James+ASCP


 * Hello my name is James and I am glad to be in E-TASC again for the second year in a row and this is the work I have done:**

__**Jurassic poriod**__


 * Climate and Geography ** The Jurassic witnessed the breakup of the Pangaean supercontinent into two big pieces, [|Gondwana] in the south and [|Laurasia] in the north, as well as the formation of intra-continental lakes and rivers that opened new evolutionary niches for aquatic and terrestrial animals. The climate was hot and humid, with steady rainfall, ideal conditions for the explosive spread of lush, green plants.
 * Terrestrial Life ** During the Jurassic, the small, quadrupedal, plant-eating [|prosauropods] of the Triassic gradually evolved into gigantic [|sauropods] like [|Brachiosaurus] and [|Diplodocus]. This period also saw the rise of medium-sized carnivores like [|Allosaurus] and [|Megalosaurus], which helps explain the evolution of the earliest [|ankylosaurs] (armored herbivores). The first, mouse-sized [|early mammals] kept a low profile, scurrying around at night so as not to get squashed.
 * Aquatic Life ** Just as dinosaurs grew to bigger and bigger sizes on land, so [|aquatic reptiles] gradually reached shark- (or even whale-) sized proportions. The Jurassic seas were filled with fierce [|pliosaurs] like [|Liopleurodon] and [|Cryptoclidus], as well as sleeker, less frightening swimmers like [|Plesiosaurus]. Fish were abundant, as were squids and sharks, providing a steady source of food for these and other marine reptiles.
 * Avian Life ** By the end of the Jurassic, the skies were filled with relatively advanced [|pterosaurs] like [|Pterodactylus], [|Dimorphodon] and the (smaller) [|Archaeopteryx]. It's probable that at least a few of these [|avian reptiles] were covered with feathers, as were some of their land-based cousins.
 * Plant Life ** Gigantic herbivores like [|Barosaurus] and [|Apatasaurus] couldn’t have evolved if they didn’t have a reliable source of food: the landmasses of the Jurassic were blanketed with thick coats of vegetation, including ferns, [|conifers], [|cycads], club mosses and horsetails.

__**Triassic period**__

**Climate and Geography** In Triassic times, all of the earth's continents were joined vertebrates. Taking their place were strangely [|mammalian-looking reptiles] called cynodonts, early dinosaurs like [|Herrerasaurus] and [|Eoraptor], and primitive reptiles called [|archosaurs] , from which some dinosaurs (as well as all crocodiles) later evolved. It was during the late Triassic that the [|therapsids] ("mammal-like reptiles" evolved into the first [|early mammals].
 * Aquatic Life** Because the Permian Extinction wiped out about 95 percent of all ocean-dwelling animals, the Triassic was ripe for the rise of [|aquatic reptiles], such as [|Placodus] and [|Nothosaurus]. The vast Panthalassan Ocean was soon restocked with new species of fish, as well as simple animals like corals and cephalopods.
 * Avian Life** Except for insects, the skies of the early Triassic were relatively quiet. It was only toward the end of this period that the earliest [|pterosaurs], such as [|Eudimorphodon], appeared, and they probably weren't the most accomplished fliers.
 * Plant Life** The Triassic wasn't nearly as lush and green as the later Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but it did see an explosion of various land-dwelling plants, including [|cycads], ferns, and [|Gingko]-like trees. Part of the reason there were no enormous dinosaurs in the Triassic (along the lines of [|Brachiosaurus]) is that there simply wasn’t enough vegitation.


 * __Cretaceous period__**


 * Climate and Geography** During the Cretaceous, the inexorable breakup of the [|Pangaean] supercontinent continued, with the first outlines of modern North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa taking shape. Conditions were as hot and muggy as in the Jurassic, with the added twist of rising sea levels and the spread of endless swamps--yet another ecological niche in which dinosaurs could prosper.
 * Terrestrial Life** It was during the Cretaceous that dinosaurs really came into their own. Thousands of genuses roamed the slowly separating continents, including [|theropods] like [|T. Rex], ornithopods like [|Iguanodon] , and [|ceratopsians] like the elaborately horned [|Styracosaurus] and [|Triceratops] . [|Mammals] still kept to themselves; they would only emerge from the shadows after the dinosaurs were wiped out in the [|K/T Extinction].
 * Aquatic Life** Toward the beginning of the Cretaceous, [|ichthyosaurs] vacated the scene, to be replaced by [|mosasaurs] like [|Mosasaurus] and [|Tylosaurus] ; gigantic [|pliosaurs] like [|Kronosaurus] and [|plesiosaurs] like [|Elasmosaurus] still preyed on fish, squids and mollusks. A new breed of bony fish, known as teleosts, roamed the seas in enormous schools.
 * Avian Life** By the end of the Cretaceous, [|pterosaurs] had finally attained the enormous sizes of their cousins on land and in the sea, [|Quetzalcoatlus] being the most spectacular example. This was the breed’s last gasp, though, as they were gradually crowded out of the sky by the first true birds (which paleontologists believe evolved from land-dwelling dinosaurs, not pterosaurs).
 * Plant Life** The main innovation of the Cretaceous was the evolution of flowering plants, which spread across the separating continents, along with thick forests and other kinds of dense, matted vegetation. At the end of the Cretaceous, 65 million years ago, a meteor impact raised huge clouds of dust, blotting out the sun and causing most of this vegetation to die out. The herbivorous dinosaurs that fed on the plants died, as did the carnivorous dinosaurs that fed on the herbivorous dinosaurs. The way was now clear for the evolution of mammals.


 * __6 Dinosaurs questions__**

1.what was the biggest dinosaur 2.what was the smallest dinosaur 3.what dinosaur ate the most 4.what dinosaur ate the least 5.what dinosaur was the most dangerous 6. what dinosaur was the most friendly






 * __E-TASC challenge day__**

I think the E-TASC challenge day was fun and it was cool to hang out with my cousin Miguel. I the best bit was when we dug up fossils and found out which animal we dug up.