Late Jurassic

Subdivisions

The Late Jurassic is divided into three ages, which correspond with the three faunal stages of Upper Jurassic rock:

Paleogeography

By the Late Jurassic, Pangaea had broken apart into Laurasia (Eurasia and North America) to the north and Gondwana to the south, divided by the wide Tethys Ocean. During the Late Jurassic, narrow ocean basins formed separating Eastern Gondwana (Antarctica, Australia, India and Madagascar), Western Gondwana (Africa, Arabia and South America) and Laurasia. These nascent oceans – including the young Atlantic Ocean – brought increased moisture to the formerly highly arid subtropical interior of Pangaea.

Climate

Deep ocean basins covered the poles, inhibiting the formation of polar ice caps. Polar summers were ice-free. The circulation of ocean currents between the high and low latitudes contributed to a generally warmer climate than today. Europe became progressively more arid over the Late Jurassic.

Life forms

This epoch is well known for many famous types of dinosaurs, such as the sauropods, the theropods, the thyreophorans, and the ornithopods. Other animals, such as some crocodylomorphs and the first birds, appeared in the Jurassic. Listed here are only a few of the many Jurassic animals:

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References

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References

1. Owen 1987.
2. (2012). "The Geologic Timescale 2012 (volume 1)". Elsevier.
3. "International Commission on Stratigraphy".
4. (May 30, 2021). "An Atlas of Phanerozoic Paleogeographic Maps: The Seas Come In and the Seas Go Out". [[Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences]].
5. (3 September 2010). "Broad-Scale Patterns of Late Jurassic Dinosaur Paleoecology". [[PLoS ONE]].