Complete List of Terms and Definitions for Dinosaur

Terms Definitions
Retiles (sauropsids) scaly-skinned, terrestrialized (=living on land) animals, that lay hard-shelled eggs.
terrestrial animals all dinosaurs were.
paleontologist someones who studies "ancient organisms"
ankylosauria "fuzed lizards"-the dinosaur tanks. -quadrupedal herbivorous animals. Had an extensive armor scutes covering the neck and sides of the body
2 types of dinosaurs saurischians and ornithischians
angiosperms (flowering plants) showed up midway through the cretaceous period in arid equatorial regions. The world became more vegetated with ground cover all over and closed forests of deciduous trees became abundant.
gymnosperms (conifers) dominated the world's dryer ecosystems.often have great height, chemical defenses, thick bark, and tough foliage- characteristics that make them drought and fire resistant.
Iguanadon "iguana tooth"- the first described herbivorous dinosaur.
Louis Dollo the first dinosaur paleobiologist- a person interested in the lives of dinosaurs, their ecosystems, etc.
sedimentary rocks rocks formed from sediments ( sandstones and shales) including organic derivatives
Robert Bakker contended that all dinosaurs were physiologically more like modern birds than had been previously thought. As a result, interest in dinosaur research soared.
plate debate debate about the function and arrangement of the plates on the back of the stegosaurus
Pangea All continents were adjoined into one super continent known as this.(Triassic period)
1800 in Massachusetts the first scientifically reported remains of dinosaurs from America were tracks found here by a schoolboy.
2 subgroupings of the cerapoda: ornithopoda and marginocephalia
Fine-element models making a computer renditions of something. Dissipations of force can be assessed (A team of paleontologists and engineers have been working to model and test the utility of the domes for head and flank butting)
Over spiliting naming more species than actually exists
Paleozoic park america's first dinosaur theme park in Central Park, destroyed by gangs of thugs.
Archosaurian reptiles dinosaurs are this, which includes the crocodiles and pterosaurs (=extinct flying reptiles and dinosauromorphs (extinct dinosaur-like reptiles.
Thomas Jefferson a fossil fanatic. Earned the nickname "Mr Mammoth" Some considered him a "founding father" of paleontology.
Triassic period first period in the mesozoic era, which occurred 251-200 million years ago. The oldest dinosaurs showed up midway through this period.
dinosaur climate it was arid in equalatorial regions and much like Florida in middle latitudes. Closer to the poles it was cool, wet, and rainy, like seattle or british columbia today.
Baron George Cuvier great french anatomist, examined the Mosasaurus and argued that it was nuts to think that animals like these lived today. He was a very influential man and was considered a genius, so people for the first time gave serious consideration to the possibility that animals can and have gone extinct.
Sexual dimorphism is the systematic difference in form between individuals of different sex in the same species.
2 major types of dinosaurs ornithischian hip and saurischian hip
T.Rex was a _________, it ate it's own kind. Cannibal
Deinonychus was seven to ten feet long. This told us that dinosaurs were more agile and intellegent than we thought. This dinosaur fueled the dinosaur reinsance.
All dinosaurs were ____________. Terestrail, meaning they didn't live in the ocean or in trees.
fossil feud of the 1870s-1890s between Othniel Charles Marsh from Yale University and the wealthy Edward Drinker Cope from the philadelphia academy of sciences. Both men became interested in describing fossils
Owen and Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins teamed up to make full-size concrete models of the various dinosaurs that went on display at Crystal Palace Park in London in 1854.
T.Rex sense of smell was excellent (see page 91 for brain cast)
John Ostrom of Yale University in 1964, one of only a dozen dinosaur researchers in the world at the time- discovered a dinosaur in Montana that did not fit the sluggish behemoth method mold.
Did T.Rex drag their tails? No, We have trace evidence that it did not drag, and the tail bones interlock creating a stiffness
Afrovenator
parasaurolophus
Fires Fire
sL stride length
Genus-Species Ex: T.Rex
mandibles lower jaw
permian major mass extinction
dyapids have two opening
armoured dinosaurs armour, large
Iguanodonts Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous
"thumbs-up dinosaur" - horny spike substituted as thumb (weapon); huge, robust herbivores with powerful hindlimbs, horselike skulls, and toothless beaks;
Packyrhinosauras A Sturdy Dinosaur
dragonfly moves backwards, and insect
ornithischia (plant eaters) bird hipped
Ornithopods Hadrosurs(duck billed), Iguanodons. "bird foot"
ligaments connect bones to bones
closest relatives of dinosaurs dinosauromorpha
Triceratops Late Cretaceous 65-67Mil
9m long
Montana, N. Dakota, S. Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming Alberta, Saskatchewan.
Beak, dental battery, naares and nasal horn-cone, postorbital cone, impressions of veins on frill
Stegosaurs slow, methodical vegetarians
*armored plates on back for thermo regulation or protection
corythosaurus duck-billed dinosaur with nasal passages that expand into a crest like a hollow helmet
bone mineral (calcium phosphate) deposited on a protein ( collagen)
Biostratigraphy Relative dating technique using comparison of fossils from different stratagraphic sequences to estimate which layers are older and which are younger
Reptile Cold-blooded animals that have backbones, lungs, and scaly skin.
Iguanodon Gideon's "lizard" actually a dinosaur
Ornithopoda "bird feet"
subgrouping of Cerapoda. Containts iguanadonts and duck bills.
herd animals
Archaeopteryx (Clade) Late Jurassic
Solnhofen limestone, near Messel Germany
had feathers, a long tail; a small head with very large eyes, and with teeth, enlarged brain; backward pointing pubis; long limbs and forelimbs longer than hind limbs with 3 digits, with claws on all digits.
homeothermic
• Marginocephalia 'margin-heads'- pachycephalosaurs & ceratopsians
synapsids separation of breathing from axial skeleton
Acanthopholis Means "Spine bearer". It was discovered in England. It was a species of Nodosaurs.
ornithomimosaur bird imitating lizard have no teeth
Desmatosuchus Link crocodile, a moderate sized archosaur (5m) found in Late Triassic of Texas. It had an armored body (dermal scutes) with spikes protruding from the shoulders. It also had an interesting shovel shaped snout for digging up lants. -Only 2 known species, named by Parker (2005.)
ornithischia bird hips, predentary bone, stiffened backbone, low jaw joint
four-legged dinosaurs usually four or five toes
Solenhofen Limestone Lithographic limestone of Germany where the earliest known bird was found
adaptive compromise skull has holes for senses
Over-splitting naming more species than really exists
Ornithischia is defined by.. Ornithischian pelvis structure
leaf-shaped teeth
tip of both upper and lower jaws with a bea made of horn
inset tooth row
ossiified tendons along backbone around sacrum and upper tail
spinosaurus Largest theropod discovered in Germany with large fin or sail on its back.
body feathers prominent rachis, barbule interlocked, flat vane
Laurasia countries North America, Europe and Most Asia
Carnotaurus Its name means "Meat-eating Bull". It was unusual because of a stubby snout, 2 horns on its head, a comicaly stubby arms.
camarasuarids thick board spoon shaped teeth pitted with coarse scratch marks
grab-bag the un-offical name of anestory of dinosaurs
Eusthenopteron The first steps on land. Bottom dwelling fish; pelagic
dinosaurs 123 hand, 234 foot, erect stance, digitgrade, narrow track gate, ilium with lip over socket, femur with inturned head
Theropod long slender toes, claws and
lack of heel.
Dr. John Ostrom Discovered Dinonychus, reignited the Darwin-Huxley hypothesis and changed the way we view dinosaurs
forces acting on bone compression (standing), tension (pulling apart/ hanging) , shearing (opposing forces/ bending & rotation)
Sex it is not currently possible to differentiate between the sexes. However, there was sexual dimorphism, which means considerable size differences between the sexes.
Phylum Chordate stiff but flexible dorsal notochord, head with sensory organs, mouth opens into muscular pharynx, complete digestive system, post-anal tail including notochord
compsognathus was the same size as a chicken
o Extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago(Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary)
variance measure of difference how spread out scores of distribution are range and standard deviation
The study of fossils is called _________. paleontology
Archaeopteryx Its name means "Ancient Wing". It may have been the earliest bird.
haversian canals channels running through a bone in which blood vessels and nerves are located
Natural Selection process by which individuals that are better suited to their environment survive and reproduce most successfully; also called survival of the fittest
Liviathan in Job, a large sea creature with strong scales
"Ground-Up" ("Cursorial") Hypothesis Idea that the birds (Archaeopteryx) got a running start to take off, like Geese.
plantigrade heels on the ground/ flat foot (ex: race walking)
Scavanging bite marks and shed tooth crowns in specimens from assmeblages attest to scavenging behaviour
The group thought to have included the immediate ancestors of the dinosaurs is the... Thecodonts
• Faunal Succession based on the observation that sedimentary rock strata contain fossilized flora and fauna, and that these fossils succeed each other vertically in a specific, reliable order that can be identified over wide horizontal distances
• Superposition sedimentary layers are deposited in a time sequence, with the oldest on the bottom and the youngest on the top
metabolism sum of chemical reactions in the body; source of energy and heat
warm blooded? 1. Source of body heat
a. Internal or external?
i. Endotherm/ectotherm
b. Constancy of body temp
i. Variable or constant?
1. Poikilotherm/ homeotherm
Ripples-Cross beds Evidence of a shoreline due to the wave patterns fossilized on the rock.
Cycad Looks like a palm tree but isn't. Have tough, sharp-pointed leaves with clumps of dry, dead foliage at the top of the plant. Very prominent in the Jurassic
4 Types of Fossilium 1. Regular but not organic (Crystals)
2. Organic but not crystals or familiar biology (Crinoid columns, starts)
3. Biological but composed of rock (petrified wood)
4. Familiar in shape and composition (bones)
Tree life o All life descended from one common ancestor
control group in an experiment, a group that serves as a standard of comparison with another group to which the control group is identical except for one factor
why is plate boundaries important? Why is this important?
• Controls where fossils form (tectonically quiet, inactive) and where found (active).
• Controls oceanic currents, which partially controls climate
• Controls distribution of organisms
o Vicariance- division of continuous range
o Dispersal- expansion of range regardless of geographic boundaries
Western Interior Seaway A great inland sea that covered the central United States and went up through Western Canada.
Cretaceous named after.. French word for chalk - a very fine-grained limestone (calcium carbonate) found across Belgium, northern France, and southern England
Hadrosaurs Ate What? - crop or harvest tough vegitation - upland grazers
• what evidence supports the origin of birds from theropod dinosaurs? o Coeluroasaurs probably had feathers
o Hollow bones and air sacs
o Had a semilunate carpal - half moon shaped wrist bone that allows wing folding in birds
o A furcula(wristbone) is present in most therapods
• When was the dinosaur-bird connection first hypothesized? o First hypothesized in 1859 when Thomas Huxley said there were skeletal similarities between birds and dinosaurs, theory died down till 1964 when John Ostrom discovered a therapod, dienonychus antirrhopus whose skeleton was similar to birds
• what is the locomotor habit (i.e., quadrupedal, bipedal, both) of ornithischians? o Weight is spread out?
• what are some adaptations present in the sauropod limb skeleton? o Skeleton has pneumaticity - bones are filled with air, light but strong
o Sauropods aren't very athletic since they are tall, more strain is placed on their bones
• What are the two major groups of dinosaurs? Which group do birds fit into? o Ornithischia - pubis points backwards
Who first used the word 'dinosaur' or 'dinosauria'? Owen, he thought a dinosaur could be distinguished by certain similarities