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Encyclopedia Britannica
britannica.com › science › earth science, geologic time & fossils › fossils & geologic time
Mesozoic Era | Geology, Climate & Lifeforms | Britannica
October 29, 2025 - The ancestors of major plant and animal groups that exist today first appeared during the Mesozoic, but this era is best known as the time of the dinosaurs. Earth’s climate during the Mesozoic Era was generally warm, and there was less difference ...
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USGS
usgs.gov › youth-and-education-in-science › mesozoic
Mesozoic | U.S. Geological Survey
There were climatic variations due to alternating wet/dry and cold/hot seasons that influenced the distribution of plant communities.
Discussions

Trying to figure out the truth around one of those broad, sweeping statements about the climate during the mesozoic...
It was warmer on average, that’s true. It was still cold enough for snow and ice in some regions, though, so Pachyrhinosaurus probably would have seen some snow. What show said the Pleistocene was our first ice age? Sure, they’re relatively rare, and the last one occurred all the way back in the Permian, but saying ice had never existed is just wrong. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/Paleontology
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August 26, 2024
Did the Earth have ice caps in the Mesozoic Era?
The last ice age before the Quarternary ice age (current), Karoo ice age was thought to have occurred 360-260 million years ago, and the Mesozoic era lasted from 252-66 million years ago so it just about missed the major ice age. During the Karoo ice age ice caps were found in South Africa. During the Triassic period of the Mesozoic, the beginning, the climate was very dry and the interior of Pangaea was very dry and mainly consisted of deserts. The interior was very seasonal however, and there were periods of rainfall and humidity, because it is so far from the ocean which means it experiences temperature extremes. During the Jurassic, Pangaea began to split up into different continents meaning more land is in contact with the ocean. The temperature still was rising, but stabilised with less extremes. As more areas were near the ocean, deserts began to get smaller as humidity increased. The last era was the Cretacious and had very high levels of CO2 which meant the entire world had nearly the same average temperature. The average temperature was 10 degrees Celsius higher than today and the equator featured mainly deserts despite being close to oceans as the temperature was too high, even for most sea life to exist. So like today, the Earth had different climates. Areas on the inside of continents would have been deserts, and humid areas near the coasts or smaller islands would probably be jungles. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/askscience
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October 24, 2016
What was the best part of the Mesozoic Era?
Cretaceous, the era of go big or go home. It even ended like a boss. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/Dinosaurs
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March 18, 2020
How would you summarize each period in the Mesozoic?
Triassic is good enough. "Our journey continues in the period denominated the Jurassic. The supercontinent of Pangaea has split into two landmasses - Laurasia and Gondwana. While not as arid as the Triassic, the climate is still hot and humid, with forests extending into the poles. Following a brief extinction event, out of literal ash, the dinosaurs rose like a phoenix, quickly dominating their environment in all shapes and sizes. Long-necked behemoths known as sauropods browsed above clashes between formidable carnivorous theropods and spiked stegosaurian prey. Flying reptiles known as pterosaurs patrolled the skies, and giant marine reptiles had their own dynasty. Their success will grant these species to rule some more million years, in which they will diversify even more." "Our journey ends in the Cretaceous period. Continental drift continues, as our world begins to take on a more familiar shape. The climate is still considerably warm. Dinosaurs remain in power, and have hit their evolutionary peak. Theropods continue their legacy with the largest carnivore to ever walk the Earth - Tyrannosaurus rex. Mighty herbivores known as ceratopsians fight for their survival with all numbers of horns. Some tiny dinosaurs have taken to the air, but live under the shadows of the biggest flying animals to yet exist. However, it was not to last forever. An asteroid the size of Mount Everest strikes near the Gulf of Mexico with the energy of 10 billion Hiroshima bombs. The impact unleashes global wildfires, in turn enveloping the planet in a firestorm. The ensuing 15-year period of freezing darkness would've finished off any survivors above 25 kilograms. Small, unassuming critters known as mammals, which previously lived in fear of the dinosaurs, were given the opportunity of taking their place. While this was the end of the dinosaurs' rule, it wasn't the end of their kind. One lineage of flying dinosaurs survived, rapidly diversifing in spite of the mammals' rise to power. They still exist with us today, where we now call them birds." More on reddit.com
🌐 r/Paleontology
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December 15, 2023

second erathem and era of the Phanerozoic Eonothem and Eon

The Mesozoic Era is the era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about 252 to 66 million years ago, comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. It is characterized by the dominance … Wikipedia
Factsheet
Etymology
Name formality Formal
Nickname(s) Age of Reptiles, Age of Dinosaurs, Age of Conifers
Factsheet
Etymology
Name formality Formal
Nickname(s) Age of Reptiles, Age of Dinosaurs, Age of Conifers
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Mesozoic
Mesozoic - Wikipedia
2 weeks ago - The Mesozoic Era is the era of ... reptiles such as the dinosaurs, and of gymnosperms such as cycads, ginkgoaceae and araucarian conifers; a hot greenhouse climate; and the tectonic break-up of Pangaea....
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Wiley Online Library
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com › doi › 10.1029 › 2020PA004134
Investigating Mesozoic Climate Trends and Sensitivities With a Large Ensemble of Climate Model Simulations - Landwehrs - 2021 - Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology - Wiley Online Library
June 5, 2021 - We analyze so far the most extended ... Global mean temperatures are generally found to be elevated above the present and exhibit a baseline warming trend driven by rising sea levels and increasing solar luminosity...
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/paleontology › trying to figure out the truth around one of those broad, sweeping statements about the climate during the mesozoic...
r/Paleontology on Reddit: Trying to figure out the truth around one of those broad, sweeping statements about the climate during the mesozoic...
August 26, 2024 -

So, one thing that I hear in a lot of documentary shows (I think I even heard this one line pop up in a relatively recent series) is that during the mesozoic, the weather was on average much warmer than it is today, which fine, BUT... They sometimes even go so far as to say that there definitely was not and below freezing temperatures anywhere on Earth at any point during the entire span on the age of dinosaurs. One very recent one (as in I'm fairly sure the series was made in the last 4-5 years) even made the claim that the ice age that we had immediately prior to the rise of homosapiens was the first ever seen on Earth and that ice had never before had a chance to form on Earth...

But then there's been a lot of paleo art done of things like pachyrhinosaurus being like this thing with a great shaggy covering of downy feathers hanging out in snowy fields. Usually something pretty similar with yutyrannus.

And I get that in paleo art, the depictions are largely based on the artist's ideas of character scenes made for a cool shot rather than complete accuracy.

But I want to know... Were there snowy winters during the age of dinosaurs? Were there parts of the world that were consistently cold or temperate, or at the very least not some binary of the typical depictions of the world either being rainforest or desert?

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ScienceDirect
sciencedirect.com › science › article › abs › pii › S0016787859800687
Jurassic climates - ScienceDirect
February 19, 2009 - The climatic processes operating are illustrated by reference to Late Jurassic palaeoclimate reconstructions generated on a computer-based General Circulation Model. Throughout the Period, and indeed through much of the Mesozoic, dense forests grew close to both poles and experienced months-long daylight.
Find elsewhere
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Lyell Collection
lyellcollection.org › doi › abs › 10.1144 › gsjgs.142.3.0433
A review of Mesozoic climates | Journal of the Geological Society
There is overwhelming evidence, based on the distribution of distinctive sediments and fossils and oxygen isotope data, that the climate of the Mesozoic world was appreciably more equable than that of today, with no polar ice caps, but precise quantitative data are not available. Except for an episode of late Cretaceous cooling there is no good documentation of any significant change in global temperature distributions through the era.
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Eos
eos.org › home › simulating 195 million years of global climate in the mesozoic
Simulating 195 Million Years of Global Climate in the Mesozoic - Eos
October 7, 2021 - In addition to being the age of ... brightening Sun, tectonic changes influenced the global climate, producing warm and humid greenhouse conditions....
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Fossils Facts and Finds
fossils-facts-and-finds.com › mesozoic_era.html
The Mesozoic Era: Facts on the climate, continents, plants and animals
Pangea and the Tethys were ringed by the Panthalassic Ocean. The temperatures, both on land and in the ocean, were much higher than during the Paleozoic, and climates were more tropical in nature.
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Teacher Friendly Guide
geology.teacherfriendlyguide.org › index.php › 74-southwestern › geohist-sw › 581-geohist-mesozoic-sw
The Mesozoic: A Story of Mountains and Seas
During the Triassic, Earth’s climate was much warmer than today, with an average global temperature of about 25°C. The Southwest was now largely dry land, and rocks from this period record complex and varied deposition in rivers and deserts. Subduction along the western margin of the Americas ...
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Quora
quora.com › Why-was-the-Earth-much-warmer-in-the-Mesozoic-Era-compared-to-now
Why was the Earth much warmer in the Mesozoic Era compared to now? - Quora
Answer (1 of 2): Thanks for the ask. I'm not sure anybody knows for sure- one factor, perhaps the biggest, is likely to be the fact that most of the Earth's land was far from the water. Pangaea at that time was the only body of land on the planet- all of the continents combined into one. Much of ...
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Natural History Museum
nhm.ac.uk › discover › the-cretaceous-period.html
The Cretaceous Period: What was Earth like before dinosaurs went extinct? | Natural History Museum
You might have groups that are adapted to hot and cold climates in the same family.' 'The family level of plants may be more diverse than animals, so that's why you don't get the massive losses of these big groups, because some element of them ...
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/askscience › did the earth have ice caps in the mesozoic era?
r/askscience on Reddit: Did the Earth have ice caps in the Mesozoic Era?
October 24, 2016 -

Portrayals of dinosaurs always seem to be in tropical/subtropical jungle. Was the entire earth like that or were there still areas with different climates?

Top answer
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The last ice age before the Quarternary ice age (current), Karoo ice age was thought to have occurred 360-260 million years ago, and the Mesozoic era lasted from 252-66 million years ago so it just about missed the major ice age. During the Karoo ice age ice caps were found in South Africa. During the Triassic period of the Mesozoic, the beginning, the climate was very dry and the interior of Pangaea was very dry and mainly consisted of deserts. The interior was very seasonal however, and there were periods of rainfall and humidity, because it is so far from the ocean which means it experiences temperature extremes. During the Jurassic, Pangaea began to split up into different continents meaning more land is in contact with the ocean. The temperature still was rising, but stabilised with less extremes. As more areas were near the ocean, deserts began to get smaller as humidity increased. The last era was the Cretacious and had very high levels of CO2 which meant the entire world had nearly the same average temperature. The average temperature was 10 degrees Celsius higher than today and the equator featured mainly deserts despite being close to oceans as the temperature was too high, even for most sea life to exist. So like today, the Earth had different climates. Areas on the inside of continents would have been deserts, and humid areas near the coasts or smaller islands would probably be jungles.
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Take s look at Chris Scotese's Paleomap Project. North America straddled the equator for part of the Mesozoic. Ice caps were greatly reduced in the Cretaceous hothouse world, but may not have disappeared entirely.
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Scienceviews
scienceviews.com › dinosaurs › mesozoic.html
The Mesozoic Era
As a result, flooding overtook many parts of the exposed land. This allowed the climate to change with increased humidity and it continued that way even into the Cretaceous period. However, the climate began to cool during the Cretaceous although temperatures may have risen again near the end of the Mesozoic.
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ScienceDirect
sciencedirect.com › science › article › abs › pii › S0037073806001436
Mesozoic climates: General circulation models and the rock record - ScienceDirect
June 30, 2006 - Rocks of the Mesozoic era, a time ... other hand, a wealth of information reflecting global average temperatures throughout the Mesozoic around 6 to 9 °C warmer than the present....
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Climate Science Investigations South Florida
ces.fau.edu › nasa › module-3 › temperature-trend-changes › past-climates.php
Climate Science Investigations South Florida - Temperature Over Time
During the Mesozoic era, there is no evidence of major glaciation, due in part to the large supercontinent, Pangaea, being located closer to the equatorial region of the planet. Some parts of Pangaea extended toward the South Pole but were still warm. As Pangaea split and the continents moved closer to their current positions, the climate remained warm.
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Australian Museum
australian.museum › learn › dinosaurs › mesozoic-era
The Mesozoic era - The Australian Museum
The Mesozoic came to an abrupt end 66 million years ago in a dramatic extinction event. An estimated 70 per cent of plant and animal species perished. Many theories have been suggested for its cause. The few that are accepted as scientifically valid are placed into two opposing groups. The ‘catastrophists’ believe the mass extinction happened suddenly due to a meteorite impact. The ‘gradualists’ consider it was prolonged and caused by climate change or volcanic activity, with the meteorite only providing the final blow.
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U.S. National Park Service
nps.gov › articles › 000 › mesozoic-era.htm
Mesozoic Era (U.S. National Park Service)
Dinosaurs, crocodiles, and pterosaurs ruled the land and air. As climate changed and rapid plate tectonics resulted in shallow ocean basins, sea levels rose world-wide and seas expanded across the center of North America.
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Study.com
study.com › science › earth science › geology › geological history of earth
Mesozoic Era Overview, Timeline & Facts - Lesson | Study.com
October 8, 2015 - When the supercontinent started ... growth. Plants also contributed to increased carbo dioxide levels. The climate was warm and humid after this....
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U.S. National Park Service
nps.gov › articles › series.htm
Series: Geologic Time Periods in the Mesozoic Era
During the Mesozoic, Pangaea began ... As climate changed and rapid plate tectonics resulted in shallow ocean basins, sea levels rose world-wide and seas expanded across the center of North America....