File:Mollweide_Paleographic_Map_of_Earth,_105_Ma_(Albian_Age).png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Cretaceous

Also known as Cretaceous Period, Cretaceous System

The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 Ma (million years ago). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ninth and longest geological period of the entire Phanerozoic. The name is derived from the Latin , 'chalk', which is abundant in deposits from the latter half of the period. It is usually abbreviated K, for its German translation .

AI overview

The Cretaceous is a geological period that lasted approximately 77 million years, ending about 66 million years ago, and represents the final and longest period of the Mesozoic Era. It gets its name from the abundant chalk deposits found in rocks from the latter part of this time span, and it is the longest geological period in the entire Phanerozoic Eon.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Geologic timespan.name: Cretaceous
Geologic timespan.color: Cretaceous
Geologic timespan.top_bar: Phanerozoic
Geologic timespan.time_start: 143.1
Geologic timespan.time_start_uncertainty: 0.6
Geologic timespan.time_end: 66.0
Geologic timespan.image_map: Mollweide Paleographic Map of Earth, 105 Ma (Albian Age).png
Geologic timespan.caption_map: A map of Earth as it appeared 105 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous Epoch (Albian Age)
Geologic timespan.timeline: Cretaceous
Geologic timespan.name_formality: Formal
Geologic timespan.celestial_body: Earth
Geologic timespan.usage: Global (ICS)
Geologic timespan.timescales_used: ICS Time Scale
Geologic timespan.chrono_unit: Period
Geologic timespan.strat_unit: System
Geologic timespan.timespan_formality: Formal
Geologic timespan.lower_boundary_def: Not formally defined
Geologic timespan.lower_def_candidates: Magnetic—base of Chron M18r Base of Calpionellid zone B FAD of Ammonite Berriasella jacobi

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Image: Caspar David Friedrich's Chalk Cliffs on Rügen.jpg

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Commons category: Cretaceous
start time: 145000000-
end time: 66000000-0
sRGB color hex triplet: 7FC64E
IPA transcription: /krɪˈteɪʃəs/

Sources (6)

via Wikidata · CC0

~36 min read

Article

19 sections

Contents

Etymology and history
Geology
Subdivisions
Boundaries
Geologic formations
Europe
North America
Paleogeography
Climate
Flora
Terrestrial fauna
Rhynchocephalians
Choristodera
Marine fauna
See also
References
Citations
Bibliography
External links

The Cretaceous was a period with a relatively warm climate, resulting in high eustatic sea levels that created numerous shallow inland seas. These oceans and seas were populated with now-extinct marine reptiles, ammonites and rudists; while on land, dinosaurs continued to dominate. The world was largely ice-free – although there is some evidence of brief periods of glaciation during the cooler first half – and forests extended to the poles.