Paleozoic
Lasted from 299 to 251 million years ago.
When was the Permian Period?
They probably hunted early mammals, and their oldest fossils are mid-Triassic.
What are dinosaurs?
It finally finished breaking up in the Cretaceous.
What was Pangaea?
That big crater is named after a town on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
What is Chicxulub?
The Alleghenian Orogeny.
What was the third Appalachian Orogeny (in the Carboniferous and Permian, which helped form Pangaea)?
The volcanism that caused the late Triassic mass extinction.
What was the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (C.A.M.P.)?
It connected the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico.
What was the Cretaceous or Western Interior Seaway (an epicontinental sea, the Zuni Transgression)?
Mammals that first evolved and headed back to live in the water in the Paleogene.
What are whales?
Reptiles with 2 temporal fenestrae holes, homogenous teeth (different sizes), replaced throughout lives.
What are diapsid reptiles?
Three bones making a ball and socket (acetabulum) joint, leading to greatly improved mobility.
What were dinosaur hips made of?
The first flowering plants, called ___________ appeared in the Cretaceous.
What are angiosperms?
An unusual amount of this element indicated an iron meteorite impact.
What is iridium?
The name of the volcanism that caused the Permian extinction.
What were the Siberian Traps?
Ornithicians with horns and a big frill on their heads.
What were Ceratopsians?
Great big flying reptiles. Not dinosaurs.
What were pterosaurs?
Big aerodynamic droplets of melted rock that were ejected out of the impact that ended the Cretaceous.
What are tektites?
The most advanced therapsid "mammal-like" reptiles.
What were cynodonts?
In the Late Jurassic, this mountain-building event grew the Rocky Mountains in the region near Las Vegas.
What was the Nevadan Orogeny?
T-rex's Order was Saurichia. Stegosaurus' Order was _____________
What is Ornithischia?
The crust has been extending in the western U.S. since the Paleogene.
What is the Basin and Range?