Lesson 3: Eating Flashcards
why is knowing about a dinosaur’s diet important?
A Dinosaurs diet can help us understand where it was on the food chain and how it lived in the ecosystem
what are the 9 types of eaters?
herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, Serrations , Frugivores, Piscivorous, Insectivores, Durophagy, Scavengers
what type of teeth do herbivores have?
Tend to have thin, ridged or “leaf shaped” teeth for shearing and broad, flat teeth for grinding and for herbivores that browse high in trees, but cannot climb, have long legs and necks
what type of teeth do carnivores have?
Tend to have sharp pointed teeth for piercing, and sharp hooked claws for holding onto struggling prey
what are serrations and what type of eater has them?
Are small sharp bumps on a tooth that are arranged in a line that usually runs from the tip to the base of the tooth. common in carnivores
what is a frugivores
A type of herbivore
Parrots
Eat primarily fruit
Beak of a parrot is sharp and hooked
what is a piscivorous
Are specialized carnivores that primarily eat fish
Piscivores tend to have tall, sharp, conical teeth that usually lack serrations. These adaptations make piscivore teeth good at spearing and holding onto slippery fish. Have elongates jaws that can reach far and snap fast
Teeth are usually tall and conical which are good for spearing and holding on to slipper fish
Have procumbent dentition which means that the teeth in the front of the mouth point forward at an angle rather than straight up or down.
This allows front tips of the jaws to be used to impale fish like a harpoon
what are insectivores
Specialized carnivores that primarily eat insects
But many insects are soft bodied and can be swallowed whole, without being chewed, so many insectivores have weak jaws and reduced teeth
what are Durophagy
Some carnivores, like hyenas, Tasmanian devils, and alligators, have sharp teeth for puncturing and ripping flesh but also have strong rounded molar teeth that enable them to crack bones
Extremely powerful jaws
what are omnivores
Are animals that eat significant amounts of both meat and plants
Some shaped like those of herbivores and others like those of carnivores
what is resorption of teeth?
Is the chemical process by which a dinosaur breaks down its own teeth and bones so that the minerals and nutrients that compose them can be reused. After a new tooth was ready to replace an old one, and after the old tooth’s root was reabsorbed, the top, or “crown”, of the old tooth could be shed. When bones and teeth are broken down while an animal is alive and the minerals are transferred back into the blood
what is cellulose and how do animals deal with it?
It makes plants a difficult source of food. Animals cannot digest cellulose on their own. dental batteries and Gastroliths
what are dental batteries
Some herbivorous dinosaur groups are one way of dealing with the challenge of cellulose. Dental batteries are arrangements of densely packed teeth that collectively form a single, large chewing surface, and two groups of dinosaurs evolved dental batteries: hadrosaurs and ceratopsians
what are gastroliths and why are they important
Stones inside the ribcage that help digest food in oviraptorosaur and ornithomimids. It helps toothless animals to “chew” their food
Many modern birds, including chickens, have a gastric mill, which they fill by swallowing pebbles that they pick up from the ground. Small masses of little stones found in rib cages of some herbivorous dinosaurs. Form part of the ‘gastric mill’ that helps some dinosaurs and birds grind up plant matter
what is a Dromaeosaurs
A group of theropods with an enlarged and sickle-shaped claw on each foot and stiffened tails; lived during the Cretaceous period; examples: Velociraptor, Utahraptor, Deinonychus. Stomach content that can provide information on diet
what is a Spinosaurus?
Are a group of theropods with skulls that strongly resemble those of crocodiles
Piscivores
what’s an Alvarezsaurus
Short front limbs and compact hands
Insectivores
Have reduced teeth and short, but strong, front limbs
what type of teeth and jaw do Tyrannosaurs have
Have serrated edges
Have blunt tips and the attachment sites for jaw muscles indicate a capacity for tremendous biting force
Scavenging definition
Refers to the consumption of an already dead animal by a carnivore that did not play a part in killing it
what are Cololites
Fossil gut contents found in the colon
Can help figure out a dinosaurs diet
what are Coprolites
fossilized poop
what are Durophagy?
The eating behaviour of animals adapted to crush bones
what are dentine
Hard tissue that helps to form teeth
what is the study of ontogeny
The development of an individual Growth Why is it important? Vast ontogenetic changes may lead to ecological changes Study gave evolutionary implications
