PALEO WEEK 6

Deterrents

Discourage predators from choosing to attack in the first place

E.g.,turtle shells, large size in sauropods, etc

Crypsis

The ability of an animal to avoid detection by predators through camouflage, hiding behaviours and odour masking chemicals.

- Difficult to judge from fossil evidence (scent and colour do not fossilize)

- More common in small animals

Argentinosaurus

Sauropod which relied on its large size to deter predators.

- Could trample and hit with tails

Triceratops

Three-horned dinosaur who may have used its frill to intimidate predators and horns as weapons against predators.

Anodontosaurus

An ankylosaur which protected itself from predators with osteoderms and a tail modified into a club.

Stegosaurus

Herbivorous ornithischian dinosaur with a row of bony plates along its back and a spiked tail probably used as a weapon

Finite Element Analysis

Computer simulations that examine stress dispersal through 3D objects, used by palaeontologists to evaluate hypotheses about the function of dinosaur adaptations.

Euoplocephalus

An ankylosaur dinosaur with a tail club that Finite Element Analysis concluded could have been used as a weapon.

Stereoscopic vision

The ability to see an object with both eyes at once, allowing the animal to better perceive depth.

Dry Island Buffalo Jump

A bone bed site in Alberta containing the remains of more than 20 individuals of Albertosaurus.

Agonistic Behaviours

Fighting and aggressive displays between members of the same species

Carnivore Hunting Styles

- Ambush

- Stalk and pursue

- Pursue over long distances until tiring them out

The fighting dinosaurs

An incredible fossil from Mongolia which apparently preserves a Protoceratops and Velociraptor locked in combat.

Interspecific interactions

A relationship between individuals of two or more different species.

Intraspecific interactions

A relationship between members of the same species.

Ritualized agonistic combat

Competition between two individuals of the same species that determines which is the strongest without either combatant risking serious injury.

Stegoceras

Small pachycephalosaur which may have engaged in ritualised agonistic combat using its thick-domed skull.

Herding

A defensive behaviour in which prey band together to benefit from the many alert senses of the collective group.

Cooperative hunting

Hunting behaviour in which individuals work together to catch prey

Monospecific bonebeds

Large accumulations of fossil bones that are all from multiple individuals of the same species.

Pinacosaurus

Ankylosaur for which monospecific bone beds of juveniles have been found.

Non lethal face biting

Common agonistic behaviour among modern carnivores; supported in dinosaurs like tyrannosaurs by skull pathologies.

Paleopathologies

Include healed injuries or other evidence of diseases such as infections, cancer, or arthritis