CRETACEOUS

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Cretaceous mean? 

• CRETACEOUS (noun)
  The noun CRETACEOUS has 1 sense:

1. from 135 million to 63 million years ago; end of the age of reptiles; appearance of modern insects and flowering plants

  Familiarity information: CRETACEOUS used as a noun is very rare.

• CRETACEOUS (adjective)
  The adjective CRETACEOUS has 2 senses:

1. abounding in chalk

2. of or relating to or denoting the third period of the Mesozoic era

  Familiarity information: CRETACEOUS used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CRETACEOUS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

From 135 million to 63 million years ago; end of the age of reptiles; appearance of modern insects and flowering plants

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

Cretaceous; Cretaceous period

Instance hypernyms:

geological period; period (a unit of geological time during which a system of rocks formed)

Holonyms ("Cretaceous" is a part of...):

Age of Reptiles; Mesozoic; Mesozoic era (from 230 million to 63 million years ago)

Derivation:

Cretaceous (of or relating to or denoting the third period of the Mesozoic era)

• CRETACEOUS (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Abounding in chalk

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Pertainym:

chalk (a soft whitish calcite)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of or relating to or denoting the third period of the Mesozoic era

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Pertainym:

Cretaceous (from 135 million to 63 million years ago; end of the age of reptiles; appearance of modern insects and flowering plants)

Derivation:

Cretaceous (from 135 million to 63 million years ago; end of the age of reptiles; appearance of modern insects and flowering plants)

 Context examples 

The fossils, from the species Umaltolepis mongoliensis, date back to the early Cretaceous Period (some 100-125 million years ago).

(Paleontologists find fossil relative of Ginkgo biloba, NSF)

The new fossil mammal is named Vintana sertichi, dating from the Late Cretaceous, approximately 66 million years ago.

(Scientists discover fossil of bizarre groundhog-like mammal on Madagascar, NSF)

The fossils of middle Cretaceous crocodile relatives from the Rukwa Rift Basin also exhibit distinctive features when compared to forms from elsewhere on the continent.

(Paleontologists discover new species of titanosaurian dinosaur in Tanzania, NSF)

Its fossil remains were recovered from Cretaceous Period (70-100 million years ago) rocks in southwestern Tanzania.

(Paleontologists discover new species of sauropod dinosaur in Tanzania, National Science Foundation)

The tail dates to the Cretaceous period, about 99 million years ago.

(Scientists find dinosaur feathers preserved in amber, Wikinews)

Closely related to dinosaurs, they disappeared some 66 million years ago, in the geologic period known as Cretaceous, and left no descendants.

(Brazil and China scientists unearth pterosaur eggs with preserved embryos, Agência Brasil)

The finding offers insights into paleogeography during the Cretaceous.

(New dinosaur with heart-shaped tail offers clues to evolution of Africa's ecosystems, National Science Foundation)

This is also the earliest snake to be found in a forest environment, suggesting that snakes had become reasonably biodiverse by the Cretaceous.

(Cretaceous baby snake fossil found in Myanmar, Wikinews)

Research at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, sheds the first light on the life of a young Rapetosaurus, a titanosaurian sauropod buried in the Upper Cretaceous Maevarano Formation of Madagascar.

(Newly discovered baby Titanosaur sheds light on dinosaurs' early lives, NSF)

This time period corresponds to Earth’s Cretaceous period, the heyday of dinosaurs.

(Evidence for Young Lunar Volcanism, NASA)