Paleontology

Therapsida – *Therapsida is a group of synapsids, and includes mammals and their ancestors. *They were advanced mammal like reptiles that appeared during early Jurassic and became dominant land animal during middle Permian period. *They evolved from a group of pelycosaurs called sphenacodonts. *The legs are positioned more vertically…

The reading claims that large pterosaus were capable of powered flight, however, the professor find all the ideas mentioned by the reading passage dubious and think that they may were capable of powered flight and present some reasons to refute them all. The author argues that pewrosaus were cold blooded since modern reptiles are cold blooded too, therefore they were not able to produce a lot of energy which is needed for powered flight. Conversely, the lecturer brings up that this reason is…

With their scaly bodies, slit eyes, and long tails, alligators and crocodiles look a lot like dinosaurs. In fact, alligators and crocodiles descending from the same family as dinosaurs while it’s true that alligators and crocodiles look a lot alike, they differ in three ways. First, alligators and crocodiles are found in different parts of the world. Alligators are found in China, Central America, and South America. On the other hand. Crocodiles are found in Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia,…

In the lecture, the lecturer casts doubt on the idea that dinosaurs could have been endotherms, which is supported in the reading passage. For one thing, the author of the reading passage states that dinosaur fossils have been found even in polar regions. This shows that dinosaurs might have been able to regulate their body temperature. However, the lecturer contradicts this point by arguing that polar regions when dinosaurs existed were much warmer than today, and when the regions were…

Missouri’s Geology Missouri is home to a wide variety of geological history as well as treasure which can be found throughout the state. From its wonderful variety of caves to the rock columns in the state parks of the south as well as the mines. The soil is as rich in diversity as the plant and animal life, from the north to the south as well as the east to the west. It can be dated back as far as before there was life on this planet and at one time even had an ocean over it. It is truly…

Imagine finding fossils of an undiscovered sauropod while adventuring with some friends. Well that is what happened to Elmer S. Riggs. He discovered the first fossils of the Brachiosaurus. In 1900, Riggs found a partial skeleton of a Brachiosaurus in the rocks of the Brushy Basin Membrane of the Morrison Formation. The fossils were studied and information on this species was revealed. Brachiosaurs lived in the late Jurassic period, which was about 145 to 156 million years ago. The Jurassic…

85 million years ago a dinosaur named the pteranodon came to life. Named by Othniel C. Marsh in 1876, the pteranodon was an exceptional flying dinosaur. It’s name, meaning “winged and toothless,” was for the most part self explanatory. It was a flying dinosaur with a very wide wingspan and no teeth. Did you know that the pteranodon wing-span is longer than that of any known bird? It had a crest on its head, no teeth at all, and a very short tail. Despite what many people still think, modern…

For 16 years, scientists wondered just what had happened with corals in the Florida Keys. In this time period, over half of the corals had perished. They later discovered that the greatest decline was in elkhorn coral. Finally, research showed that the massive coral disappearances were caused by a disease by the name of white pox. The scientists have solved the elkhorn coral mystery using the scientific method - by making observations, conducting experiments, and drawing conclusions. Initially,…

What are dinosaurs? Dinosaurs are enormously large reptiles (cold blooded animal) that lived during the Mesozoic era which is about 230 million years ago. Contrary to the general believe that all dinosaurs were cold blooded animals thought to be sluggish, there were dinosaurs who were warm blooded animals that shared more similar features with aves (birds) of these days than with reptiles, example of which is the velociraptors which belong to the genera Theropods. Some of these dinosaurs are…

The fossil record; what is it? First of all we need to know what a fossil is. A fossil is evidence of a life from years ago which has been preserved in some way. This includes impressions or remains of an organism embedded in strata (Biology Online, 2011). Now that you have an idea of what fossils are, what is the fossil record? The fossil record provides information about the history of life on earth through the placement of fossils within the rock strata. The fossil record also shows how a…