The Jurassic is a geologic period that took place about 201.3 million years to 145 million years ago and constitutes the middle part of the Mesozoic era.
The Jurassic period was named after the Jura limestone deposits in the Jura Mountains, discovered by German geologist Alexander von Humboldt. Building on this find, French scientist Alexandre Brongniart later coined the Jurassic period.
There are three Jurassic time periods: early, middle, and late. Overall, the Jurassic gives us a particularly well-preserved fossil record of prehistoric life, which included theropod dinosaurs that scientists believe evolved to become birds.