Ordovician vs Cretacious

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Fahrenheit. These temperatures made it very difficult for the creatures of the time to diversify. However, over the course of the time period water temperatures did cool allowing life to continue to flourish on Earth. Organisms such as green algae and planktonic sea creatures were common throughout the period (Avildsen et al). Most living organisms were living in the water and all complex multicellular organisms lived in the water. There is even evidence suggesting that terrestrial plants also began forming in the time period (Fossil Facts and Finds). Life was flourishing, that is until a mass extinction occurred marking the end of the period. The extinctions occurred between 447 - 444 million years ago. The extinctions caused almost 50% of the fauna to disappear forever. The most commonly accepted theory is that these events were triggered by the onset of most cold conditions followed by an ice age that ended the long, stable greenhouse conditions that were typical of the ...

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