Mini-Assignment 6: Prepare for the next excavation lab (caudal bones and trace fossils) To answer the questions below, read pages 226-231 about dinosaur trace fossils and see box 6.1 and page 341 for information about the skeletal regions you’ll seen in lab this week. 1.
What trace fossil could serve as evidence that main dinosaur you are excavating was predated upon? (1 pt) The trace fossil that could serve as evidence that the main dinosaur I am excavating was predated upon is the bite mark on the dinosaur bones. This means that another animal, likely a predator, was feeding on the dinosaur’s remains. 2.
What evidence could you use to support that a given coprolite was made by a dinosaur? What might give you uncertainty about what animal made the coprolite? (2 pts)
The evidence to support that a coprolite was made by a dinosaur is the undigested plant material inside the coprolite. What might give me uncertainty is that other animals can also produce similar-looking coprolites, for example, types of alligators and crocodiles can produce coprolites that look similar. 3.
The ventral bones beneath the skeleton are called chevrons. What are the functions of chevrons? (1 pt)
Chevrons provide support and protection for the tail, such as protection for nerves and blood vessels. They also play a role in the movement of the spine. 4.
What are the two types of bones represented in the caudal region of the organism’s skeleton? (1pts)
The two types of bones represented in the caudal region of the organism’s skeleton are the chevrons and the caudal vertebrae. 5.
Examine the figures of these dinosaur tails. You may need to be logged in to the library using your NetID and password to view some images. Describe the differences you see among the taxa using at least 5 of the following terms
: centrum, neural arch, neural spine, transverse process, chevron, osteoderm, caudal, sacral (5 pts)
Ankylosaur:
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/figure/image?size=large&id=10.1371/j
ournal.pone.0006738.g001
