Most of the sandstones in the Pafuri region however probably represent the great age of dinosaurs – the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. During the early parts of the Jurassic, which lasted from approximately 210 million years ago until about 144 million years ago, the area was almost certainly extremely arid as is evidenced by the great sandstones of the region and the many dune and desert structures – such as desert roses – that are found preserved within the rocks of the region. In these sediments have been found the remains of early dinosaurs - possibly those of a species known as "Massospondylus". It was also clearly a period of intense volcanism – with intrusive igneous rocks representing the ejected and intrusive molten matter from the interior of the Earth scattered about the region. The Jurassic was the age of great plant eating sauropods and smaller, carnivorous dinosaurs. This was the age of the origin of vertebrate flight with pterosaurs – flying dinosaurs – and the first birds appearing. The oceans themselves were full of a wide variety of life including many different types of fish, squids and ammonites – fossils of which are plentiful in the slightly younger rocks of the coastal regions to the southeast of the area. This was also a time of global upheaval as the World-continent of Pangea began to break up.