Chapter 2 Dinos

Question 1

What was the time period of the mesozoic era and what was it referred to as ? What dinosaurs were first to show up

Answer 1

238 mya until 65.5 mya
Age of dinosaurs
Small bipeds carnivorous

Question 2

Three major divisions to Mesozoic era

Answer 2

Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous

Question 3

Triassic: named for ?
Occurred when
The what dinosaurs show up when

Answer 3

Three rock layers in Germany
251-200 mya
Oldest Dino’s midway through period

Question 4

Jurassic
Named from?
Occurred when
Time of the what Dino's?
Movie Jurassic park ?

Answer 4

Limestone layer in Jura mtns of Switzerland
200-146 mya
Largest
Dino’s from other periods primarily Cretaceous

Question 5

Cretaceous
Named for
When?
This was what stage for Dino’s and who ruled
What happened at end of Cretaceous period

Answer 5

Chalk layers (creta=chalk) in Eastern Europe
146-65.54
Final stage , T. rex
Dinosaurs excluding birds went extinct 65.54

Question 6

How do you know numerical age of bones from Mesozoic era

Answer 6

Breakdown of radioactive isotopes found in sediments

Question 7

What is the best isotope for dating rocks from the age of dinosaurs … which breaks down into what

Where is it present

Answer 7

Uranium 235
Lead 207

Pure unaltered state in lava and ashes from volcanoes

Question 8

What is a half life

What is half life of uranium

Describe what happens after one half life

Answer 8

The amount of time it takes for half of the original material to break down

704 million years
50% will be uranium and the rest led

Question 9

What was weather like in equatorial regions and middle latitudes
Closer to the poles it was

Answer 9

Arid
Like Florida
Cool wet and rainy

Question 10

In the Triassic period all continents were ?

Answer 10

Adjoined into one super continent known as Pangea

Question 11

When the plates moved apart what is this called

Answer 11

Plate tectonics :

The continental movements are driven by volcanic sea floor spreading in the oceans

Question 12

Dinosaur distributions have played a major role in?

Allosaurus and breachiosaurus are found in?

Answer 12

Determining positions of continents in Mesozoic era

North America and Northern Africa - they abutted

Question 13

Were there ice caps at the poles ?
Consequently this means there was more ?
Give me an example

Answer 13

No
More free water and greater portion of continents covered by water
North American seaway that spanned north to south split in two so sea monster remains are in Wyoming and Montana

Question 14

The landscape was ?

Answer 14

Flatter

Question 15

What plants dominated dryer ecosystems

Water areas ?

Answer 15

Larger gymnosperms such as pine trees conifers cypress trees ginkos
Low lying ferns horsetails club mosses

Question 16

What was the ground cover like

Answer 16

Less

Question 17

Characteristics of gymnosperms during this time

Served as dinosaur? Because why

Answer 17

Great height, chemical defenses , thick bark, tough foliage

Drought and fire resistant

Repellents : poor ability to regenerate and show slow growth if damaged

Question 18

What showed up midway through Cretaceous period in terms of plants

Answer 18

Fast growing disturbance tolerant angiosperms (flowering plants)

Question 19

What happened when angiosperms showed up

Answer 19

World became more vegetated with ground cover all over and closed forests of deciduous trees became abundant

Question 20

What diversified at the time of angiosperms and grass is a type of ? And grasslands make up of

Answer 20

Ground feeding herbivores
Flowering plant
20% of vegetative cover of earth

Question 21

Nearly all dinosaurs were what animals ?

Answer 21

Terrestrial

Question 22

Aside from what dinosaur they have no evidence of what?

Answer 22

Spinosaurs

Them being amphibious

Question 23

The earliest crocodiles were ?

Answer 23

Small agile terrestrial predators

Question 24

What is the 32 foot long crocodile he worked with
Work with growth lines in bony armor of animal reveal ?
How do they actually grow giant

Answer 24

Deinosuchus terror crocodile
Became giant not by growing fast, but by growing at same rates as living alligators
Extend length of rapid growth phase (like us in early mid teens) for an extra 20 years

Question 25

The first turtles from the Triassic period were

Answer 25

Fully terrestrial and had teeth

Question 26

Turtles that looked normal came about in ? Archelon was a gigantic?

Answer 26

Jurassic and Cretaceous | Sea turtle 13.5 feet long from late Cretaceous of midwestern North America

Question 27

In the seas were ? Which were reptiles that Some were how long and deep diving had ? From embryos found they know that like mammals they have

Answer 27

``` Ichthyosaurs Looked and swam like dolphins 40 ft Gigantic eyes Live birth ```

Question 28

What is the supposed Loch ness monster Body's like ? But necks were long and snake like with up to ? How did they swim ?

Answer 28

Long necked plesiosaurs Sea turtles 80-90 vertebrae Sea turtles flying through water column and some reached gigantic proportions

Question 29

What animal did Cuvier use in support of extinction theory? What did they eat How long Swam like what

Answer 29

Mosasaurs Ate ammonites 50ft Crocodilians using tails for propulsion

Question 30

No birds until what period , but what abounded throughout the age of Dino's ?

Answer 30

Late Jurassic | Pterosaurs

Question 31

``` Pterosaurs First ? What supported their wings Had big for the attachment of ? -which is key for an ? Smallest forms covered by ? Bones were heavy or light Early had long ? ```

Answer 31

``` Powered flyers Fourth finger Sternum Flight muscles Flapping Fur or feather like Light Tails ```

Question 32

Largest known pterosaur Although bugger form found in Where is it found and how does that play into eating

Answer 32

``` Quetzalcoatalus 36 foot wingspan Spain 40 foot Well inland Scavenged dead dinosaurs ```

Question 33

When did mammals appear What were they initially They remained SO throughout

Answer 33

Same time as Dino's in late Triassic Rat or weasel like And mouse to opossum sized 173 million year tenure of Dino's

Question 34

Fossils are evidence of ?

Answer 34

Ancient life

Question 35

What is another category of dinosaur fossils ?

Answer 35

Trace fossils , not remains of animals themselves - traces of ancient life

Question 36

What is coprolites | What are the primary means by which paleontologist learn about dinosaur biology

Answer 36

Fossilized feces | Trace fossils

Question 37

What ways are remains if animals buried rapidly ?

Answer 37

From rivers (most common) wind blown sand (fairly common) volcanic ash (rarely)

Question 38

Sedimentary rocks are? They most commonly

Answer 38

Rocks formed from sedimentspreserve dinosaur skeletons

Question 39

Igneous rocks are

Answer 39

Rocks formed from volcanoes

Question 40

Metamorphic rocks are

Answer 40

Sedimentary or igneous rocks that have been deformed by pressures of earth

Question 41

Fossil bones are composed of ?

Answer 41

Original calcium phosphates (hard mineral in bones)

Question 42

Animals only very rarely become ? A case in point is that most Dino's are known only from Such as

Answer 42

Fossilized Single partially complete specimens Compsognathus

Question 43

Most dinosaurs are found in

Answer 43

Eroding or of earth

Question 44

Most dinosaur fossils are found

Answer 44

In rocks formed from sandy river sediments because these environments contained a lot of sediment to bury large animals

Question 45

Badlands are what? And are found where

Answer 45

Bad places to grow crop (see lots of exposure) | Throughout midwestern United States Alberta and Saskatchewan (Canada)

Question 46

Florida does not have | They lie

Answer 46

Exposed terrestrial Mesozoic sediments | Thousands of feet underground