ANTH-UA 2 Chapter Notes -Treeshrew, Marsupial, Mesozoic
21 Oct 2014
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Document Summary
Mammals that first appeared during the late triassic period most closely resembled the living monotremes. Jurassic period - first marsupial and placental mammals appeared. Cretaceous period - diversification of marsupials and eutherians. Diversification of angiosperms at the end of the mesozoic probably caused the diversification of mammals in the middle to late cretaceous. Led to pollination of flowering plants by insects. At the end of the mesozoic, drastic environmental changes (probably arising from an asteroid or comet crashing into the surface of the earth) caused or contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs and generated opportunities for mammals. K-t boundary - the end of the cretaceous period and the beginning of the tertiary period; marked by the aforementioned wide-scale faunal changes. Evidence for asteroid theory comes from a giant crater called chicxulub in the yucatan. Asteroid probably caused firestorm followed by global cooling killed off terrestrial plants dinosaurs would starve to death herbivorous dinosaurs would die out would have carnivorous.
