Fruits of May. Saga of the Cretaceous period. more facts about the Cretaceous.

The archosaurian reptiles, particularly the dinosaurs, continue to dominate the land. Climate changes due to the breakup of Pangaea allowed flowers and grasses to appear for the first time. The most well known dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops, Velociraptor and Spinosaurus all lived in the Cretaceous. Pterosaurs remain common until the Upper Cretaceous when competition occurs from evolving birds. Mammals persist in their backstage existence among life on land. Cretaceous Orthopteran from Cretaceous Liaoning ChinaInsects became even more diverse as the first ants, termites and butterflies appeared, along with aphids, grasshoppers, and gall wasps. Another important Hymenopteran insect, the eusocial bee appeared, which was integral to and symbiotic with the appearance of flowering plants.

During the Cretaceous, the rays, modern sharks and teleosts, or the ray-finned fish became widespread and diverse. The marine reptiles persisted, including the ichthyosaurs in the in the Lower and Middle of the Cretaceous, the plesiosaurs throughout the Cretaceous, and the mosasaurs that dominated the Upper Cretaceous. Baculites, a straight-shelled ammonite, flourished in the seas. The Cretaceous also saw the first radiation of marine diatoms in the oceans.