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Palaeobiology > L6 > Flashcards

L6 Flashcards

1
Q

Interpreting morphology

A
  • Making valid hypotheses is very reasonable
    • Principles are similar throughout time eg rainbows appear now, conditions were similar back then, so dinosaurs must have seen rainbows
    • Interpretation is a reasonable method as long as it is sensible and evidence based
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2
Q

Part 1: Reconstructing the animal

A
  • Reconstruct animal off anatomical knowledge based on nearest living relatives (crocodiles)
    • In situ specimens provide good evidence
    • Sliding up a phylogeny we can look at birds/ emus etc
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3
Q

“Fleshing up” a dinosaur skeleton

A
  • Not much soft tissue preservation so is challenging
    • Look at muscle attachment and anatomical knowledge
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4
Q

Part 2: Reconstructing its capabilities, Biomechanics

A
  • We can work out bone movement
    • Size of muscles mass/ strength etc
    • This is computer based
    • We use 3-D computer animation based on complex engineering algorithms
    • Finite strain analysis eg jaw strength
    • Multi-disciplinary
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5
Q

Finite strain analysis can be used to work out what?

A

Jaw strength

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6
Q

Trackways

A
  • Lots of work has been done
    • Single print can work out foot structure etc
    • Evidence foot length is about a quarter of length from foot to hip, so can work out stride possibility
    • Can also work out dinosaur speed
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7
Q

Dinosaur speed

A

6- 40 km/hr

Small bipedal theropods and ornithopods 40km

Large bipedal theropods and ornithopods 20km

Quadrepedal stegosaurs and ankylosaurs 6-8km

Quadrepedal sauropods 12-17km

Quadrepedal ceratopsians galloping 25km

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8
Q

Intelligence of dinosaurs

A
  • Sauropods are very low brain size to body size
    • EQ ratio of body size to brain size
    • Hunters had largest brain size
    • Flying dinosaurs have a large EQ (flying in three dimensional planes) Dromaeosauridae
    • Runaway evolutionary trajcetory
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9
Q

What dinosaurs had the largest brain size?

A

Hunters

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10
Q

Dinosaur senses

A
  • Can look at eye socket size
    • Brain endocasts
    • Few endocasts available
    • CAT scan
    • Compare brain to similar anatomic relative
    • Can make some inferences about senses
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11
Q

Dinosaur diet

A
  • Reconstruct ecosystem based off rocks from the same time period
    • Pollen spores and plant fossils
    • Calculate a food-web

Gut contents

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12
Q

Evidence for dinosaur diet (6)

A

1 Teeth form
2 Jaw adaptations
3 Co- occurence
4 Coprolities
5 Gut contents
6 Fortuitous finds

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13
Q

Teeth form

A
  • Crushing vegetation, vs serrated for eating flesh
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14
Q

Jaw adaptations

A
  • Reptiles cannot masticate and chew like mammals, they have inflexible jaws
    • Cheek and jaw can dislocate and go sideways so they can grind and swallow
    • Somewhat a chewing mechanism
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15
Q

Co-occurence

A

Work out food webs

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16
Q

Coprolites

A
  • May be full of plant material or bones and work out diet
    • Tough to identify the producer of a certain coprolite
    • No complete certainty to know producer
17
Q

Gut contents

A
  • Rare but very effective
    • Grasses did not evolve till dinosaur were extinct
    • Change in vegetation from tough to softer grasses
18
Q

Fortuitous finds

A
  • Dinosaur predating another
    • Very rare
    • Landslide during attack, preserved attack
19
Q

Behaviour

A
  • Tricky to get an understanding of
    • Nest burial of eggs
    • Fidelity due to burying in higher layers
    • Oviraptor was egg producer
    • Parental care can be detected from morphological development of eggs, can compare to crocodiles etc
20
Q

Parallel trackways

A
  • Provide insight into herd movement
    • Often have hunter tracks following herbivore dinosaurs
21
Q

Sexual displays

A
  • Sexual dimorphism
    • Also for sexual display
    • Male and female forms
    • Structures show communication
22
Q

Dinosaur physiology

A
  • Adaptations work up to a ceiling limit
    • Very successful species
    • Large pressure upon its heart
    • Were at peak optimum size
23
Q

Evidence for dinosaur thermoregulatory physiology

A

Stance and activity levels
Adaptations for processing high volumes of food
Haemodynamics
Brain size
Nose morphology
Bone histology and growth rates
Predator- prey ratios
Palaeogeography
Core and peripheral temperatures

24
Q

Stance and acitivity levels

A

Bipedal requires less energy

25
Q

Adaptations for processing high volumes of food

A
  • Have to consumer much more than cold blooded animals
    • Jaws and teeth
26
Q

Haemodynamics

A

Nodule

27
Q

Brain size

A
  • Larger brains = larger energy expenditure
    • Energy requirements to fly are high
28
Q

Palaeogeography

A
  • Dinosaurs lived at high cold latitudes suggesting they must be warm blooded
29
Q

Core and peripheral temperatures

A
  • Warm blooded have consistent temperature everywhere
    • Isotope heat comparisons throughout the skeleton
    • Different degrees of warm vs cold-blooded

Thermoregulation from feathers suggest warm bloodedness in dinosaurs

30
Q

Mysteries

A
  • More depth in time the greater differences between LCA and dinosaur
    • More recent fossils may have more similarities
    Stegosaurs
    • Initially evolved as defence with spines
    • then evolved into plates for perhaps a different purpose
31
Q

Reconstructing a dinosaurs capabilities requires knowledge of?

A

Biomechanics
Intelligence
Senses
Diet
Behaviour
Physiology

Palaeobiology (15 decks)

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