95-669: Main Ridge is the main mountainous ridge on the island of Tobago , Trinidad and Tobago . It is a 29-kilometre (18 mi) chain of hills which runs from southwest to northeast between the Caribbean Sea and the Southern Tobago fault system and reaches a maximum height of 572 m (1,877 ft). The Main Ridge Forest Reserve, which was legally established in 1776, is one of the oldest protected areas in
190-403: A 4-foot (1.2-metre) jewfish , a member of the grouper family. The wreck was purposely sunk for divers, and so all the doors and windows were removed. The waters around the island are home to many species of tropical fish, rays , sharks, and turtles. Tobago is home to two golf courses, both of which are open to visitors. The older of the two is Mount Irvine Hotel Golf Course, built in 1968. It
285-483: A boom of dinosaurian evolution on land as the continents began to separate from each other (Nyasasaurus from 243 to 210 million years ago, approximately 235–30 ma, some of them separated into Sauropodomorphs, Theropods and Herrerasaurids), as well as the first pterosaurs . During the Late Triassic, some advanced cynodonts gave rise to the first Mammaliaformes . All this climatic change, however, resulted in
380-594: A coating. This contrasts with the earth's current flora, in which the dominant land plants in terms of number of species are angiosperms . The earliest members of the genus Ginkgo first appeared during the Middle Jurassic. This genus is represented today by a single species, Ginkgo biloba . Modern conifer groups began to radiate during the Jurassic. Bennettitales , an extinct group of gymnosperms with foliage superficially resembling that of cycads gained
475-600: A decline in diversity of sauropods, stegosaurs, and other high-browsing groups, with sauropods particularly scarce in North America. Some island-hopping dinosaurs, such as Eustreptospondylus , evolved to cope with the coastal shallows and small islands of ancient Europe. Other dinosaurs rose up to fill the empty space that the Jurassic-Cretaceous extinction left behind, such as Carcharodontosaurus and Spinosaurus . Seasons came back into effect and
570-477: A few million years before the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event. Sea levels began to rise during the Jurassic, probably caused by an increase in seafloor spreading . The formation of new crust beneath the surface displaced ocean waters by as much as 200 m (656 ft) above today's sea level, flooding coastal areas. Furthermore, Pangaea began to rift into smaller divisions, creating new shoreline around
665-483: A global distribution during the Late Triassic, and represented one of the most common groups of Mesozoic seed plants. Flowering plants radiated during the early Cretaceous, first in the tropics , but the even temperature gradient allowed them to spread toward the poles throughout the period. By the end of the Cretaceous, angiosperms dominated tree floras in many areas, although some evidence suggests that biomass
760-671: A large die-out known as the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event, in which many archosaurs (excluding pterosaurs, dinosaurs and crocodylomorphs ), most synapsids , and almost all large amphibians became extinct, as well as 34% of marine life, in the Earth's fourth mass extinction event. The cause is debatable; flood basalt eruptions at the Central Atlantic magmatic province is cited as one possible cause. The Jurassic ranges from 200 million years to 145 million years ago and features three major epochs: The Early Jurassic,
855-584: A period of stability during which plantation culture began. Sugar, cotton and indigo factories sprang up and Africans were imported by the British to work as slaves. The economy flourished. France had abandoned the island to Britain in 1763, and by 1777 Tobago was exporting great quantities of cotton, indigo, rum and sugar. In 1781, the French retook the island during the Invasion of Tobago . On 24 May 1781,
950-568: A road along the northeast coast. There has also been damage to the reef in Charlotteville village caused by sealing the road at Flagstaff Hill and diverting more silty water down the stream from Flagstaff down to Charlotteville. Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the era of Earth's geological history , lasting from about 252 to 66 million years ago , comprising the Triassic , Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods . It
1045-435: A variety of niches, beginning in the mid-Triassic 4 million to 6 million years after the extinction, and not fully proliferated until 30 million years after the extinction. Animal life was then dominated by various archosaurs: dinosaurs , pterosaurs, and aquatic reptiles such as ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs . The climatic changes of the late Jurassic and Cretaceous favored further adaptive radiation. The Jurassic
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#17327718960701140-589: A ward of Trinidad, thus terminating local government on Tobago and forming a unified colony government. In 1945 when the county council system was first introduced, Tobago was administered as a single county of Trinidad. In 1980 provisions were made for the Tobago House of Assembly to be revived as an entity providing local government in Tobago. Under the revived system, Tobago is made up of 12 local electoral districts with each district electing one Assemblyman to
1235-468: Is also a popular diving location, since it is the southernmost of the Caribbean islands that have coral communities. Trinidad, which is further south, has no significant coral because of low salinity and high silt content, the result of its position close to the mouth of Venezuela 's Orinoco River . Scuba diving on Tobago tends to be centred at Speyside , almost diametrically across the island from
1330-416: Is based on tourism, fishing, and government spending, government spending being the largest. The local governing body, the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), employs 62% of the labor force. Tourism is still a fledgling industry. Conventional beach and water-sports tourism is largely in the southwest around the airport and the coastal strip. Meanwhile, ecotourism is growing in significance, much of it focused on
1425-660: Is characterized by the dominance of gymnosperms such as cycads , ginkgoaceae and araucarian conifers, and of archosaurian reptiles such as the dinosaurs ; a hot greenhouse climate; and the tectonic break-up of Pangaea . The Mesozoic is the middle of the three eras since complex life evolved : the Paleozoic , the Mesozoic, and the Cenozoic . The era began in the wake of the Permian–Triassic extinction event ,
1520-510: Is found at the highest elevations and is the only fish species upstream of several waterfalls. Aquatic invertebrates include the decapods Atya innocous , Eudaniela garmani , Macrobrachium faustinum , and the introduced red-rimmed melania . Main Ridge provides critical habitat for three endemic amphibians: Turpin's frog , the Bloody Bay poison frog and the Charlotteville rain frog , which are endemic to north-eastern Tobago, and for
1615-589: Is linked to the world through the Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson International Airport (formerly Crown Point Airport) and Scarborough harbour. Domestic flights connect Tobago with Trinidad, and international flights connect with the Caribbean and Europe. There is a daily fast ferry service between Port of Spain and Scarborough. Tobago's economy is tightly linked with Trinidad's, which is based on liquefied natural gas (LNG), petrochemicals, and steel. Tobago
1710-630: Is prone to over-use. The Main Ridge Forest Reserve was named the World's Leading Ecotourism Destination by the World Travel Awards from 2003 to 2006 and the World's Leading Green Destination in 2007 and 2009. Forests on the Main Ridge were damaged by Hurricane Flora in 1963, and its forests continue to be susceptible to hurricane damage. Given the small size of the area, fires started in surrounding agricultural lands can penetrate deep into
1805-628: Is the main exposed portion of the Tobago terrane , a fragment of crustal material lying between the Caribbean and South American Plates . Tobago is primarily hilly, mountainous and of volcanic origin. The southwest of the island is flat and consists largely of coralline limestone . The mountainous spine of the island is called the Main Ridge . The highest point in Tobago is the 550 metres (1,800 ft) Pigeon Peak near Speyside . The climate
1900-537: Is thought that a large meteor smashed into earth 66 million years ago, creating the Chicxulub Crater in an event known as the K-Pg Extinction (formerly K-T), the fifth and most recent mass extinction event, in which 75% of life became extinct, including all non-avian dinosaurs. Compared to the vigorous convergent plate mountain-building of the late Paleozoic, Mesozoic tectonic deformation
1995-496: Is tropical, and the island lies just south of the Atlantic Main Development Region , making it vulnerable to occasional low-latitude tropical cyclones . Average rainfall varies between 3,800 mm (150 inches) on the Main Ridge to less than 1,250 mm (49 inches) in the southwest. There are two seasons: a wet season between June and December, and a dry season between January and May. The island
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#17327718960702090-516: The 2015 and 2020 Trinidad and Tobago general election . Historically, Tobago was divided into seven parishes (Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mary, Saint Patrick and Saint Paul). In 1768 each parish of Tobago nominated representatives to the Tobago House of Assembly . On 20 October 1889 the British crown implemented a Royal Order in Council constituting Tobago as
2185-648: The Greek prefix meso- ( μεσο- 'between') and zōon ( ζῷον 'animal, living being'). In this way, the Mesozoic is comparable to the Cenozoic ( lit. ' new life ' ) and Paleozoic ('old life') eras as well as the Proterozoic ('earlier life') Eon. The Mesozoic Era was originally described as the "secondary" era, following the "primary" ( Paleozoic ), and preceding the Tertiary . Following
2280-711: The Indian subcontinent , which collided with the Asian plate during the Cenozoic, giving rise to the Himalayas . The Triassic was generally dry, a trend that began in the late Carboniferous , and highly seasonal, especially in the interior of Pangaea. Low sea levels may have also exacerbated temperature extremes. With its high specific heat capacity , water acts as a temperature-stabilizing heat reservoir, and land areas near large bodies of water—especially oceans—experience less variation in temperature. Because much of Pangaea's land
2375-534: The Kalina (mainland Caribs) called the island Urupina because of its resemblance to a big snail, while the Kalinago (Island Caribs) called it Aloubaéra , supposedly because it resembled the alloüebéra , a giant snake which was supposed to live in a cave on the island of Dominica . The earliest known record of the use of the name Tabaco to refer to the island is a Spanish royal order issued in 1511. That name
2470-561: The Permian Period allowed for the radiation of many new lifeforms. In particular, the extinction of the large herbivorous pareiasaurs and carnivorous gorgonopsians left those ecological niches empty. Some were filled by the surviving cynodonts and dicynodonts , the latter of which subsequently became extinct. Recent research indicates that it took much longer for the reestablishment of complex ecosystems with high biodiversity, complex food webs, and specialized animals in
2565-491: The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago . It is located 35 kilometres (22 mi) northeast of the larger island of Trinidad and about 160 kilometres (99 mi) off the northeastern coast of Venezuela . It lies to the southeast of Grenada and southwest of Barbados . Tobago was named Belaforme by Christopher Columbus "because from a distance it seemed beautiful". The Spanish friar Antonio Vázquez de Espinosa wrote that
2660-497: The Tobago stream snake . The site has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports significant populations of rufous-vented chachalacas , white-tailed sabrewings , copper-rumped hummingbirds and Venezuelan flycatchers . It is one of seven IBAs in Trinidad and Tobago. The white-tailed sabrewing is endemic to north-eastern Venezuela and the Main Ridge; after Hurricane Flora in 1963
2755-785: The Walt Disney Company as the setting for a film based upon the Johann Wyss novel Swiss Family Robinson . When producers saw the island for the first time, they "fell instantly in love". The script required animals, which were brought from all around the world, including eight dogs, two giant tortoises, forty monkeys, two elephants, six ostriches, four zebras, one hundred flamingos, six hyenas, two anacondas, and one tiger. Filming locations include Richmond Bay (the Robinsons beach), Mount Irvine Bay (the Pirates beach), and
2850-708: The 15 seats in the Assembly, with the Tobago Council of the People's National Movement led by Ancil Dennis controlling one seat since the December 2021 Tobago House of Assembly election . Tobago is represented by two seats in the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago , Tobago East and Tobago West. The two seats are controlled by the Tobago Council of the People's National Movement , which won and retained them in
2945-458: The Atlantic seaway, which has grown continually larger until today. The further separation of the continents gave opportunity for the diversification of new dinosaurs. The Cretaceous is the longest period of the Mesozoic, but has only two epochs: Early and Late Cretaceous. The Early Cretaceous spans from 145 to 100 million years ago. The Early Cretaceous saw the expansion of seaways and
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3040-522: The British in 1814. In 1662, the Dutch brothers Adrian and Cornelius Lampsins were granted the title of Barons of Tobago, and ruled until the English captured the island in 1666. Adrian briefly recaptured Tobago in 1673, but was killed in battle when the English, under Sir Tobias Bridge , yet again took control of the island. From about 1672, during the temporary English rule of 1672–1674, Tobago had
3135-872: The Cayo tradition are known from Tobago. Tobago's location made it an important point of connection between the Kalinago of the Lesser Antilles and their Kalina allies and trading partners in the Guianas and Venezuela . In the 1630s Tobago was inhabited by the Kalina, while the neighbouring island of Grenada was shared by the Kalina and Kalinago. Columbus sighted Tobago on 14 August 1498, during his fourth voyage, but he did not land. The Spanish settlers in Hispaniola were authorised to conduct slave raids against
3230-545: The Craig Hall Waterfalls. The treehouse was constructed in a 200-foot tall saman in the Goldsborough Bay area. After filming, locals convinced Disney, who had intended to remove all evidence of filmmaking, to let the treehouse remain, without interior furnishing. In 1960, the treehouse was listed for sale for $ 9,000, a fraction of its original cost, and became a popular attraction before the structure
3325-778: The Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. Approximately 50% of all genera became extinct, including all of the non- avian dinosaurs. The Triassic ranges roughly from 252 million to 201 million years ago, preceding the Jurassic Period. The period is bracketed between the Permian–Triassic extinction event and the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event , two of the " big five ", and it is divided into three major epochs: Early, Middle, and Late Triassic. The Early Triassic, about 252 to 247 million years ago,
3420-589: The Environment, a department of the Tobago House of Assembly . The Main Ridge Forest Reserve plays an important role in the protection of native biodiversity, particularly endemic plant species . The Main Ridge and the Northern Range (in northern Trinidad ) are the areas in the country which support the largest numbers of globally rare plant species. A gap analysis of endemic vascular plants of Trinidad and Tobago identified 15 endemic plant species in
3515-562: The Island of Tobago, who colonized the island intermittently between 1637 and 1690. Over the ensuing years, the Curonians ( Duchy of Courland ), Dutch, English, French, Spanish and Swedish had caused Tobago to become a focal point in repeated attempts of colonization, which led to the island having changed hands 33 times, the most in Caribbean history, before the Treaty of Paris ceded it to
3610-545: The Jurassic, having evolved from a branch of theropod dinosaurs, then true toothless birds appeared in the Cretaceous. The first mammals also appeared during the Mesozoic, but would remain small—less than 15 kg (33 lb)—until the Cenozoic. Flowering plants appeared in the Early Cretaceous and would rapidly diversify through the end of the era, replacing conifers and other gymnosperms ( sensu lato ), such as ginkgoales , cycads and bennettitales as
3705-465: The Late Cretaceous declined for poorly understood reasons, though this might be due to tendencies of the fossil record, as their diversity seems to be much higher than previously thought. Birds became increasingly common and diversified into a variety of enantiornithe and ornithurine forms. Though mostly small, marine hesperornithes became relatively large and flightless, adapted to life in
3800-587: The Main Ridge Forest Reserve. Main Ridge forms the mountainous backbone of the island of Tobago, which is the smaller and more northern of the two main islands that make up the southern Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago. The chain of hills is 29 km (18 mi) long and runs from the southwest to the northeast, roughly parallel to the orientation of the island. Main Ridge reaches an elevation of 572 metres (1,877 ft) above sea level at Centre Hill, but lacks any well-defined peaks. To
3895-469: The Mesozoic was varied, alternating between warming and cooling periods. Overall, however, the Earth was hotter than it is today. Dinosaurs first appeared in the Mid-Triassic, and became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates in the Late Triassic or Early Jurassic, occupying this position for about 150 or 135 million years until their demise at the end of the Cretaceous. Archaic birds appeared in
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3990-561: The Middle Jurassic, and the Late Jurassic. The Early Jurassic spans from 200 to 175 million years ago. The climate was tropical and much more humid than the Triassic, as a result of the large seas appearing between the land masses. In the oceans, plesiosaurs , ichthyosaurs and ammonites were abundant. On land, dinosaurs and other archosaurs staked their claim as the dominant race, with theropods such as Dilophosaurus at
4085-628: The Paleozoic, the Mesozoic extended roughly 186 million years, from 251.902 to 66 million years ago when the Cenozoic Era began. This time frame is separated into three geologic periods . From oldest to youngest: The lower boundary of the Mesozoic is set by the Permian–Triassic extinction event , during which it has been estimated that up to 90-96% of marine species became extinct although those approximations have been brought into question with some paleontologists estimating
4180-492: The THA. The population was 60,874 at the 2011 census. The capital, Scarborough , has a population of 17,537. While Trinidad is multiethnic , Tobago's population is primarily of African descent, with a growing proportion of Trinidadians of East Indian descent and Europeans. Between 2000 and 2011, the population of Tobago grew by 12.55 percent, making it one of the fastest-growing areas of Trinidad and Tobago . Tobago's main economy
4275-474: The Tethys Ocean. Temperatures continued to increase, then began to stabilize. Humidity also increased with the proximity of water, and deserts retreated. The climate of the Cretaceous is less certain and more widely disputed. Probably, higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are thought to have almost eliminated the north–south temperature gradient : temperatures were about the same across
4370-602: The actual numbers as low as 81%. It is also known as the "Great Dying" because it is considered the largest mass extinction in the Earth's history. The upper boundary of the Mesozoic is set at the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event (or K–Pg extinction event ), which may have been caused by an asteroid impactor that created Chicxulub Crater on the Yucatán Peninsula . Towards the Late Cretaceous, large volcanic eruptions are also believed to have contributed to
4465-523: The airport. The island has some of the best diving sites in the Caribbean. There are three wrecks located around its shores, but the one usually considered the best is the Maverick Ferry , which used to travel between Trinidad and Tobago. The ferry is 350 feet (110 metres) long and has been sunk in 30 metres (98 feet) just off Rocky Point, Mt. Irvine. The top of the wreck is at 15 metres (49 feet). The wreck has an abundance of marine life, including
4560-410: The area. Sixteen mammalian species, including the nine-banded armadillo , crab-eating raccoon and red-rumped agouti are present. The ichthyofauna is limited - only four of Tobago's 13 freshwater fish species are found in its rivers and streams. The spotted algae-eating goby, Sicydium punctatum , is the most widespread fish species in the area, while the jumping guabine, Anablepsoides hartii ,
4655-454: The area; species distribution modelling suggested that the reserve included suitable habitat for another nine endemic plant species. Main Ridge is an important ecotourism destination and birdwatching site. The site has a visitor centre and a network of nine trails which allow access to the site. Additional trails were constructed to reduce pressure on the most popular trail, Gilpin Trace, which
4750-521: The beginnings of the breakup of Pangaea and the opening of the Tethys Ocean . Ecosystems had recovered from the Permian extinction. Algae, sponge, corals, and crustaceans all had recovered, and new aquatic reptiles evolved, such as ichthyosaurs and nothosaurs . On land, pine forests flourished, as did groups of insects such as mosquitoes and fruit flies. Reptiles began to get bigger and bigger, and
4845-428: The competition from sugar with other European countries, marked the end of the sugar trade. In 1889, the island became a ward of Trinidad. Without sugar, the islanders had to grow other crops, planting acres of limes, coconuts and cocoa and exporting their produce to Trinidad. In 1963, Hurricane Flora ravaged Tobago, destroying the villages and crops. A restructuring programme followed and attempts were made to diversify
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#17327718960704940-431: The current level (about 21%) throughout the Mesozoic, some concluding they were lower in the Triassic and part of the Jurassic but higher in the Cretaceous, and some concluding they were higher throughout most or all of the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. The dominant land plant species of the time were gymnosperms , which are vascular, cone-bearing, non-flowering plants such as conifers that produce seeds without
5035-501: The dancing blue-backed manakin ), mammals, frogs, (non-venomous) snakes, butterflies and other invertebrates. Tobago also has nesting beaches for the leatherback turtle , which come to shore between April and July. The island of Tobago has multiple coral reef ecosystems. The Buccoo Reef , the Culloden Reef and Speyside Reef are the three largest coral reef marine ecosystems in Tobago. These coral reef systems protect
5130-402: The dominant group of plants. The phrase "Age of Reptiles" was introduced by the 19th century paleontologist Gideon Mantell who viewed it as dominated by diapsids such as Iguanodon , Megalosaurus , Plesiosaurus , and Pterodactylus . The current name was proposed in 1840 by the British geologist John Phillips (1800–1874). "Mesozoic" literally means 'middle life', deriving from
5225-605: The dramatic rifting of the supercontinent Pangaea, which gradually split into a northern continent, Laurasia , and a southern continent, Gondwana . This created the passive continental margin that characterizes most of the Atlantic coastline (such as along the U.S. East Coast ) today. By the end of the era, the continents had rifted into nearly their present forms, though not their present positions. Laurasia became North America and Eurasia , while Gondwana split into South America , Africa , Australia , Antarctica and
5320-485: The economy changed direction away from cash crop agriculture and toward tourism. Hurricane Ivan , while less severe than Flora, also caused significant damage in 2004. Central and local government functions in Tobago are handled by the Tobago House of Assembly . The current Chief Secretary of Tobago is Farley Chavez Augustine from the Progressive Democratic Patriots , which controls 14 of
5415-540: The economy. The development of a tourist industry began. Trinidad and Tobago obtained independence from the British Empire in August 1962 and became a republic on 31 August 1976. Tobago has a land area of 300 km and is approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) long and 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) wide. It is located at latitude 11° 15' N, longitude 60° 40' W, slightly north of Trinidad. The island of Tobago
5510-467: The fern prairies, chased by many new predators such as Allosaurus . Conifer forests made up a large portion of the forests. In the oceans, plesiosaurs were quite common, and ichthyosaurs flourished. This epoch was the peak of the reptiles. The Late Jurassic spans from 163 to 145 million years ago. During this epoch, the first avialans , such as Archaeopteryx , evolved from small coelurosaurian dinosaurs. The increase in sea levels opened up
5605-402: The first crocodilians and dinosaurs evolved, which sparked competition with the large amphibians that had previously ruled the freshwater world, respectively mammal-like reptiles on land. Following the bloom of the Middle Triassic, the Late Triassic, from 237 to 201 million years ago, featured frequent heat spells and moderate precipitation (10–20 inches per year). The recent warming led to
5700-405: The fleet of Comte de Grasse landed troops on the island under the command of General Marquis de Bouillé. By 2 June 1781, they had successfully gained control of the island. In 1814, when the island again came under British control, another phase of successful sugar-production began. But a severe hurricane in 1847, combined with the collapse of plantation underwriters, end of slavery in 1834 and
5795-417: The food web. In the oceans, mosasaurs ruled, filling the role of the ichthyosaurs, which, after declining, had disappeared in the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary event . Though pliosaurs had gone extinct in the same event, long-necked plesiosaurs such as Elasmosaurus continued to thrive. Flowering plants, possibly appearing as far back as the Triassic, became truly dominant for the first time. Pterosaurs in
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#17327718960705890-432: The fossil record. The Late Cretaceous spans from 100 to 66 million years ago. The Late Cretaceous featured a cooling trend that would continue in the Cenozoic Era. Eventually, tropics were restricted to the equator and areas beyond the tropic lines experienced extreme seasonal changes in weather. Dinosaurs still thrived, as new taxa such as Tyrannosaurus , Ankylosaurus , Triceratops and hadrosaurs dominated
5985-406: The hills. Commercial and subsistence hunting and overuse for tourism pose threats to biodiversity, while the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis poses a threat to endemic amphibians. 11°16′35″N 60°37′00″W / 11.27639°N 60.61667°W / 11.27639; -60.61667 Tobago Tobago ( / t ə ˈ b eɪ ɡ oʊ / ) is an island and ward within
6080-430: The hummingbird was thought to have been extirpated from Tobago, but was rediscovered in 1974. The Main Ridge Forest Reserve, a 3,937-hectare (9,730-acre) forest reserve , is one of the oldest protected areas in the world. The Trinidad and Tobago government submitted the Main Ridge Forest Reserve as a tentative listing for a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011. The area is managed by the Department of Natural Resources and
6175-434: The introduction of the Barrancoid culture, either by trade or a combination of trade and settlement. After 650 CE, the Saladoid culture was replaced by the Troumassoid tradition in Tobago. Troumassoid traditions were once thought to represent the settlement of the Island Caribs in the Lesser Antilles and Tobago, but this is now associated with the Cayo ceramic tradition. No archaeological sites exclusively associated with
6270-422: The island in a royal order issued in 1511. These raids, which continued until at least the 1620s, decimated the island's population. In 1628, Dutch settlers established the first European settlement in Tobago, a colony they called Nieuw Walcheren at Great Courland Bay. They also built a fort, Nieuw Vlissingen, near the modern town of Plymouth . The settlement was abandoned in 1630 after indigenous attacks, but
6365-421: The island of Tobago. The island of Tobago is the main exposed portion of the Tobago terrane , a fragment of crustal material lying between the Caribbean and South American Plates . The rocks of the NCSG are metavolcanic ; the underlying igneous rock was laid down during the Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous . They underwent metamorphosis prior to the mid Cretaceous , when additional volcanic intrusion formed
6460-448: The large area of protected forest in the centre and north of the main island and on Little Tobago , a small island off the main island's northeast tip. The southwestern tourist area around Crown Point, Store Bay, Buccoo Reef, and Pigeon Point has large expanses of sand and is dominated by resort-type developments. Tobago has many idyllic beaches along its coastline, especially those at Castara , Bloody Bay, and Englishman's Bay . Tobago
6555-406: The largest mass extinction in Earth's history, and ended with the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event , another mass extinction whose victims included the non-avian dinosaurs , pterosaurs , mosasaurs , and plesiosaurs . The Mesozoic was a time of significant tectonic, climatic, and evolutionary activity. The supercontinent Pangaea began to break apart into separate landmasses. The climate of
6650-439: The northwest it is bounded by the Caribbean Sea and by the Southern Tobago fault system to the southeast. Rainfall averages about 2,800 millimetres (110 in) per year. Most streams run along oblique-slip faults with a northwest orientation. Major streams draining the Main Ridge include the Coffee, Hillsborough, Goldsborough, and Queens Rivers. Streams which drain to the northwest are short and steep, while those which drain to
6745-407: The open sea. Metatherians and primitive eutherian also became common and even produced large and specialised genera such as Didelphodon and Schowalteria . Still, the dominant mammals were multituberculates, cimolodonts in the north and gondwanatheres in the south. At the end of the Cretaceous, the Deccan traps and other volcanic eruptions were poisoning the atmosphere. As this continued, it
6840-606: The palm Euterpe broadwayi more common on exposed ridges and summits. Moist lowland forest dominates the lower-lying portions of the Main Ridge. The forests experienced limited human disturbance prior to the 1940s, but were badly damaged by Hurricane Flora in 1963. Plant species endemic to Tobago which have been recorded from Main Ridge include Odontonema brevipes , Duguetia tobagensis , Phyllanthus acacioides , Besleria seitzii , Cybianthus pittieri , Pilea tobagensis , and Justicia tobagensis . Some 210 species of birds, 24 snakes and 16 lizards have been recorded from
6935-437: The planet, and about 10° C higher than today. The circulation of oxygen to the deep ocean may also have been disrupted, preventing the decomposition of large volumes of organic matter, which was eventually deposited as " black shale ". Different studies have come to different conclusions about the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere during different parts of the Mesozoic, with some concluding oxygen levels were lower than
7030-641: The poles got seasonally colder, but some dinosaurs still inhabited the polar forests year round, such as Leaellynasaura and Muttaburrasaurus . The poles were too cold for crocodiles, and became the last stronghold for large amphibians such as Koolasuchus . Pterosaurs got larger as genera such as Tapejara and Ornithocheirus evolved. Mammals continued to expand their range: eutriconodonts produced fairly large, wolverine -like predators such as Repenomamus and Gobiconodon , early therians began to expand into metatherians and eutherians , and cimolodont multituberculates went on to become common in
7125-413: The reserve "for the purpose of attracting frequent showers of rain upon which the fertility of lands in these climates doth entirely depend". This action produced one of the oldest protected areas in the world geared towards conservation and has been described as "the first act in the modern environmental movement". Beginning in 1904, the rain reserve was combined with adjacent Crown lands and proclaimed
7220-594: The return to British control led to a rapid conversion of the island to a plantation economy. Under the direction of the Board of Trade , the island was surveyed, divided into 100–500-acre (40–202 ha) plots, and sold to planters. The upper portions of the Main Ridge were reserved as "Woods for the Protection of the Rains" and thus remained uncleared and uncultivated. The decision to preserve forests to maintain rainfall
7315-596: The rocks of the Tobago Volcanic Group . A combination of uplift, erosion, and faulting during the late Mesozoic and Paleogene led to the elevated horst block separated from the half graben of the southern lowlands by the Southern Tobago fault system. Main Ridge is dominated by lower montane rain forest (according to John Stanley Beard 's classification of the vegetation of Tobago). In Tobago, these forests are characterised by an emergent canopy of Licania biglandulosa and Byrsonima spicata , with
7410-415: The shores of Tobago from eroding. Little Tobago , the small neighbouring island, supports some of the best dry forest remaining in Tobago. Little Tobago and St Giles Island are important seabird nesting colonies, with red-billed tropicbirds , magnificent frigatebirds and Audubon's shearwaters , among others. Coral reefs have been damaged recently by silt and mud runoff during construction of
7505-524: The size and location of the island in Robinson Crusoe , described as being located close to Trinidad and the mouth of Orinoco . However, the book is generally thought to be based on the experiences of Alexander Selkirk , who was marooned in the Pacific's Juan Fernández Islands , on the island later named after Robinson Crusoe . On Tobago, there is Crusoe Cave . In 1958, Tobago was chosen by
7600-547: The southeast are longer, with better-developed courses. Waterfalls, including the Argylle Waterfall (Tobago's highest) occur at major transitions between rock types. The northeastern slopes are steeper than the southwestern ones and are among the most landslide-prone parts of the island. Main Ridge is primarily underlain by the North Coast Schist Group (NCSG), which occupies the northern third of
7695-506: The top of the food chain. The first true crocodiles evolved, pushing the large amphibians to near extinction. All-in-all, archosaurs rose to rule the world. Meanwhile, the first true mammals evolved, remaining relatively small, but spreading widely; the Jurassic Castorocauda , for example, had adaptations for swimming, digging and catching fish. Fruitafossor , from the late Jurassic Period about 150 million years ago,
7790-441: The world. It is a popular site for birdwatching and ecotourism . Main Ridge provides important habitat for native plants and animals, including several species endemic to Tobago. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 ended Tobago's status as a neutral territory and made it a British colony. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chappelle in 1748 had designated Tobago neutral territory and left it in the hands of its remaining indigenous population, but
7885-531: Was about the size of a chipmunk, and its teeth, forelimbs and back suggest that it dug open the nests of social insects (probably termites , as ants had not yet appeared) ; Volaticotherium was able to glide for short distances, such as modern flying squirrels . The first multituberculates such as Rugosodon evolved. The Middle Jurassic spans from 175 to 163 million years ago. During this epoch, dinosaurs flourished as huge herds of sauropods, such as Brachiosaurus and Diplodocus , filled
7980-928: Was comparatively mild. The sole major Mesozoic orogeny occurred in what is now the Arctic , creating the Innuitian orogeny , the Brooks Range , the Verkhoyansk and Cherskiy Ranges in Siberia, and the Khingan Mountains in Manchuria. This orogeny was related to the opening of the Arctic Ocean and suturing of the North China and Siberian cratons to Asia. In contrast, the era featured
8075-555: Was destroyed by Hurricane Flora in 1963. The tree still remains, however, and is located on the property of the Roberts Auto Service and Tyre Shop, located in Goldsborough, just off of Windward Road. A local Tobago resident says, "The tree has fallen into obscurity; only a few of the older people knew of its significance. As a matter of fact, not many people know of the film Swiss Family Robinson , much less that it
8170-537: Was distant from its shores, temperatures fluctuated greatly, and the interior probably included expansive deserts . Abundant red beds and evaporites such as halite support these conclusions, but some evidence suggests the generally dry climate of the Triassic was punctuated by episodes of increased rainfall. The most important humid episodes were the Carnian Pluvial Event and one in the Rhaetian ,
8265-538: Was dominated by deserts in the interior of the Pangaea supercontinent. The Earth had just witnessed a massive die-off in which 95% of all life became extinct, and the most common vertebrate life on land were Lystrosaurus , labyrinthodonts , and Euparkeria along with many other creatures that managed to survive the Permian extinction. Temnospondyls reached peak diversity during the early Triassic. The Middle Triassic, from 247 to 237 million years ago, featured
8360-546: Was driven by the efforts of Soame Jenyns , a commissioner of the Board of Trade and Member of Parliament. Jenyns was convinced of the importance of forests for preserving rainfall through the work of Stephen Hales on plant physiology and transpiration . It took Jenyns eleven years to convince the British Parliament of the importance of the endeavour, but on 13 April 1776, Parliament passed an ordinance establishing
8455-642: Was filmed here in Tobago." The Tobago Forest Reserve (Main Ridge Reserve) is the oldest protected rain forest in the Western hemisphere and is biodiverse. It was designated a protected Crown reserve on 17 April 1776 after representations by Soame Jenyns , a Member of Parliament in Britain responsible for Tobago's development. It has remained a protected area since. This forested area has great biodiversity , including many species of birds (such as
8550-818: Was inspired by the resemblance of the shape of the island to the fat cigars smoked by the Taíno inhabitants of the Greater Antilles. Tobago was settled by indigenous people belonging to the Ortoiroid cultural tradition some time between 3500 and 1000 BCE. In the first century of the Common Era , Saladoid people settled in Tobago. They brought with them pottery-making and agricultural traditions, and are likely to have introduced crops which included cassava , sweet potatoes , Indian yam , tannia and corn . Saladoid cultural traditions were later modified by
8645-629: Was re-established in 1633. The new colony was destroyed by the Spanish in Trinidad after the Dutch supported a Nepoyo-led revolt in Trinidad. Attempts by the English to colonize Tobago in the 1630s and 1640s also failed due to indigenous resistance. The indigenous population also prevented European colonization in the 1650s, including an attempt by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , but the Polish or Lithuanian explorers did not colonize
8740-554: Was seen throughout the world after hosting the popular golf show "Shell's Wonderful World of Golf". The course is built amongst coconut palms and has a view of the Caribbean Sea from almost every hole. Formerly known as Tobago Plantations Golf Course, the recently renamed Magdalena Grand Hotel & Golf Club was opened in 2001 and has hosted the European Seniors Tour on three occasions. Tobago roughly matches
8835-602: Was still dominated by cycads and ferns until after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction. Some plant species had distributions that were markedly different from succeeding periods; for example, the Schizeales , a fern order, were skewed to the Northern Hemisphere in the Mesozoic, but are now better represented in the Southern Hemisphere. The extinction of nearly all animal species at the end of
8930-440: Was struck by Hurricane Flora in 1963. The effects were so severe that they changed the face of Tobago's economy. The hurricane laid waste to the banana, coconut, and cacao plantations that largely sustained the economy, and it wreaked considerable damage on the largely pristine tropical rainforest that makes up a large proportion of the interior of the island's northern half. Many of the plantations were subsequently abandoned, and
9025-485: Was the height of archosaur diversity, and the first birds and eutherian mammals also appeared. Some have argued that insects diversified in symbiosis with angiosperms, because insect anatomy , especially the mouth parts, seems particularly well-suited for flowering plants. However, all major insect mouth parts preceded angiosperms, and insect diversification actually slowed when they arrived, so their anatomy originally must have been suited for some other purpose. At
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