The Jurassic period was the second segment of the Mesozoic era. This happened between 199.6 and 145.5 million years ago, after the Triassic period and before the Cretaceous. During the Jurassic period, the supercontinent Pangea split. Laurentia, the northern half, constituted what would form North America and Eurasia. The creation of these open basins for the central Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. The southern half, Gondwana, drifted into an eastern segment that forms today's Antarctica, Madagascar, India and Australia, and a western portion that forms today's Africa and South America. This divide, along with generally warmer global temperatures, allowed for the diversification and dominance of reptiles known as dinosaurs. Besides dinosaurs, several different types of life and rock formations emerged during the Jurassic period. This breakup of the mega continent of Pangea allowed for greater diversification of plant species, and as the continents continued to separate, plant life became even more diverse. As the continents shifted and moved from one area of ​​the ocean to another, climates began to change dramatically, allowing species of plants and dinosaurs to begin to adapt to their new ecosystems. All the water produced by the splitting of Pangea gave the previously hot, dry climate wetter, drippier subtropical weather. Dry deserts took on a greener appearance. Before the Mesozoic era, living things were limited to surviving only in the oceans. It was not until the Jurassic period that living things gained the ability to live on land rather than just in the ocean. Around the beginning of the Jurassic, plant life evolved from Bryophytes, the low-growing plants...... middle of paper ......ll. This group remained prosperous during the Jurassic period and had a wide geographic distribution. Other reptiles have evolved not only to live on land, but also to fly. The first known birds appeared during this period; Archaeoteryx being the first to be considered intermediate between birds and predatory dinosaurs. It is debated whether this ancient bird could actually fly or simply glide from tree to tree. Carnosaurus, meaning “meat-eater,” is another group of dinosaurs that ruled during the Jurassic. With such large herbivorous prey, the correlation between these large predators explains why they were so common. Allosaurus was one of the most common carnosaurs in North America. After finding numerous intact skeletons in fossil beds, it was reported that Allosaurus was superficially similar to Tyrannosaurus rex, which evolved later..