What do scientists know for certain about dinosaur metabolism?

somewhere in their evolution, dinosaurs evolved to be warm-blooded

Why does the discovery of non-avian dinosaur feathers support the argument for endothermic metabolisms?

endotherms generate their own body heat and feathers would keep that heat in

There are few examples of arctic reptiles. Why is that?

ectotherms require warm microclimates to raise their body temperature, and these are scarce in the arctic.

The covering of hair-like feathers preserved in many coelurosaur specimens was adapted to serve as insulation.

endotherms generate their own body heat and feathers would keep that heat in

How could paleontologists assess the dinosaurs' intelligence?

measuring the relative size of the braincase

Which of the following is frequently associated with endothermy and not with ectothermy?

insulating integumentary structures

An erect posture is a trait characteristic of "warm-blooded" animals. This is because?

an erect posture facilitates an active lifestyle

Dr. Robert Bakker studied predator/prey ratios in dinosaur communities. His research showed that predator ratios amongst dinosaurs were very low. What does this finding suggest about the energy requirements of carnivorous theropods?

theropods had high energy requirements

Microscopic analyses of dinosaurs' bones can give scientists clues about...

how large it would become, how fast the dinosaur grew, how long it lived

What is thought to cause lines of arrested growth?

seasonal reduction in food availability

A capsule that contains gametes, as well as nutrients, often encased in a protective pod or a hard outer covering.

seed

The time interval that encompasses 13,000 years ago to the present

recent

A corridor of land between two continents that allows the passage of organisms from one continent to another

land bridge

The property of evolving and being found only in one place.

endemism

A geologic Period lasting from 146 Ma to 65.5 Ma.

Cretaceous

The minimal amount of time missing between the two descendent species and their common ancestor.

minimal divergence time

A person who studies ancient plants

paleobotanists

The inescapable fact that as we get closer to the Recent, fossil biotas become better known.

pull of the recent

A relic or object left by an organism.

artifact

The idea that two organisms or groups of organisms may have evolved in response to one another

co-evolution

Bulbous, fleshy gymnosperms.

cycadophytes

Squat, plant-eating, swine-like archosauromorphs.

aetosaur

flowering plants

angiosperms

multicellular photosynthetic organisms

plants

Large, carnivorous largely Paleozoic amphibians, whose behavior must have been something like that of a crocodile.

temnospondyl

Lineage of organisms for which there is no physical record, but whose existence can be inferred.

ghost lineage

Do you know when the theory that dinosaurs were the evolutionary ancestors of birds was first proposed?

shortly after the publication of on the origin of species, in the 1860's

The first dinosaur fossil was discovered and scientifically described in..?

1824

The discovery of which of the following traits would have contradicted the historical misconception of dinosaurs?

a large brain cavity, associated fossil feathers

Which of the following could the molecular clock technique not be used to estimate?

at what point in time an ancient lineage became extinct

Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. Very active fossil collector in 19th century us. function.

Mary Ann Mantell

19th century British anatomist who coined the term Dinosauria

Adrienne Mayor

Worked along the Red Deer River in Alberta, Canada

Harry Govier Seeley

19th century British natural historian who named the first dinosaur, Megalosaurus.

Barnum Brown

Vertebrate paleontologist at Cambridge University who recognized the differences between Ornithischia & Saurischia.

Ernest Rutherford

American Museum of Natural History. Discovered Tyrannosaurus rex fossils in 1902.

antediluvian

The 17th & 18th centruy intellectual revolution devoted to the ability of reason and observations to reveal the truth.

Louis Antonine Marie Joseph Dollo

Before the Biblical flood

Roy Chapman Andrews

Speculated the origin of the mythical griffin to be central Asian fossils of Protoceratops.

Othniel Charles Marsh

In which of these places could you find an impact crater from 65 Ma?

Mexico

Which of the following is theorized to have resulted from the Chixulub meteorite impact?

huge firestorms

Which piece of information is needed to confirm that the Chixulub crater is related to the iridium layer that contributed to the dinosaurs' demise? The impact crater has to be...

the right age

Which of the following characterizes the terrestrial animals that survived the end-Cretaceous mass extinction?

small body size

When did dinosaurs become extinct?

about 65 million years ago

Which of the following is not a source of evidence that supports the meteorite-impact explanation for the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.

rocks formed by volcanic activity in the Deccan Traps

In general the numbers of ...... dinosaurs were beginning to decline about 12 million years before the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs. In addition, dinosaurs in..... were beginning to decline in biodiversity

1)Large plant eating 2)North America

Which of the following groups also went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous?

ammonites, mosasaurs

Which animals would have been well-adapted to survive the Chixulub impactor heat pulse?

birds, mammals, crocodiles

Did the first mammals appear before or after the non-avian dinosaurs went exinct at the end of the Mesozoic era?

before

In what way might a mass extinction benefit a lineage of animals?

it opens ecological niches that were previously occupied

Which Dinosaurs would have been alive at the end of the Cretaceous Period?

Pachycephalosaurus, Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus

What are some likely causes of dinosaur extinction?

climate change from volcanism, climate change from plate tectonics, meteorite impact

Which of the following traits of birds might have made them more resilient than other dinosaurs during the stressful period of the Cretaceous end extinction event?

Small and therefore had lower food requirements

Scientists have found evidence of two significant events that happened about 65 Ma. a large asteroid impact ...... and massive lava flows..... Both events likely caused global climate changes.

1)off the coast of Mexico 2) in India

These are some of the theories scientists have proposed for the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs around 65 mya. Which events do most scientists still consider a probable cause based on existing evidence?

sea levels began to change, massive long-term volcanic eruptions occurred, a huge asteroid or comet slammed into Earth