Post on 20-Jan-2016
transcript
DINOSAURS
Introduction
Dinosaur means “terrible lizard”
Characteristics of dinosaurs:Very diverse
Herbivores and carnivores
Bipedal or quadrupedal
Terrestrial
Built nests and laid eggs
Varied skin types including scales, armor, feathers
Probably warm blooded
Dinosaurs
Lived 230 to 65 mya during the late Triassic to early Cretaceous Periods (including Jurassic)
Fossils have been found on every continent
Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Chordata, Class Reptilia
Flora and Fuana
Other animals alive at this time included: small shrew like mammals, insects, amphibians, reptiles, crocodiles, turtles, sharks, fish.
Plants: conifers, cycads, ginkgos, ferns
Orders of Dinosaurs
Saurischia and Ornithischia
Saurischia
Saurischia: “lizard hipped” survivors evolved into birds
Saurischia: Therapods
Therapods: Tyrannosaurus Rex and Velociraptor – bipedal, carnivorous, scales and feathers, includes modern birds
Saurischia: Sauropods
Sauropods: long necks, herbivores, quadrupedal, very large, weak teeth – Apatasaurous, Brachiosauris
Ornithischia
Ornithischia: “Bird hipped” (all died during extinction, no living descendents)
Ornithischia: Thyreophora
Thyreophora: “armored dinosaurs,” plates and spikes, herbivores, early Jurassic to Cretaceous, Ankylosaurus, Stegasaurus
Ornithischia: Ornithopods
Ornithopods: bipedal & quadrupedal, could chew, running grazers, herbivores of N. America - Iguanodon, Maiasaura
Ornithischia: Ceratopsians
Ceratopsians: horned-face, herbivores, beaked, large quadrupeds – Triceratops, Psittacosaurs
Pterosaurs
PterosaursAre not dinosaurs
Flying reptiles
First flying vertebrates
220 to 65 mya
Ranged in size from small to large
Many had hair, did not have feathers
Leathery wings
Marine ReptilesNot dinosaurs
PlesiosaurLong necksMarine predatorAir breather
MosasaurFierce aquatic predatorsBreathed airRelatives of snakes and monitor lizards
Marine Reptiles
IchthyosaurResembled dolphins
Air breathers
Phylogenic Tree
What happened to the dinosaurs?
Cretaceous Extinction65 mya
Mass extinction of plants and animals
Comet landed in Gulf of Mexico
All terrestrial (non-avian) dinosaurs died due to climate change and lack of food
Mammals, amphibians, and birds survived and thrived
Cold blooded reptiles survived
Birds evolved from dinosaurs
Prior to the Cretaceous Extinction, a small, light-weight Jurassic therapod began adapting to its environment
This animal survived the extinction, one early species was called Archaeopteryx