkgophyta (like Ginkgo), Lauraceae (like Laurus and Sassafras), Magnoliaceae (like Magnolia), Moraceae (like Ficus), Palmae (Palmus), Pandanaceae (Pandanus), and Salicaceae (like Populus and Salicaceae).
The large predatory dinosaurs (like Tyrannosaurus rex) came into being after nutrient-rich flowering plants became available, fueling large numbers of plant-eating dinosaurs (like the hadrosaurs, duck-billed dinosaurs, lambeosaurs (like Lambeosaurus), ankylosaurs (like Euoplocephalus), homalocephalians (like Homalocephale), pachycephalosaurids (like Pachycephalosaurus), and ceratopsians (like Triceratops), which the predators ate.
Meat-eating animals (carnivores like Tyrannosaurus rex) get their energy by eating other animals, mostly plant-eating animals (herbivores like Triceratops). The herbivores get their energy by eating plants (like cycads). The plants (producers or autotrophs) get their energy from sunlight, converting the light into chemical energy using photosynthesis. |
During the first half of the Cretaceous period, temperatures were warm, seasonality was low, and global sea levels were high (there was no polar ice). Toward the end of the Cretaceous period, there were severe climate
changes, lowered sea levels, and very high volcanic activity .
Triassic Plants | Jurassic Plants | Cretaceous Plants |
Enchanted Learning®
Over 35,000 Web Pages
Sample Pages for Prospective Subscribers, or click below
Overview of Site What's New Enchanted Learning Home Monthly Activity Calendar Books to Print Site Index K-3 Crafts K-3 Themes Little Explorers Picture dictionary PreK/K Activities Rebus Rhymes Stories Writing Cloze Activities Essay Topics Newspaper Writing Activities Parts of Speech Fiction The Test of Time
|
Biology Animal Printouts Biology Label Printouts Biomes Birds Butterflies Dinosaurs Food Chain Human Anatomy Mammals Plants Rainforests Sharks Whales Physical Sciences: K-12 Astronomy The Earth Geology Hurricanes Landforms Oceans Tsunami Volcano |
Languages Dutch French German Italian Japanese (Romaji) Portuguese Spanish Swedish Geography/History Explorers Flags Geography Inventors US History Other Topics Art and Artists Calendars College Finder Crafts Graphic Organizers Label Me! Printouts Math Music Word Wheels |
Click to read our Privacy Policy
Search the Enchanted Learning website for: |