Unit 2 Dinosaurs

paleontologist

someone who studies any aspect of ancient organisms

paleobiology

study of the lives of ancient organisms (physiology, behavior, ecology, functional anatomy)

China

“dragon bones” first to discover

Thomas Jefferson

fossil fanatic, sent Lewis and Clark to find dinosaurs

Richard Owen

concerned with size and posture

1842 - designated new group “Dinosauria”

unique features in dinosaurs

1. 3 or more sacral vertebrate

2. hands with 3 main fingers

3. perforate actable (hole in hips)

Dinosaur Renaissance

a scientific revolution starting in the late 1960s

driven by work of paleontologists like John Ostrom, who discovered Deinonychus and argued for its agility and similarity to birds, and Robert Bakker, who passionately advocated for warm-bloodedness and popularized these new ideas through writing and public presentations.

uranium lead dating

uranium 235 is pure when volcanic rocks cool

terrestrial

dinosaurs are terrestrial, no credible evidence they were amphibious or aquatic

long-necked plesiosaur

10,000 years, supposed “lochness monster”

pterosaur

in the air, not dinosaurs

similar to birds now

trace fossils

not traces of ancient life but tells what animals could do

ex: footprints predicting speed & gastroliths revealing diet

sedimentary rocks

where dinosaurs are found, badlands