Cretaceous Meaning
/kɹəˈteɪ.ʃəs/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjOf or relating to chalk.
nameThe geologic period within the Mesozoic era that comprises lower and upper epochs from about 146 to 66 million years ago.
Sentence Examples
Elasmosaurs are a genus of plesiosaur that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous.
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ period ended with a mass extinction event that destroyed dinosaurs.
Word Origin & History
Specific use of cretaceous.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"As with the Lejeuneaceae, this pattern of massive speciation appears to be correlated with the Cretaceous explosion of the angiosperms and the simultaneous creation of a host of new microenvironments, differing in humidity, light intensity, texture, etc."
— 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, pages 3–4:
"Fossils are particularly well described from the Carboniferous, Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and have been found in the USA, England, Russia, Lebanon and Germany. Sites such as Lyme Regis in Dorset have particularly yielded number of Jurassic “squid” ink sacs and nodules (Doguzhaeva et al. 2004)."
— 2017 August 9, Mark Carnall, “Why do cephalopods produce ink? And what's ink made of, anyway?”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 12 Jan 2026:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ period ended with a mass extinction event that destroyed dinosaurs.