Cretaceous
145 Ma – 66 Ma · part of the Mesozoic era
Flowering plants spread across the Cretaceous world, the Atlantic widened, and dinosaurs reached their peak — until an asteroid impact caused the mass extinction that ends the Mesozoic.
View the Cretaceous on the globe →
Highlights
- Rise of flowering plants
- Dinosaurs at their greatest diversity
- The K–Pg impact extinction