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The Mesozoic Era was nicknamed the “Age of Reptiles,” “Middle Life,” and “Age of Dinosaurs.” It started 250 MYA. It ended 65 MYA. It was much warmer than the current era. There was no polar ice caps in the era. In the Triassic Period it was generally dry and warm. In the Jurassic Period the oceans rose and flooding spread out. In the Cretaceous Period the climate cooled and then it warmed again near the end of the Mesozoic Era. In the Triassic Period 220 MYA there was a supercontinent half above, half below the equator. In the Jurassic Period 150 MYA the supercontinent started breaking up into four smaller continents. In the Cretaceous Period 90 MYA the four continents split up completely forming most of today’s continents. Pangea forms and breaks apart. The Himalayan Mountains formed when Eurasia and Gondwana collided. Pangea split up into two other big continents which were Gondwana and Eurasia. Those two continents soon split up into the seven continents we know today. 220 MYA dinosaurs, crocodiles, and smaller, less evolved mammals appeared. 215 MYA flying reptiles evolved. Coniferous plants (plants with cones that have seeds) like flowering plants emerged and became abundant during the Mesozoic Era. The Great Extinction killed off dinosaurs and 50% of marine invertebrates. The extinction is thought to be caused by a meteorite, global cooling, sea-level change, and oxygen loss.