Dinosaurs Intro / Discoveries Flashcards
In what era did dinosaurs exist on Earth?
The Mesozoic era
What period did dinosaurs originate?
Triassic period
What period did dinosaurs flourish?
Cretaceous period
What period did the dinosaurs die out?
Cretaceous and Palaeogene boundary (66 mill years ago)
What organelles led to the discovery of dinosaur feathers?
Melanosomes
Describe melanosomes
Tiny hollows inside hairs or feathers that contain melanin
Which dinosaur was the first to have its feathers tested for colour?
Sinosauropteryx
What colour were sinosauropteryx’s feathers?
Ginger
What colour were sinosauropteryx’s tail feathers?
White and ginger stripes
What did Sir Ernest Rutherford do?
Physicist
What university did Sir Ernest Rutherford work?
University of Cambridge
What did Sir Ernest Rutherford discover?
Radioactive half-life
Who made the discovery of Radioactive half-life?
Sir Ernest Rutherford
Where was Sir Ernest Rutherford born?
New Zealand
What are coprolites?
Fossil faeces
Who said the following “All Science is either physics or stamp collecting”?
Sir Ernest Rutherford
What does phylogeny mean?
The evolutionary history of organisms
What is the theory of “extant phylogenetic bracket”?
Close relatives in the evolutionary tree share traits e.g. details in the eye ball, leg muscles etc - then dinosaurs can share with their close relatives in the tree
Who came up with the “extant phylogenetic bracket”?
Larry Whitmer
What does Larry Whitmer do?
American Palaeontologist
What colour melanin do sausage shaped melanosomes produce?
Black and brown
What colour melanin do ball shaped melanosomes produce?
Ginger
Melanosomes of what shape produce black / brown melanin?
Sausage shaped melanosomes
Melanosomes of what shape produce ginger melanin?
Ball shaped melanosomes
What is the term for fossil faeces?
Coprolites
Close relatives in the evolutionary tree share traits e.g. details in the eye ball, leg muscles etc - then dinosaurs can share with their close relatives in the tree. What is the term for this theory?
Extant phylogenetic bracket
