Jurassic Period Facts for Kids

The Jurassic Period Timeline
  • Period Name: Jurassic
  • Era: Mesozosic
  • Period Span: 56 million years
  • Succeeded Period: Cretaceous
  • Preceded Period: Triassic
  • Example of Dinosaurs: Stegosaurus and Allosaurus

18 Jurassic Period Facts

  1. The Jurassic Period is the second of the three geologic periods of the Mesozoic Era.
  2. The Jurassic Period was the second longest period of the Mesozoic Era.
  3. The Jurassic Period lasted roughly 56 million years.
  4. The Jurassic Period occurred between 201.3 and 145 million years ago.
  5. The Jurassic Period had three epochs, the Early Jurassic, the Middle Jurassic and the Late Jurassic.
  6. The Early Jurassic Period was roughly between 200 and 175 million years ago.
  7. The Middle Jurassic Period was roughly between 175 and 163 million years ago.
  8. The Late Jurassic Period was roughly between 163 and 145 million years ago.
  9. The Jurassic Period started after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event.
  10. The Jurassic Period is when dinosaurs became the dominate lifeform on the planet Earth.
  11. There were two extinct events during the Jurassic Period, the Pliensbachian-Toarcian extinction in the Early Jurassic epoch and the Tithonian event in the Late Jurassic epoch.
  12. The supercontinent Pangaea broke up during the Jurassic Period.
  13. The climate of the Jurassic Period was warm, humid and there was most likely no ice in the polar regions.
  14. The Archaeopteryx was the earliest known bird that appeared in the Late Jurassic Period.
  15. The Late Jurassic Period is famous for the rise of sauropod dinosaurs. Sauropods had a very long neck and tail, a small head compared to their body and four thick legs.
  16. The Jurassic Period hosted some of the largest dinosaurs to ever roam the planet, like the Brachiosaurus.
  17. Some of the dinosaurs that lived during the Jurassic Period were the Allosaurus, Archaeopteryx, Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus, and the Stegosaurus.
  18. The term Jurassic was coined by French naturalist Alexandre Brongniart in 1829.

Additional Resources on the Jurassic Period

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