Dinosaurs

Question 1

What is a dinosaur?

Answer 1

Mesozoic reptile with upright position or walking gait

Question 2

How are dinosaurs classified?

Answer 2

Relies entirely on shape of bones, coprolites, trackways, gastroliths and feathers

Question 3

What are the two main classes of dinosaur?

Answer 3

Ornithischia- two bones in the hip point backwards, bird hipped
Saurischia- one of the bones in the hip points forward, reptile hipped

Question 4

What are amniotic eggs?

Answer 4

Types of eggs produced by birds and reptiles with shells. Shells allowed for life on land without water source for reproduction, eggs provided aquatic environment, no need for larval stage, infant develop into miniature version of the adult

Question 5

When did dinosaurs begin to evolve?

Answer 5

Evolved after the Permo-Triassic extinction, 251Ma, evolved into two separate classes, evolved from archosaurs in Triassic, Therapods prolific in Triassic, larger Sauropods in Jurassic, number of Ornithischian increased in Cretaceous

Question 6

What are the main characteristics of saurischian dinosaurs?

Answer 6

Primitive arrangement of hip bones, pubis bone points forwards
Long s shaped necks,
Hands consisted of only three digits

Question 7

What characteristics are displayed by Ornithiscian dinosaurs?

Answer 7

Hips arranged similar to birds, both point backwards
Front teeth are small or absent , replaced by beak
Armoured with bony plates, for defence and heat exchange

Question 8

What class of dinosaur is diplodocus?

Answer 8

Saurischia, sauropoda

Question 9

What characteristics are displayed by diplodocus?

Answer 9

Herbivore
Long thin neck, could reach vegetation in forests most others couldn’t,
peg like teeth at front of jaw couldn’t chew
Gastroliths, to aid digestion of leaves
Long but lightly built body
Extra bones underneath the spine for support and mobility
Tail long and whiplike, could have been used for defence

Question 10

What class of dinosaur is Tyrannosaurus

Answer 10

Saurischia, Therapoda

Question 11

When was diplodocus common?

Answer 11

Jurassic and Cretaceous

Question 12

What are the characteristics of Tyrannosaurus?

Answer 12

Largest terrestrial predator, Carnivore
Predator or scavenger debate, scavenger because of small eyes, heavy frame and big legs, large olfactory lobes and tiny forelimbs
Predator because not many animals willing scavenge, could be successful without forelimbs, large, curved teeth

Question 13

When was T. rex common?

Answer 13

Late Cretaceous

Question 14

What class of dinosaur is Iguanodon?

Answer 14

Ornithiscia, ornithopoda

Question 15

What are the main characteristics of iguanodon?

Answer 15

Large and heavily built, horselike about with horns toothless beak. Cheek teeth, could chew due to hinged upper jaw,
Three digit hands ending in hooves, conical thumb spike
Could be quadrupedal or bipedal

Question 16

How did birds evolve?

Answer 16

Most accepted theory is that birds evolved from Therapoda dinosaurs in the Jurassic, as similar to coelurosaurs

Question 17

What skeletal similarities can be seen between coelurosaurs and archaeopteryx?

Answer 17

Hollow, thin walled bones
S shaped curved neck
Elongated arms and forelimbs and clawed hands
Pubis shifted from anterior to posterior
Large orbits
Hinged ankles

Question 18

What is archaeopteryx?

Answer 18

First known bird like fossil, intermediate between birds and reptiles, semi arboreal, lived in trees, capable of gliding and potentially sustaining flight.

Question 19

What dinosaur like features where prominent in archaeopteryx

Answer 19

Long bony tail
There's digit on each wing with claws 
About with reptilian teeth
Sternum not bony or keeled 
Gastralia, belly ribs present 
A shaped curved neck

Question 20

What bird like features are displayed in archaeopteryx?

Answer 20

Wings for flight
Feathers 
Hollow bones 
Legs directly underneath the body 
A furcula was present, adaptation for laying eggs 
Reversed big toe