Jurassic Era

Thanks to a certain novel and movie franchise, the Jurassic Period has been indelibly cemented in the public imagination as the time of dinosaurs. That was certainly true: the Jurassic Period saw reptiles such as the long-necked Brachiosaurus, the armored Stegosaurus, and the fearsome Allosaurus become the dominant living creatures on planet Earth, a position they maintained for more than 150 million years. However, many of the movie dinosaurs that decorated millions of lunchboxes and backpacks were not from the Jurassic Period at all, but from the following Cretaceous Period.

Of course, this age wasn't just about dinosaurs. The Jurassic Period saw the Earth going through dramatic geological changes that saw continents drift and collide. New plants and trees developed, some of which are still with us today. Even insects grew to enormous size. This period also saw the emergence of something entirely new: birds. In fact, there was only one type of creature that did not thrive and evolve in this period: our own distant relatives, mammals.

This book delves into the true story of the Jurassic Period, of how the planet changed, and how a staggering array of new life came to occupy the land, seas, and skies.