Theropid: The Bird Footed Dinosaurs

In 1861 Myer also discovered the first archaeopteryx specimen. Researchers state that “archaeopteryx is the oldest known fossil that is accepted as a bird, they are said to date back to one hundred and fifty million years ago which was during the late Jurassic period” (Archaeopteryx, 2014). Archaeopteryx is unique in that it shows characteristics of both reptiles and birds. The reason the species is seen as half reptile and half bird is because it has feathers like a bird, it has teeth which is dinosaur like, and it has a long boney tail. Some other characteristics of archaeopteryx is that it’s hands, shoulders, pelvis, and feet are distinct, not fused. Knowing these different characteristics one can agree that Archaeopteryx can be recognized as an intermediate between birds and reptiles. Archaeopteryx is seen as a clear transition between, two different classes of species, class reptillia and class aves (Kritsky, 1992). This is proof that evolution does exist and it is gradual. Through this species we are able to see that it is the transitional fossil which links dinosaurs to

While a theropod “beast-footed” carnivore includes the T. Rex, the ones that likely roamed Wrangel-St.Elias National Park were considerably smaller. The researchers found evidence of a single theropod that was likely a tiny 9 cm long and 7 cm wide due to an impression of the sinusoidal shape. Several ornithopod, medium and large plant-eating dinosaurs, was identified by blunt and rounded digit impressions which are usually 22 cm long and 26 wide. It was the first evidence that dinosaurs roamed this vast region.

The beginning of the Jurassic brought a new climate. The weather changed from arid, dry, and seasonal to humid, hot, and stable. The weather allowed for lush jungles to flourish, and with the lush jungles, the dinosaurs. The weather change was due to the supercontinent Pangea breaking apart. Two new smaller supercontinents were formed, Gondwana and Laurasia. The supercontinents now had more area that was touching the ocean. This meant the water from the ocean made the supercontinents more humid than before. The dinosaurs thrived in this climate. New species are being discovered to this day from the Jurassic Period due to the immense diversity amongst them.

Dinosaurs come in many different colors and sizes. The lifespan of a dinosaur is 75 to 300 years. Their daily life is hunting, mating, using the bathroom, and migrating. The defense mechanisms helped them repair their injuries 150 mya. The bone structures are the skull, jaws, neck bones, vertebrae, thigh, pelvis, tail, and rib bone. Dinosaur’s average speed is about 27 mph. Dinosaurs find their food by hunting, which is each other and some eat plants. They reproduce by hatching newborns from eggs. Some communicate by their horns or flickering the tip of their tails. Baryonyx stomach contents were found to contain fish scales, is an example of predator-prey relationship. Some animals that are related to dinosaurs are lizards, because of their skin texture.

The teeth analyzed in the study were from eight different localities in Spain, including Treviño County, Huesca, Lerida, and Laño. Though two species of theropod were already known, the researchers happened across six additional species during their research on dinosaur evolution at the final stages of the Cretaceous period.

The differences between Ceratopsian dinosaurs can be identified by examining size, shape of crest and number and placement of horns. Deinonychus had a curved claw on one toe, several inches long, that was used for jumping onto and wounding large prey when hunting in packs. Dunkleosteus was a massive cannibalistic armored fish that swam the oceans millions of years before anything even vaguely resembling human life walked the earth. These are all things that I would gladly have informed you of when I was roughly five years old. I was infatuated with all things prehistoric, and not in the typical manner of the kid wearing a t-rex t-shirt and pretending that the floor was lava. I was at natural history museums every chance I got, and I was dead

Dinosaurs capture the attention of children and adults alike, and many people think that they are long gone. You might be surprised to find that they are not extinct, but rather perching in your backyard. The theory that theropods evolved into birds was proposed nearly a century and a half ago and is supported by more and more modern evidence. You will find that the distinction between birds and dinosaurs will become difficult, as they have so many parallels. The similarities between birds and dinosaurs strongly suggest that birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs.

The newly found dinosaur is estimated to be 30 feet long, a plant eater and is a member of the duck-billed dinosaurs. Gregory M. Erickson, a professor at Florida State University and also one of the researchers working on the Alaskan site, describes that it had “at least 1,000 teeth with coarse surfaces perfect for pulverizing plants” and had “crests along its back like Godzilla” (Erickson, 2015). It is interesting how paleontologists could determine whether a certain fossil was herbivore or carnivore when they were still alive by just looking at teeth. The article also mentions that it is probably covered in scales and that it could walk in all fours. This is also another example on how paleontologists can analyze and observe a fossil and

Deinonychus were discovered during the time period of Early Cretaceous, which was between 110 to 115 million years ago. When deinonychus were discovered, paleontologists started to reconsider how dinosaurs lived. Deinonychus name comes from “terrible claw” (prehistoric Beast of the Week, 2015). This name was given because it was believed that deinonychus were active dinosaurs all year round (Blagic 2016). The discovery of the deinonychus dinosaur was out of the ordinary. These features that the deinonychus had was never seen before in any other type of dinosaur. This dinosaur was intelligent, fast, had claws that could slash a prey bigger than itself, and the hands could grasp the prey (Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History,

A fossil found in the 1860s named Archaeopteryx was a said to be one of the most important finds for evolutionists. Archae is what is now called as a transitional fossil, and this specific transition is between dinosaurs and birds. Archaeopteryx is indeed classified as a bird, but the Archaeopteryx has unique features that are not possessed by birds. The Archaeopteryx does not have a bill, its trunk region vertebra is free whereas in birds it is always fused, and the Archaeopteryx has teeth which no modern day birds have. Some of its more avian features are its opposable hallux which just means it has a ‘big toe’ which is a common trait found in birds not dinosaurs, and of course feathers, among other features.

The discovery that birds evolved from small carnivorous dinosaurs of the Late Jurassic was made possible by recently discovered fossils from China, South America, and other countries, as well as by looking at old museum specimens from new perspectives and with new methods. The hunt for the ancestors of living birds began with a specimen of Archaeopteryx, the first known bird, discovered in the early 1860s. Like birds, it had feathers along its arms and tail, but unlike living birds, it also had teeth and a long bony tail. Furthermore, many of the bones in Archaeopteryx's hands, shoulder girdles, pelvis, and feet were distinct, not fused and reduced as they are in living birds. Based on these characteristics, Archaeopteryx was recognized as

It has been said that fossils Provide snapshots of the past for us to study and learn from.

The passage and the lecture offer two opposing views on the source that made the pattern of fine lines in the fossil of a dinosaur. While the passage lists some reasons to refutes that the lines are evidence for the idea that the dinosaur had feathers, The professor counters those points and support that idea.

Dinosaurs were huge animals that existed in the past (Triassic period). Species came in different sizes and forms. Some had huge bodies while other tiny bodies and shape. From historical evidence prevalent today, dinosaurs were found in all continents but differed in sizes and physical attributes. The landmass prevalent in different regions denoted the type of species that existed within its boundaries.

The Australovenator is the most completed skeleton of any Cretaceous carnivorous dinosaur ever found in Australia with approximately 25% of the bones recovered and prepared. The skeleton consists of two nearly complete forelimbs and hind limbs, along with isolated ribs, gastralia and both dentaries. The fossils were discovered at the bottom of a Billabong near the town of Winton, Queensland. The Australovenator was a 5-6m swift predator that stood about 1.6m high and unlike most theropod dinosaurs, the Australovenator had massive arms and hands with two of its three hand claws being razor sharp weapons (Age