What is "maastrichtian"

a. 1 Of or pertaining to Maastricht. 2 Of or pertainig to the Maastrichtian geological period. 3 in the ICS' geologic timescale, the latest age or upper stage of the Late Cretaceous epoch or Upper Cretaceous series, the Cretaceous period or system, and of the Mesozoic era or erathem n. (context countable English) Someone from Maastricht n. 1 The dialect of the Limburgish language as spoken in Maastricht 2 (context geology English) the last stage of the Cretaceous period, preceded by the Campanian and succeeded by the Danian period.

The Maastrichtian is, in the ICS geologic timescale, the latest age or uppermost stage of the Late Cretaceous epoch or Upper Cretaceous series, the Cretaceous period or system, and of the Mesozoic era or erathem. It spanned the interval from . The Maastrichtian was preceded by the Campanian and succeeded by the Danian (part of the Paleogene and Paleocene).

At the end of this period, there was a mass extinction known as the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, (formerly known as the Cretaceous– Tertiary extinction event). At this extinction event, many commonly recognized groups such as non-avian dinosaurs, plesiosaurs and mosasaurs, as well as many other lesser-known groups, died out. The cause of the extinction is most commonly linked to an asteroid about wide colliding with Earth at the end of the Cretaceous.

The Maastrichtian is the last stage of the Cretaceous period, and therefore of the Mesozoic era.

Maastrichtian may also refer to:

• Pertaining to Maastricht, the capital city of Dutch Limburg
• Maastrichtian, the dialect of Limburgish spoken in Maastricht