The Mesozoic Era began 248 mya and ended 65 mya. Scientists nicknamed it “The Age of Reptiles” and it only includes the Triassic (248-206 mya), Jurassic (206-144 mya), and Cretaceous (144-65 mya) periods. The climate during the Mesozoic Era mostly remained warm, and there are no evidence of glaciers. A lot of the fossils found were of species adapted to tropical weather, which hints that the Mesozoic Era had a tropical temperature. During the Cretaceous period climate warmed and then got really cold towards the end. The overall climate of the Mesozoic Era was dry. In the beginning of the Mesozoic Era the supercontinent Pangea was shaped kind of like a C, and during the Jurassic period it broke into pieces, this was caused by a rift between South America and Africa that still exists. Lots of deserts were formed during the Mesozoic Era. Almost everything had gone extinct by the end of the end of the Paleozoic Era (and beginning of the Mesozoic Era), so the Mesozoic Era brought in new life. Forests full of ferns, conifers and cycads became plentiful as did dinosaurs, and the earliest mammals (mostly rodent-like, nocturnal and solitary) evolved. This era is named the age of reptiles because dinosaurs and other reptiles ruled the land. At the end of the Mesozoic Era was the Cretaceous Extinction. 60-80% of species (such as dinosaurs, marine reptiles and flying reptiles) went extinct. Scientists hypothesize that this extinction was caused by meteor impact, volcanic activity and sea-level change.
This is a dinosaur fossil
This shows how the continent's shape and location varied throughout the Mesozoic Era
Here are the continents during the Mesozoic Era
Here are the continents during the late Cretaceous period