What is a paleontologist?
Someone who studies ancient organisms
What is paleobiology?
The study of ancient life
Where did the first written accounts of dinosaurs come from?
China
Scrotum humanum
First named dinosaur from England, a therapod
Mosasaurus and the concept of extinction
a 40 ft long sea monster, couldn't live today. Cuvier said it went extinct, first recognized extinct animal
Megalosaurus
First scientifically valid dinosaur, no one paid attention
Iguanodon
First herbivorous dinosaur, means iguana tooth
Richard Owen
Gave them the name Dinosauria, or Fearfully Great Reptiles
Crocodiles and pterosaurs are related. T or F
True
Dinosaur Renaissance and Deinonychus
Had a flip-knife claw and did not fit mold of dinosaurs
Robert Bakker
Challenged dogmas about dinosaurs and said they are more like modern birds
When did dinosaurs live?
238-65.6 million years ago
How do scientists date dinosaurs?
Uranium235 and half-lives
What was the climate in the age of the dinosaurs?
It was a warmer earth
What is Deinosuchus?
A huge crocodile with a 3700 pound bite force
what kind of dinosaur is the Loch Ness monster?
A plesiosaur
What are trace fossils?
Dino eggs, skin impressions, bite marks, and fossilized feces
Did dino tails drag?
No
In what rocks are dinosaur fossils found?
Sedimentary rocks
Where is the closest place to find a dinosaur?
Along the Chattahoochee in Georgia and Alabama
What are osteoderms?
Armor on the back of thyreophorans, similar to spikes on alligators
What are endocasts?
They're formed by sediments that infilled the brain cavity during the fossilization process and became solidified
What are heterodontosaurs?
Different sized teeth lizards. Teeth of mammals, but are herbivores
How can you tell a dinosaurs gender?
We cannot
What is sexual dimorphism?
Considerable size differences between genders
Were dinosaurs terrestrial?
Yes
Characteristics of the dental battery
Interlocked teeth, self-sharpening teeth
Characteristics of Marginocephalia
Head butting/ flank butting
What is the finite element model?
Computer models that display the biomechanical performance of the dinosaurs.
What's a distinctive feature of Ceratops?
They had parrot-shaped beaks
What are Neoceratops?
New horned dinosaurs"
Large heads, frill over the neck, quadrapedal, no horns, 4-6 ft long
What is Protoceratops?
The most famous neoceratops. Sexual dimorphism and herding
What is Oviraptor?
A small carnivorous dinosaur. Means egg robber, turns out they just incubated their eggs and were good moms
What is Pachyrhinosaur?
Huge horn, recent studies suggest there was no giant horn.
Distinguishing feature of sauropods?
Nostrils on top of their head
How long was the longest dino?
Over 140 feet, it could not fit in Ruby Diamond, Diplodocids
What is the controversy over Apatosaurus?
Head between brontosaurus and camarosaurus
What is Sauroposeidon?
The tallest dinosaur @ 56 feet, could not fit in Ruby Diamond
Sauropod argument.
The weird nasal openings may have been attachment sites for short trunks
Ceratosaurs
Believed to be cannibalistic, just ate crocodiles.
What are Spinosaurs?
Bigger than T Rex.Blown to smithereens in WWII by British bombers
What are Ornithomimosaurs?
The fastest dinosaurs (up to 35 mph)
What are Segnosaurs?
Probably the only herbivorous theropods. Dino scissor hands
What is Deinonychosaurus?
Had enlarged claws on toes, could run crazy fast
What are the Troodontids?
The smartest dinosaurs
What is dinosauroid?
Creepy and totally wrong idea of what dinos would look like if alive today
T-Rex
2 fingers, cannibals, great sense of smell, couldn't run, scavenged AND hunted
Dinosaur Life, Death, and Rebirth
Grew faster than living reptiles. When dinos died, 40-80% of all life died.
Possible reasons dinos died
1. Volcanism
2. Lowering of sea levels
3. Asteroid in Gulf of Mexico
What is Archaeopteryx
First bird. Similarity of birds and dinosaurs- therapies. Wings and were gliders
How small was smallest dinosaur?
7 ounces