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PALEO 200 > Lesson 1 > Flashcards

Lesson 1 Flashcards

1
Q

T/F
All large reptiles that are extinct are known as dinosaurs

A

false

dinosaurs have a very specific definition!

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2
Q

the definition of a dinosaur is determined by anatomical details in the ______
eg

A

skeleton

eg air sinus present, hind legs: ankles move to tuck their legs underneath

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3
Q

who invented the term ‘dinosaur’? When?

A

Sir Richard Owen
170 years ago
- no complete dino skeletons had been found at this point!

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4
Q

bones had been found from 3 different dinosaurs at the time that Sir Richard Owen invented the term dinosaur. What were the 3?
- What were they previously described as?

A

megalosaurus, iguanodon, hylaeosaurus

  • extinct giant reptiles
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5
Q

What do megalosaurus, iguanodon, & hylaeosaurus all have in common?

A
  • teeth that grew out of sockets (like modern crocodiles)
  • erect limbs (like modern mammals, birds)

Suggested these 3 creatures were more related to each other than to any modern reptile, so created ‘dinosauria’ group

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6
Q

___ are more likely to fossilize than other body structures

A

bones

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7
Q

paleontologists look at what to determine how many dino species there were?
- also to understand how ecosystems changed through time and adaptations of each species

A

the skeletons

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8
Q

______, or “long-necked dinos” include the largest animal that ever walked the earth

A

sauropods

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9
Q

Which of the following was the largest sauropod?
- argentinosaurous
- diplodocus
- giraffatian

A

depends on the definition of ‘large’!

  • gieaffatitan= tallest dino
  • diplodocus= longest
  • argentinosaurous= heaviest
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10
Q

how is the weight of a dino estimated?

A

extrapolation based on comparison of limb proportions of the dino compared to those of large modern mammals whose weights can be measured directly

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11
Q

Why is it hard to estimate how heavy a dino was based on its fossils?

A
  • usually incomplete skeleton
  • only includes bones, no organs/ muscles etc
  • bones have been infiltrated w/ minerals= heavier
  • some had air sacs, which would make them much lighter than an equivalently sized modern mammal
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12
Q

the smallest dinos were smaller than a _____!

t/f
lots of these were meat eaters

A

chicken

true!

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13
Q

t/f

humans and dinos have basically the same skeletons with the same bones in the same places

why or why not?

A

true!

because we’re all vertebrates, so have a common ancestor

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14
Q

which of the following are vertebrates?
- humans
- sharks
- octopus
- snakes

A

all except octopus

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15
Q

what are the openings for the eyes in a skull called?

A

orbits

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16
Q

what are the openings for the nose in a skull called?

A

nares

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17
Q

openings in the skull that aren’t for the nose or eyes are called _____, which means ____

A

fenestrae

window

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18
Q

fenestrae are important for distinguishing between major _____ of _____

A

lineages of vertebrae

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19
Q

the antorbital fenestra will be ____ (in front of/ behind) the orbit, and the laterotemporal fenestra will be ____ (in front of/ behind) the orbit

A

antorbital = in front
laterotemporal = behind

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20
Q

where would the super temporal fenestra be located?

A

on top of the skull

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21
Q

t/f

neck vertebrae are different from back vertebrae

A

true

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22
Q

neck vertebrae are called ____
back=
hip=
tail=

A

neck= caudal
back= sacral
hip= dorsal
tail= cervical

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23
Q

t/f dinos don’t have ribs in the rear portion of their body

A

false!
dinos had ribs all the way to their pelvis
- mammals are unusual and do not have ribs in the rear portion of our body

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24
Q

_____ are “belly ribs” and are not found in mammals. They’re an adaptation for flexibility and posture

A

gastralia

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25
Q

your arms and legs connect to the rest of the body via the ___ ____

  • for arms: ____ ______
  • for legs: ______ ____
A

limb girdles

shoulder girdle
hip/ pelvic girdle

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26
Q

t/f
the bones of different animals may take different shapes, but the same kinds of bones will be present

A

true

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27
Q

give some similarities and differences between human vs tyrannosaurus arm bones

A

similarities:
- same bones are present! humerus, radius, ulna, and metacarpals present in both

differences
- dino has bigger arm
- dino only has 2 main fingers compared to our 5
- dino had large claws on fingers, while ours were replaced with fingernails

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28
Q

do humans and dinos share the same leg bones? which?

A

yes!

upper= femur
2 lower= tibia and fibula

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29
Q

t/f
Like most dinosaurs, all Tyrannosaurus walked on their toes and the soles of their feet were elevated off the ground.

A

true

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30
Q

sacral vertebrae are fused to the ___

A

hips

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31
Q

the first major division of dinos is based on the shape of the ___

A

pelvis

32
Q

What are the 2 groups called that divide dinos based on pelvis shape?

A
  1. saurischia (lizard hipped dinos)
  2. irnithischians (bird hipped dinos)
33
Q

did birds evolve from saurischia or irnithischians?

A

confusingly, birds evolved from lizard hipped dinos, not bird hipped dinos.
= saurischia

34
Q

all dinos have __ pairs of bones that make up their pelvis

A

3

35
Q

what’s the largest bone in a dino body?

A

ilium (in the pelvis)

36
Q

explain the main 4 bones of the dino pelvis and briefly what they do

A
  1. sacrum= fused to vertebral column, designed to support great weight
  2. ilium= upper bone (largest in the body). pull the leg forward and back
  3. ischium= smaller bone beneath ilium: goes down and back
  4. pubis: goes down and forward. different in saurischians vs ornithischians
37
Q

What’s the easiest way to tell a ornithischian from a saurischian dino based on the pelvis?

A

the pubis bone:
in ornithischians, the pubis reorientates itself so it’s back beside the ischium.
in saurischians, the pubis has a huge boot on the bottom to support weight

38
Q

The saurischians can be divided into 2 major groups:

A
  1. sauropods (long-necked dinos)
  2. theropods (very diverse!)
    - carnivores, herbivores, etc
39
Q

t/f
all theropods walked on their front legs

A

false
all theropods walked on their hind legs

40
Q

_____ were an early group of plant- eating dinos and were much smaller than their giant sauropod cousins (some were still massive)

A

Prosauropods

41
Q

Prosauropods
- ___ heads and ___ necks
- ___ hands
- ability to stand and walk only on their __ feet
- successful at first, but had a __ reign

A

small, long
grasping
hind
short

42
Q

there are two key traits that distinguish all ornithischians from thischians:

A
  1. ornithischians have a hip with a pubic bone that points backwards
  2. ornithischians have a special bone in the lower jaw, called the predentary. No other animals have one.

These adaptations were for a vegetarian lifestyle

43
Q

the backwards pointing pubic bones of Ornithischians resembles those of birds.
Does this mean they’re closely related?

A

No, it’s an evolutionary convergence, so there is no close relationship

44
Q

how did the predentory bone help with herbivory?

A

helped to form a cropping beak in the front of the mouth= tool for slicing off plant stems

45
Q

how did the backwards pointing pubis give ornithischians an advantage as herbivores?

A

gave extra belly room for an enlarged digestive tract (plant matter is difficult to digest!)

46
Q

t/f
ornithischians were all omnivores

A

false
they were all herbivores

47
Q

what are the 5 main lineages of ornithischians?

A
  1. duck-billed hadrosaurs
  2. ceratopsians
  3. dome-headed dinos (pachycephalosaurus)
  4. stegosaurus
  5. ankylosaurs
48
Q

ornithopods=
___-hipped dinos that typically walk on __ legs and are _____(herbivores/ carnivores)

A

bird
2
herbivores

49
Q

ceratopsians walk on __ legs and have ___ at the back of the head, made up from elongated bones from the back of the skull

A

4
frills

50
Q

what is a boss?

A

a bony mass
- can be nasal, supraorbital, etc
eg. pachyrhinosaurus has both

51
Q

t/f
the dome-headed dinos had a very large brain

A

false
the large head was just bone, not brain :(

likely used the domes to recognize each other and/or headbutting

52
Q

stegosauria walked on __ legs, although their ___ legs were shorter than their __ legs

A

4
front shorter than hind

53
Q

what is the most distinguishing characteristic of stegosauria?

A

osteroderms= the plates/ spikes along the back –> formed from a special type of bone that forms in the skin

54
Q

ankylosauria are known as the “_____ dinos” and have ___-shaped skulls.
They are covered in ___ of different sizes, and sometimes have a huge one at the end of the tail to form a ___ ____

A

armoured
block
osteoderms
tail club

55
Q

t/f
muscles, organs, and skin of dinos are never preserved, so we don’t actually know the true appearance of any dino

A

false
although organs etc decay much faster than bones, sometimes we can get an idea of appearance from well-preserved tracks with scales etc

also, sometimes the body was covered with mud shortly after dying, so skin impressions were left before rotting away

56
Q

mummified dinos=

A

dino skeletons with lots of associated skin (rare!). large regions of skin hanging off the bones
first found in wyoming in 1910

keratin (beaks, claws, etc) almost ‘fossilized’

57
Q

integumentary structures=

A

The integumentary system includes the epidermis, dermis, hypodermis, associated glands, hair, and nails

58
Q

t/f
sometimes integumentary structures revealed in the fossil record reveal an adaptation we never would’ve guessed a dino would have

A

true!

59
Q

t/f
very few dino groups besides birds had feathers

A

false!
many dino groups did
eg. feathered velociraptor

60
Q

what is the impact of volcanic ash on fossilization?

A

like mud, it preserves fossils very well.
however, it also alters the chemistry of the water, and bacteria can’t live in it, so feathers, etc are preserved

61
Q

which of the following most likely had feathers based on evidence?
- tyrannosaurus
- edmontosaurus
- stegosaurus
- velociraptor

A

definitely velociraptor, probably tyrannosaurus too

62
Q

for which group do we currently not have any skin impression?

A

pachycephalosaurs

63
Q

do both ankylosaurus and stegosaurus have osteoderms?

A

yes!

64
Q

what might be some benefits of having osteoderms?

A

-storing calcium (eg in sauropods)
- gathering heat from the sun (if the osteoderm was covered in skin/ blood vessels)
- protection from biting/ clawing predators
- to look good! (eg stegosaurus flaunting it)

mostly as protection though

65
Q

scales, feathers, bristles, and osteoderms are called ______ _______

A

integumentary structures

66
Q

what are eumelanosomes?

A

an arrangement of pigment cells that determines feather color in modern birds.
none= white
long & narrow= black and grey

this is a proxy to see what color dino feathers might’ve been!

67
Q

t/f
evidence for dino colors of blue, green, and red have been found

A

false
no evidence for those colors existing

68
Q

Do we have any idea what color dino skin might have been?

A

no

can’t use eumolanisomes for skin, only feathers

69
Q

what does osteoderm mean?

A

“skin bones”
b/c these are bones that are formed completely within the dermis (lower layer of skin)
we don’t have anything like this!

70
Q

from a ______, or dino dropping, from a tyrannosaur, we have the remains of muscle fibers

A

coprolite

71
Q

the best evidence for soft anatomy of a dino comes from looking at the _____

A

bones

  • can see striations where the muscles attached to it
72
Q

____ are the descendants of dinos and ____ are the second cousins of dinos. Why is this useful in trying to understand muscles in dinos?

A

birds
crocodiles

if we find the same muscles attached to the same points/ bones in both birds and crocs, we can infer that those were the same muscles attached to those points in dinos

73
Q

how do we know what tyrannosaurus teeth looked like?

A

there are tooth imprints in bone (they were strong enough to bite through bone!)

74
Q

_____ has the strongest bite of any animal, alive or dead

A

t-rex

75
Q

compare the jaws/ bites of t-rex vs gigantosaurus

A

gigantosaurus had longer skull and lower jaw
= less powerful bite than t-rex, but could close its jaws much faster

76
Q
A

PALEO 200 (11 decks)

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