Horseshoe Crabs

Moon Jellyfish are in the “Animalia Kingdom, Phylum Cnidarian, Class Scyphozoan, Order Semaeostomeae, Family Ulmaridae, and Genus Aurelia” ( Myers, 2016 ; Espinosa, ; 2016 ; Parr, 2016 ; Jones, 2026 ; Hammond, 2016 ; Dewey, 2016). The morphological description of Cnidarians are corals, sea anemones, jellyfish and hydroids. These cnidarians form a diverse phylum that contains ~9000 species, which live in aquatic (predominantly marine) environments. The phylum-defining trait of Cnidaria is the stinging cell, the nematocyte an extrusive organelle used for predation, adhesion and defense (Holstein, 1981; Lengfeld et al., 2009; Tardent and Holstein, 1982) (Steele and Technau; 2011). Also, this phylum, Cnidarians, are divided into two groups, “Anthozoa (sea anemones, corals and sea pens), which live as

Although the Ediacaran period was well before the first appearance of dinosaurs it shows that there were fossils many years ago. When dinosaurs first appeared things had changed there was still shallow water which meant that bones could be fossilized.

Shifting from the end of the Permian period 250 million years ago into the next era, the Triassic period occurred between 250 and 199 million years ago and was know for further diversifying life on land. After the Permian period, the Triassic period was largely successful in adapting and evolving, as the world was going through many changes. The land mass known as Pangea began its separation, which would be completed in the Jurassic period. The climate was relatively more severe during this time, with hotter summers and colder winters, but because of the warmer atmosphere, there were no polar ice caps at this time. Towards the center of Pangea, it was mostly a dry desert climate. As for life on earth, most of the marine life had been wiped

Sedimentary rocks interpret dinosaur habitats through encased environmental structures of the past. Through sedimentary rocks, paleoecologists’ can examine the arranged formation of sedimentary structures to specify what type of environment the dinosaurs’ lived in. An example of a specific sedimentary rock structure can be seen through formed weathering and ripple marks by how wind and sand formed distinct patterns in the past layered sediment. These arrangements provide interpretations on the structure of the sediment and the habitat of encased fossils, through modern day comparisons

Green crabs are found in shallow ocean waters and they have a preference for sheltered areas. They are an aggressive and territorial crab species (CBC, 2012). Although this species is known as the “green crab”, they are not always green. In fact, this species of crab can range from a variety of colors such as red, orange, brown, blue and yellow; the colors often depend on when the crab last exuviated. Due to the fact that green crabs cannot be distinguished solely by color, they are often confused with other crab species such as the rock crab. A few ways to distinguish the European green crab from other crabs is by 5 pointy spines which are located on the front end of the carapace on either side of the eye as cited by GOV, (2013) and 3 rounded lobes located between the eyes. European green crabs are also distinguished by their claws of different sizes and the way the tips of its back legs are pointed, flattened and hairy. A European green crab generally doesn’t surpass 4 inches (appx. 100 mm) and an average green crab is approximately 2.5 inches (appx. 63 mm) (Peters et al. 2004). Male green crabs typically range from 40-70mm whereas female green crabs ranged from 40-65mm. If these crabs, male or female, surpassed their average size they were classified as old adults (Yamada and Gillespie, 2008). The adult green crab can survive out of the water for

Birds are closely related to crocodiles because they share the same ancestry with the dinosaurs. To compare the crocodile and lizard, one would think the lizard is closely related to crocodiles, as we read in our text, "similar structures don't always reveal common ancestry." Crocodiles and birds evolved having the same common ancestry as the dinosaur. Lizards, on the other hand, do not share a close common ancestor with crocodiles or dinosaurs, their common ancestry is more distant.

Lobsters are crustaceans that have been on earth for more that 480 million years and their average lifespan is 70 years. Their scientific name is Homarus americanus. The word lobster is an old english word that means spider. Lobsters are benthic creatures that are found in all of the world’s oceans, brackish water, and freshwater. A lobsters brain is located in its throat and its teeth are in its stomach. They have poor eyesight but an amazing sense of taste and smell. They mainly feed on fish, clams, sea stars, sea urchins, mussels and sometimes even other lobsters. Scientists have two theories on lobster cannibalism. The first theory is that rising water temperatures are causing lobsters to be more aggressive. The second theory is that lobsters

Three years ago, the author took a trip to Delaware. As his family was walking on the beach they came across some horseshoe crabs mating. He wondered how they have changed. The type of horseshoe crab he saw along the beach was called “limulus polyphemus”. Limulus Polyphemus is not found in the fossil records. The fossil record for horseshoe crabs is deeper than 20 million years, and the

Maryland is known for their blue crabs, but if crabbers exploit the blue crabs’ population, Maryland’s famous blue crabs will be extinct. Blue crabs play a large economic role in Maryland as they bring in money for the state, whether it be from people going crabbing or eating crabs. With all the benefits of blue crabs in Maryland, the government has taken a stand to ensure a large blue crab population in the future.

Disregarding the feathers of Longisquama, and therefore disregarding its link to Archaeopteryx, these scientists still fully support the dinosaur-bird link. As mentioned before, the extreme majority of paleontologists still subscribe to this idea. A recent discovery in the western region of China seems to clarify the link between dinosaurs and birds. Living at roughly the same time as Archaeopteryx, Sinovenator changii is very closely related to the bird yet is classified as a dinosaur.5

The group of crabs known as fiddler crabs actually encompasses over 90 species and subspecies of the genus Uca that come from a variety of locations. Males and females are quite easily distinguished by their claws - the females have small claws, but the males have one very large claw (see photos of males and females). The largest fiddler crabs only reach a mature size of about 2 inches across their

The word dinosaur was invented in 1842 by Richard Owen. Dinosaur comes from the Greek word “deinos” and “sauros” which translates to fearfully great lizard (“Learn about Dinosaurs”). Dinosaurs are always named in Greek and usually named after their unique fossils, where they 're found, it’s size or a person. Before a dinosaur can be officially named it must be approved by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. It’s difficult to figure out how dinosaurs sounded, mated, behaved, what color/pattern they were and which ones are male or female. Paleontologists have however been able to discover that dinosaurs hatch from eggs, their bones have growth rings which can help figure out their age and that the larger dinosaurs lived for roughly 100 years and smaller ones for less. All dinosaurs evolved from other reptiles during the Triassic period. Dinosaurs are either herbivores or carnivores and are divided into two major groups. Bird hipped, Ornithischian, or lizard hipped, Saurischa. In the Saurischa hipped dinosaurs the pubis bone is down and to the front but in Ornithischian hipped it is point down and towards the tail (“Zoom Dinosaur”). The next step was to examine how dinosaurs behaved and their characteristics.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton demonstrated many dinosaur characteristics and behaviors. The dinosaurs were fictionally characterized to appeal to the readers. By examining the dinosaur’s appearance and behaviors of dinosaurs such as the duckbilled dinosaur, velociraptor, hypsilophodontids, dilophosaurs, Triceratops, apatosaurs, Tyrannosaurus rex, stegosaurs, and maiasaurs distinguished whether the evidence existed in the field of paleontology. The behaviors and characteristics of the dinosaur are divided into three factors as behaviors that were supported, not supported, and no evidence to support or refute the behavior.

Jurassic is a period of time with Dinosaurs, rodents and birds. There were also island seas consisting of sharks, sea monsters and blood-red planktons. The existing plants in that period were cycads, ferns and conifers. The Mesozoic era was about 245 million years ago to 65 years ago, so it almost lasted about 180 years in total. The Mesozoic era is divided into three periods of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. Mesozoic era means middle animals and it is the era, which the word’s fauna has changed from what is in the Paleozoic era and the most famous organisms of this era are dinosaurs. In the Mesozoic era, the extinction of more than 90 percent of species in the earth was observed and the reason behind it was mostly volcanic eruptions and climate changes. On the other hand, this era had massive changes that represented ecological niches and rise to new creatures such as rodent-size mammals and first dinosaurs. In Triassic, which was the first period of Mesozoic, the mammals and first dinosaurs existed. Later than that, the second period was Jurassic, which giant shaped dinosaurs and other kinds of dinosaurs were developed. Besides that the first flowering plants and primitive birds, with long teeth appeared in that era as well.

These techniques led to the discovery of the boundary between the two eras. A single thin layer of clay found within predominantly limestone rocks established this. By comparing the marine life found in, above, and below the clay, the marine life, like the dinosaurs, had been terribly affected by the extinction event. The percentage of life in the upper layers was dramatically lower than that in the lower. This was far more compelling than what was suggested by dinosaur’s fossils.