Cretaceous Period - Age Of The Dinosaurs / Documentary (English/HD)

Being the longest and the last subdivision of the Mesozoic epoch, the Cretaceous Period started 145 million years ago and ended about 65 or 66 million years ago. It ended with the K-Pg mass extinction event in which an asteroid crashed into our planet, leading to the extinction of three-quarters of all species within the animal kingdom.

During the Cretaceous Period, the continents, climate, food chain, and animals differed greatly from what we have today. Back then, the earth’s two primary supercontinents – Gondwana in the southern hemisphere and Laurasia in the north slowly kept falling apart and signs of our current continental shapes started appearing.

The climate of the Cretaceous was much more humid and temperatures were much higher than current conditions. Ocean levels were quiet higher than they are today as well. The Polar Regions were completely free of continental ice sheets. The forests and oceans were home to a plethora of weirdly shaped and massive-sized dinosaurs and prehistoric predators.

Perhaps the most famous worldwide, Tyrannosaurus rex or T-rex is one of the largest and fiercest predatory prehistoric animals of the Cretaceous. It ruled the Late Cretaceous about 70 to 66 million years ago inhabiting a wide range of habitats such as the forested river valleys of North America. It measured about 43 feet (or 13 meters in length) and stood at about 12 feet (approximately 3 and a half meters) tall.

Next is Spinosaurus, the largest carnivorous dinosaur discovered so far and also reputed as the only dinosaur believed to swim in water. It lived about 115 to 95 million years ago in the large river system that once flowed across modern-day North Africa’s Sahara region.

Also famous is Deinosuchus, the crocodilian-like reptile. With its name meaning “fearsome crocodile”, it had a long, broad skull that was over 2 meters long! Contained within this skull were blunt large teeth which according to a researcher are “the size of bananas”! This prehistoric reptilian predator measured up to 43 feet (or 13 meters ) in length and weighed about 7-10 tons.

This list would be incomplete if we do not consider Sarcosuchus a.k.a. the “SuperCroc”! While Deinosuchus lived in Late Cretaceous, Sarcosuchus ruled the waters of North Africa in the early to mid-part of the Cretaceous period some 115 to 95 million years ago. With its name meaning “flesh crocodile, it was twice the length of Saltwater crocs and more than 6 times heavier! It was about the same size as Deinosuchus as it measured about 43 feet (or 13 meters).

Another apex predatory reptile of the Cretaceous period with a great reputation was the Mosasaurus. Having lived during the late stage of the Cretaceous about 80 to 65 million years ago, it became an apex marine predator having supplanted the sea serpents – Plesiosaurs and Pliosaurs.

With a name that translates to mean “feathered serpent god”, Quetzalcoatlus is the perfect example of ‘death from above’! Having ruled the skies of Africa, North America, Russia, and the Middle East between 72 and 65 million years ago, it is the largest Pterosaur known so far!

Distantly related to T-rex, Carcharodontosaurus was as large as T-rex if not even larger. It measured about 46 feet (or 14 meters) long and weighed between 9 and 11 tons! Like Quetzalcoatlus, the head of Carcharodontosaurus was huge, about the length of a human.

Though the last, but by far the largest on this list, meet the Argentinosaurus – the most suitable contender for the title of ‘world’s largest dinosaur’ to have ever existed! Since a complete skeleton has yet to be found, researchers estimate that this dinosaur could have reached lengths of up to 100 feet (or 30 meters) and weighed somewhere between 70 and 100 tons. This dinosaur was truly a massive beast! It lived in South America and was an herbivore – a gentle plant-eating giant.

The Cretaceous Period was an epoch in earth’s history that leaves us fascinated and wondering just how life must have been back then as everything is different from what it is today. The lands and geography were different, the climate was different and even the animals and food chain were completely different. While we would have loved to experience what life would have been like back then, it’s also scary to think of living alongside such dangerous predatory prehistoric animals.

Narrator: Larry G. Jones

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