BioConcepts

mesozoicmesozoisch (ger.)

• Of, relating to, or designating the second era of the Phanerozoic eon, between about 245 million and 65 million years ago, which followed the Palaeozoic and preceded the Cenozoic and was marked by the rise of dinosaurs and the appearance of the first birds, mammals, and flowering plants. Also in extended use. The Mesozoic era comprises the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods. (OED 2012)
  category fossil see also cainozoic palaeozoic

  1840

  As many systems or combinations of organic forms are clearly traceable in the stratified crust of the globe, so many corresponding terms (as Palæozoic, Mesozoic, Kainozoic, &c.), may be made, nor will these necessarily require change upon every new discovery.

  [Phillips, J.] (1840). Palæozoic series. The Penny Cyclopædia, vol. 17, 153-154: 153-4; cf. id. (1841).  Figures and Descriptions of the Palaeozoic Fossils of Cornwell, Devon, and West Somerset: 168.

  1841

  The lower of these [viz. the two formations in which the Saliferous strata are ranked], the Magnesian Limestone formation, contains corals, brachiopoda, and fishes, so extremely similar in detail or analogous in their general history to the corresponding forms of the mountain-limestone, that is impossible in any fair classification to sever this group of fossils from the Palæozoic series; while, on the other hand, the upper of the two formations, the Red-Sandstone and Keuper series, presents almost no resemblance to the older, but a decided analogy to the newer, or, as we wish to call it, Mesozoic series of the Oolites.

  [Phillips, J.] Saliferous System. The Penny Cyclopædia, vol. 20, 354-355: 355.

  1851

  The geological formations have sometimes been grouped and classified, in accordance with the predominant types of animals and vegetables which lived at the time of their depositions. The periods have accordingly been designated as- protozoic (protos, first; and zoe, life;) the period in which are found the first forms of animated existence; mesozoic (mesos, middle; and zoe, life;) the period of intermediate forms of life; and cainozoic (kainos, new; and zoe, life;) the period of most recent living forms.

  John, S. (1851). Elements of Geology: 127.

  1854

  Mesozoic Period (Middle Life)

  Page, D. (1854). Introductory Text-book of Geology: 39.

  1854

  We are accustomed to group all geological epochs under three great sections, the Palæozoic, or oldest, the Mesozoic or middle, and the Cainozoic, more commonly termed Tertiary, or newest

  Forbes, E. (1854). On the manifestation of polarity in the distribution of organized beings in time. Notes Proc. Roy. Inst. Great Britain 1, 428-433: 430.

  1857

  Fossiliferous, or Sedimentary, rocks are divided into three great series,-

  The Palæozoic (most ancient forms of life), or Primary.

  The Mesozoic (middle life period), or Secundary.

  The Neozoic or Cainozoic (more recent forms of life), or Tertiary.

  Haydn, J.T. (1841/57). Dictionary of Dates: 289.