<P> The Jurassic (/ dʒ ʊəˈr æsɪk /; from Jura Mountains) was a geologic period and system that spanned 56 million years from the end of the Triassic Period 201.3 million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period 145 Mya . The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic Era, also known as the Age of Reptiles . The start of the period was marked by the major Triassic--Jurassic extinction event . Two other extinction events occurred during the period: the Pliensbachian / Toarcian event in the Early Jurassic, and the Tithonian event at the end; however, neither event ranks among the "Big Five" mass extinctions . </P> <P> The Jurassic period is divided into three epochs: Early, Middle, and Late . Similarly, in stratigraphy, the Jurassic is divided into the Lower Jurassic, Middle Jurassic, and Upper Jurassic series of rock formations . </P> <P> The Jurassic is named after the Jura Mountains within the European Alps, where limestone strata from the period were first identified . By the beginning of the Jurassic, the supercontinent Pangaea had begun rifting into two landmasses: Laurasia to the north, and Gondwana to the south . This created more coastlines and shifted the continental climate from dry to humid, and many of the arid deserts of the Triassic were replaced by lush rainforests . </P> <P> On land, the fauna transitioned from the Triassic fauna, dominated by both dinosauromorph and crocodylomorph archosaurs, to one dominated by dinosaurs alone . The first birds also appeared during the Jurassic, having evolved from a branch of theropod dinosaurs . Other major events include the appearance of the earliest lizards, and the evolution of therian mammals, including primitive placentals . Crocodilians made the transition from a terrestrial to an aquatic mode of life . The oceans were inhabited by marine reptiles such as ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs, while pterosaurs were the dominant flying vertebrates . </P>

What did earth look like during the jurassic period
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