Late Jurassic
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The cliff forming Purbeck limestone from the Upper Jurassic at Bat's Head, Dorset, UK.

The Late Jurassic (or Malm) Epoch of the Jurassic Period is the unit of geologic time from 161.2 ± 4.0 to 145.5 ± 4.0 million years ago, which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata.^[1]

Subdivisions

The Late Jurassic is divided into three ages, which correspond with the three (faunal) stages of Upper Jurassic rock:

Paleogeography

Pangaea broke up into two supercontinents, Laurasia to the north, and Gondwana to the south. The result of this break-up was the spawning of Atlantic Ocean. However, at this time, the Atlantic Ocean was relatively narrow.

This section requires expansion.

Life

This period was well known for many famous types of dinosaurs, such as the sauropods, the theropods, the thyreophorans, and the ornithopods. Other animals, such as crocodiles and the first birds, appeared in the Jurrassic. Here are only a few of the many Jurrassic animals:

• • Camarasaurus a large herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from North America.
  • Brachiosaurus a large herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from North America.
  • Diplodocus a large herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from North America.
  • Supersaurus possibly the largest North American sauropod of them all.
  • Dicraeosaurus a large herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from Africa.
  • Giraffititan another large sauropod from Africa (usually recognized as a species of Brachiosaurus.
  • Allosaurus the most common late Jurassic/early Cretaceous theropod of North America.
  • Epanterias the largest Jurassic carnivore of all, from North America.
  • Ceratosaurus a medium sized Jurassic carnivore of North America and Africa.
  • Compsognathus a small theropod from Europe.
  • Yangchuanosaurus a large theropod from Asia.
  • Tuojiangosaurus a thyreophoran from Asia.
  • Stegosaurus a North American thyreophoran.
  • Dryosaurus a North American ornithopod.
  • Camptosaurus another ornithopod from North America.
  • Gargoyleosaurus a thyreophoran from North America.
  • Archaeopteryx the first known bird, from Europe.
  • Rhamphorhynchus a flying pterosaur from Europe.
  • Ophthalmosaurus a very common sea-going ichthyosaur from what is now Europe and North America.
  • Liopleurodon a very large sea-going pliosaur from what is now Europe.
  • Pterodactylus a flying pterosaur from Europe.

References

• Owen, Donald E. (March 1987). "Commentary: Usage of Stratigraphic Terminology in Papers, Illustrations, and Talks". Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 57 (2): 363–372.  Reproduced here.
• Kazlev, M. Alan (2002-06-28). Late Jurassic — The Malm Epoch: The Acme of the Dinosaurs. Palæos. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.