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Cretaceous Dinosaurs
Despite being the period of prehistory in which dinosaurs died out, the Cretaceous was also an age during which entirely new types of dinosaurs appeared. Among the new arrivals during this age were pachycepalosaurids (those with thick padding and often with armored heads) and ceratopsians (a group of plant-eating dinosaurs with armored neck-frills and horns or beaks such as triceratops). Other dinosaurs of the time included Tyrannosaurus rex, the duck-billed parasaurolophus and armor-plated ankylosaurus.
End of the Dinosaurs
With the end of the Cretaceous period came the end of all non-avian dinosaurs, both large and small, with the exception of one that still remains a successful animal in the wild today: the crocodile. It also saw the end of other previously successful organisms such as ammonites, but the extinction of these creatures was to the benefit of other life forms as it allowed species that had been secondary to come to the fore.
Cretaceous Changes
Another significant change during this period was to the geography of the planet. The previous age, the Jurassic, had seen the beginning of the breaking up of the single world continent known as Pangaea. This continued during the subsequent Cretaceous era and led to a more rapid evolution of plant life and animal species as it caused pronounced regional variations in flora and fauna. And so began the development of life as we see it today.
Cretaceous Plants
The Cretaceous was also noted for the appearance of new forms of plant life, in particular flowering plants. These plants, known as angiosperms, were helped in their evolution toward the end of this era by the appearance of bees. This time also saw the development of other insects, such as ants, grasshoppers, aphids, butterflies and wasps. But the predominant plant forms during the Cretaceous were the forests of conifers and ferns, which served as home to dinosaurs of all kinds.