Dinosaurs Flashcards

1
Q

What happened in 2010?

A

The royal society included Mary Anning in their list of 10 women who have most influenced the history of science

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2
Q

When was the first Ichthyosaur discovered?

A

1811

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3
Q

When was the first Plesiosaur skeleton discovered?

A

1821

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4
Q

Who is also known as “The Dinosaur Doctor”?

A

Gideon Mantell (1790-1852)

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5
Q

Who were the first people to suggest dinosaur extinction?

A

George Cuvier & William Buckland

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6
Q

Who established the British Natural Museum?

A

Richard Owen

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7
Q

Which american discovered and named 56 dinosaurs?

A

Edward Drinker Cope

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8
Q

Which american discovered and named 86 dinosaurs?

A

Othniel Charles Marsh

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9
Q

When did dinosaurs disappear?

A

65MYA

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10
Q

What characteristics do we know about Pterodactyls?

A
  • Between a few inches and over 40 feet
  • Hollow bones
  • Large brains
  • Leathery wings
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11
Q

What dinosaur is considered the largest flier ever?

A

Quetzalcoatlus

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12
Q

What are the major dinosaur groups? Briefly describe.

A

Stegasuria: Head the size of a horse, brain the size of a walnut; Plates for defence?; 2 rows of 17 bony plates; Brain in its tail?; Cavity adjacent to spinal cord near hips; About 20x larger than brain cavity

Ankylosaurs: Tank-like; Heavily armoured; One of the last to be alive; Tail-club - Decoy head- defensive weapon

Marginocephalia: Large quadrupeds; Large crest; Variable size and horns; Large beak; Capable of slicing through tough vegetation

Ornithopoda: Large group of herbivores; Bipedal; Fast runners; 3 toes; Duck beaks; Very abundant dinosaurs

Sauropoda: Tail for counterbalancing the long neck; Big gut for digestion of lots of plant material; Tiny head and brain; Long neck for grazing; Four columnar legs; Largest land animals; Geographically widespread; Herbivores

Therapoda: Big, sharp teeth in scissor-like jaw; All hollow bones, vertebrae & limbs; Tail for counterbalancing the neck and head; short head and claws for grasping prey; Long back legs for spread; Alive today as birds; Carnivores; Obligate bipeds

Herrerasauria: Earliest known; Carnivorous; Small arms; relatively small; >1m tall; 6m long; weighed 300kg; Extinct by the end of the Triassic

Ceratosaurus: Huge head; horn on snout; hornlets above eyes; long, flat teeth; osteoderms on back; small but strong arms

Tetanurans: Large; Carnivorous; Long thigh bones; Narrow pointed faces

Tyrannosaurids: Up to 40 feet long; 15-20 feet tall; 3 feet arms; weighed 5-7 tonnes; Skull 5 feet; Eyeball 3” in diameter; Jaws were up to 4 feet; 50 to 60 bone-crunching teeth - up to 9” tooth regrowth

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13
Q

Briefly describe velociraptor

A
  • “Speedy thief”
  • Fast ~24mph
  • Intelligent
  • Retractable claws
  • Feathers?
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14
Q

What are the supporting arguments that birds evolved from theropods?

A
  • Lost of anatomical similarities
  • Hollow bones
  • Furcula/wishbone
  • Feathers
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15
Q

What is the damaging argument that birds evolved from theropods?

A

Archaeopteryx is lizard-hipped

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16
Q

Briefly describe Aurornis xui - “Daybreak Bird”

A
  • ~160 MYA
  • 1st bird?
  • Size of a pheasant
  • Half-metre tall
  • 50cm long
  • Clawed wings
  • Long bony tail
17
Q

What was the climate like?

A
  • Hot and arid
  • Vast deserts
  • No polar ice of glaciers
  • Warm seas
  • Higher sea levels
18
Q

What three methods do we use to date dinosaurs?

A
  • Chronostratigraphy - Decay of unstable isotopes
  • Lithostratigraphy - Sedimentation & relative dating
  • Biostratigraphy
19
Q

What are the arguments discussing whether the T.rex was a scavenger or predator?

A

Scavenger:

  • Eyes too small
  • Arms too small
  • Legs too big
  • Large olfactory lobes
  • No fossil evidence for predation

Predator:

  • Massive, powerful jaw with serrated teeth
  • Large, powerful legs
  • Fast runner
  • Ocular cavities positioned forward
20
Q

How can we measure the speed of dinosaurs?

A
  • By measuring the stride length, we can construct the speed at which the animals were moving
  • We can also estimate their leg lengths from the size of the feet
  • Speed of locomotion (V)

(V) = 0.25g^0.25SL^1.67*h^-1.17

g = the acceleration of free fall
SL = stride length
h = hip height
21
Q

Name at least 3 theories of dinosaur extinction

A
  • Competition with mammals
  • Blast waves, dust clouds, tsunamis
  • Earthquakes, global wildfires
  • Comet/asteroid collision
  • Volcanic acitivty