Campus Moncloa
Campus of International Excellence
Jurassic
201-145 M.a.
Jurassic limestone in El Torcal de Antequera (Malaga, Spain).
Ammonites (cephalopod mollusc, ammonoidea).
Archeopteris (bird) in a tree fern forest.
The Atlantic Ocean begins to widen and Pangaea splits into two supercontinents: Laurasia in the north (North America, Greenland and Eurasia) and Gondwana in the south (South America, Africa, India, Antarctica and Australia). The block made up of India, Antarctica and Australia separates from Gondwana towards the end of the period and the Indian Ocean begins to open.
The continuing rise of the sea level floods the continents and Europe is reduced to an archipelago. The warm, humid climate gives rise to the development of a rich vegetation of conifers, ginkgo, cycads and tree ferns.
Large dinosaurs dominate the terrestrial fauna while mammals occupy the residual biological niches. Marine life flourishes intensely and large accumulations of organic matter will turn into oil deposits. Ammonites, ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs are the most prominent aquatic animals. Pterosaurs dominate the Jurassic skies and the first birds appear at the end of the period.
| Hadean | ~4600-4000 M.a. |
| Archean | 4000-2500 M.a. |
| Proterozoic | 2500-541 M.a. |
| Cambrian | 541-485 M.a. |
| Ordovician | 485-443 M.a. |
| Silurian | 443-419 M.a. |
| Devonian | 419-359 M.a. |
| Carboniferous | 359-299 M.a. |
| Permian | 299-252 M.a. |
| Triassic | 252-201 M.a. |
| Jurassic | 201-145 M.a. |
| Cretaceous | 145-66 M.a. |
| Paleogene | 66-23 M.a. |
| Neogene | 23-2,6 M.a. |
| Quaternary | 2,6 M.a.-act. |
