ESS 100 Questions 2

The clade Ornithopoda is comprised of

Iguanodonts and Hadrosaurs

A facultative quadruped

Prefers to walk on two legs but can walk on four

Ornithopod characteristics

Huge size, bird-shaped feet with hooves, leaf-shaped teeth, complex skull features

Large, closely-packed tooth batteries are characteristic of

Hadrosaurs

The features separating Hadrosaurs from Iguanodonts were mostly related to

more efficient food gathering

Gideon Mantell’s “nose spike” on Iguanodonts really belongs where?

first digit of the hand

Iguanodonts are

primitive ornithopods

Thyreophorans

quadrupedal, antorbital fenestra is closed or nearly closed, body has bony armor, small brain/body weight ratio

Nearly all Ankylosaurs are found in the

Cretaceous

An inset tooth row allows

better food gathering

What physical evidence suggests that Laenllynosaura was able to function in the winter darkness of high latitudes?

large orbits and optic nerve

All ornithischians are characterized by

Leaf-shaped teeth, backward pointing pubis, ossified tendons

A primitive dinosaur has

only the characteristics of the last common ancestor, but little more

What is the MOST LIKELY use of the plates on stegosaurs' backs?

species recognition and sexual selection

Sauropods have

saurischian pubis'

Sauropodomorph means

sauropod-shape

Characteristics of sauropods

Long necks and tails, small skulls, nares on top of head

Where have sauropod fossils been found?

all continents

Sauropods exhibit two distinct skull morphologies based on which two dinosaurs?

Diplodocus and Camarasaurus

Brachiosaurus was an unusual sauropod because

its forelimbs are longer than its hindlimbs

Titanosaurs lived when?

Late Cretaceous

The earliest sauropodomorph was Plateosaurus, which lived in the

Late Triassic

Advantages of gigantism

Room for large digestive system, outgrowing predators, easy to heat the body

One way sauropods lightened their bodies was by

having air sacs in their neck vertebrae

Rapid growth rate in sauropods was shown using

thin sections of bone

Ectothermy is another name for

cold-blooded

Macronarians and Diplodocids had different types of teeth. What does tis tell us about them?

both herbivores but with different diets

Mesotherms

Raise their body temperature above that of the surrounding air, but do not "defend" a certain temperature

Pachycephalosaurs are distinguished from Ceratopsia by their

thickened dome

characteristic of Pachycephalosaurus

bony dome and knobs and spikes on the head

The last major clade of dinosaurs to evolve was the

Ceratopsians

characteristic of Ceratopsians

tooth batteries, horns on face, frill at the back of the skull

Marginocephalia means

ridged head

Which of the following is an argument FOR ectothermy in sauropods

all living reptiles are ectotherms

An ectothermic animal

derives its body heat from the surrounding air

arguments in favor of endothermy in dinosaurs

evidence of active lifestyle, insulation, internal bone structure, large size, large chest capacity

Giant Carnivores

The general name for the group containing Spinosaurs, Megalosaurs, Carcharodonts, Allosaurs, and Tyrannosaurs

Coelurosaurs are characterized by

specialized wrist structure, long slender hands, slender rear portion of tail

The first theropods appeared in the

Triassic

The fused collar bones characteristic of theropods is called a

furcula

The terrestrial animal with the strongest bite force was

Tyrannosaurus rex

Theropod characteristics

furcula, hollow bones, pointed serrated teeth

Tyrannosaurids are found in rocks of what age?

Late Cretaceous

Tyrannosaurids are characterized by

skull modifications, massive neck muscles, D-shaped teeth

Theropods are found in which geologic time periods

Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous

The largest ornithomimud was

Deinocheirus

Deinonychosaur characteristics

backward-pointing pubis, ossified tendons in tail, hyperextendable claw on second toe

derived tetanurans (theropods)

Ornithomimuds, Alvarezsaurids, Therizinosaurs, and Oviraptors

Bony quill knobs on Velociraptor bones indicate

they had feathers

Some paleontologists infer that Troodon had good night vision because

it had very large eyes

What is different from other theropods about Deinonychosaurs' pubis?

it tilts backwards

largest deinonychosaur?

Utahraptor

What discovery finally helped paleontologists realize Spinosaurus was a good swimmer?

Caudal (tail) vertebrae with large spines on top

What comes where the star is on the cladogram

Aviales

Bird fossils are found in the

late Jurassic through Late Cretaceous

Archaeopteryx fossils have only been found in

Germany

The largest number of bird fossils are

Cretaceous water birds because that's the best place for preservation

Which characteristics is an evolutionary innovation that is characteristic of birds ONLY?

deep-keeled sternum

convergent evolution

When unrelated species develop similar behaviors or features in order to solve similar problems

callus

bony tissue forming around sites of injury or infection in bone

There is evidence which pests afflicted dinosaurs?

lice and fleas

Fossils of lice that infested dinosaurs were preserved in what material?

amber

The scalloped edge on a triceratops bone was evidence that

a T-rex had nibbled on it

One of the big problems in the classification of birds is

Birds were originally classified using only the features of living birds

features that apply to both dinosaurs and birds

bipedal, complex respiratory system, feathers, backwards pointing pubis, furcula

An animal is a dinosaur if it is a member of the least inclusive that includes both Passer domesticus and which animal below?

Triceratops horridus

A Mesozoic terrestrial reptile that walks with an upright stance defines what?

non-avian dinosaurs

Walter and Luis Alvarez are the authors of what important dinosaur information?

investigations that indicated a bolide impact resulted in dinosaur extinction

The Chicxulub crater left by the end-Cretaceous asteroid is in

the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

The Deccan traps

huge lava flows in the late Cretaceous in India

The fern spike was

a dramatic increase in the number of ferns just after the end-Cretaceous extinction

Iridium is important because

it is only found in great quantities in meteorites or comets

The iridium layer found globally is an indication that

a bolide impact caused the end-Cretaceous mass extinction

Tektites, shocked quartz, and tsunami deposits are all evidence of

a bolide impact

During the end-Cretaceous, the best way to survive would have been

to be small or live in freshwater

volcanism can cause

acid rain, an increase in poisonous gases in the atmosphere, an increase in particulate matter in the atmosphere

background extinction

extinction that goes on all the time

what percent of terrestrial animals went extinct during the end-Cretaceous extinction

40

mass extinction

when the rate of extinction rises significantly above background extinction for a geologically brief time