Lecture 3 - reading notes "an exceptionally preserved lower cretaceous ecosystem"

Question 1

define invertebrate

Answer 1

an animal without a backbone

Question 2

define biota

Answer 2

the animal and plant life of a particular region, habitat or geological period

Question 3

define lithology

Answer 3

the study of the general physical characteristics of rocks

Question 4

define siliciclastic

Answer 4

relating to clastic rocks, consisting largely of silica or silicates

Question 5

define tuff

Answer 5

a light, porous rock formed by consolidation of volcanic ash

Question 6

define penecontemporaneous

Answer 6

(a process) occurring immediately after the deposition of a particular stratum

Question 7

define mesic

Answer 7

an environment with a moderate amount of water

Question 8

define arthropod

Answer 8

an invertebrate animal of the large phylum Arthropoda, such as insects, spiders or crustaceans

Question 9

define pterosaur

Answer 9

a fossil flying reptile of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, with membraneous wings supported by a greatly lengthened fourth finger

Question 10

define geochronology

Answer 10

the branch of geology concerned with the dating of rock formations and geological events

Question 11

define diagenesis

Answer 11

the physical and chemical changes occurring during the conversion of sediment to sedimentary rock

Question 12

the jehol biota is of what age?

Answer 12

the late Early cretaceous

Question 13

define ornithopod

Answer 13

a mainly bipedal herbivorous dinosaur

Question 14

define bipedal

Answer 14

used 2 legs for walking

Question 15

define ceretopsia

Answer 15

a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs

Question 16

define cursorial

Answer 16

having limbs adapted for running

Question 17

is the origin of feathers correlated with the origin of flight?

Answer 17

NO

Question 18

define sympatic

Answer 18

populations occurring in the same or overlapping geographical areas

Question 19

define ornithurae

Answer 19

taxon containing modern and prehistoric birds

Question 20

define frugivore

Answer 20

fruit eating animal; can be any type of herbivore to omnivore

Question 21

define theria

Answer 21

a major group of mammals that comprises the marsupials and placentals

Question 22

what is the most abundant biological element of the biota?

Answer 22

invertebrates

Question 23

define synamorphy

Answer 23

a characteristic present in an ancestral species and shared exclusively by its evolutionary descendants

Question 24

what is Laurasia?

Answer 24

a vast continental area believed to have existed in the northern hemisphere and to have resulted from the break-up of Pangaea in Mesozoic times