LECTURE 1Paleobiology of DinosaursDinosaurs include the largest animals to ever walk on land, largest carnivores on the planet, and the most bizarre creatures everWhy the fascination?Paleontologist – someone who studies any aspect of ancient organismsFascination with things that are real and not realPaleobiologyThe study of the lives of ancient organisms (physiology, behavior, ecology, and functional anatomy)History of the FieldPeople knew about them before their scientific recognition in 1842Bones are so big; hard to missChina“Dragon bones” were long dead serpents were unearthed for centuries for medicinal purposes1676Giant “Human” Thighbone was found in EnglandLater, specimen was named scrotum humanum – technically the first proper scientific name given to a dinosaurThey though the bone was a scrotum of a giantActually the end of a dinosaur’s thigh boneAmerican IndiansReferred to dinosaur remains as the Father of the Buffalo or Sacred Former Race of Giants1806Lewis and Clark found bones in Montana and wrote them off as remains for a giant fishThomas Jefferson was a fossil fanatic – told L and C to look out for mastadons (furry elephants)People didn’t think extinction could occur177040 foot long sea monster named Mosasaurus found in HollandBaron George Cuvier – helped with concept of extinction1824William Buckland found reptile jaw with pointed, serrated teeth from EnglandNamed Megalosaurus “big lizard”Credited for first scientifically valid dinosaur; no one paid attentionSurgeon Gideon Mantell of England found giant teeth and bones with horn like spike, herbivoreCurvier said they were from a rhino and a hippoNamed Iguanodon “iguana tooth” – first herbivore namedHuge sensation; gigantic plant eating lizardEarly RenditionsBuckland and Mantell depicted their dinosaurs as giant walking on all fours reptiles, scaled up-sprawlingReptilesScaly skin, lay hard-shelled eggs on land, have sprawling postureRichard Owen took stock of all of the crazy fossil giants being found in Europe and noted they were different than reptiles living today1842 the Dinosaurs named Dinosauris “Fearfully Great Reptiles”Worked with artist Waterhouse Hawkins to depict them in full size as part of a huge display of British ScienceDepictions can still be seen today in Crystal Palace ParkDino-mania began and hundreds of thousands of people came to view the DinosaursWhat makes a dinosaur a dinosaur?Dinosaurs had teeth in sockets like crocodiles, pterosaurs (flying), and dinomorphs (dinosaur-like reptiles) thus these are their close relativesPterosaurs and dinosauromorphs had mesotarsal ankles and thus are closer relatives to dinosaurs than crocodilesDinosauromorphs have erect posture and are the closest relatives of all of the dinosaursUnique feature #1Three or more sacral vertebrae - Fused backbones in hip regionUnique feature #2Hands with three main fingersUnique feature #3Perforate acetabulate (hole where the thighbone attached goes all the way through the hip)Dinosaurs in AmericaYankee DinosaurFirst documented remains were tracks found in 1800Written off as being from giant birds1858 Joseph Leidy was given a nearly complete skeleton of a duck-billed dinosaurBuckland, Mantell, and Owen were wrong - Dinosaurs were bipedalEnvisioned looking like a kangaroo with a big tailNew York officials wanted to show up the Brits so they planned a dinosaur showing in Central ParkHired Waterhouse Hawkins to sculpt themHawkins studio and renditions are destroyed by thugs and dinosaurs are still buried there today1800sTwo types of DinosaursOrnithischians with hips shaped like birdsSaursichians with hips shaped like lizards“Fossil feud” led to discovery of some of the most famous dinosaurs from the North American westO.C. Marsh vs. E.D. CopeEarly 1900sUS Museums take over as American Dinosaur strikesCarnegie Museum, Smithsonian, American Museum, Royal Ontario MuseumFunded by rich backersAfter WWII most dinosaurs hunting slowed downScience was considered kid stuff, animals were uninteresting, dead-end failures, considered scaled up, slow moving, pathetic reptilesMost dinosaurs were thought to have been found; everything was found so there was nothing left to show offThe Dinosaur Renaissance1964 John Ostrom discovered DeinonychusAthletic, teeter totter tail, large killing claws on feet, more like a living bird than a sluggish reptileRobert BakerOstrom’s studentSaid all dinosaurs were more athletic like birds and animalsAthletic build, bone structure, predator prey ratiosOutcomeEveryone soon started studying dinosaurs and jobs were createdMore money spent on dinos than everResearch is getting more sophisticatedNew dinosaur named every weekLuis and Walter Alvarez proposed an asteroid hit the Earth and killed the dinos – 1980Cladistics – a method to organize physical characteristics of dinos and discern relationships came into common use in 1990sDeveloped by Entomologist Willi Hennig in 1950sHelped make sense as to who is who among the dinosLECTURE 2The Age of DinosaursWhen did dinosaurs live?238 million years until 65.5 million years ago during the Mesozoic Era or the Age of DinosaursThree Divisions to Age of DinosTriassic PeriodJurassic PeriodCretaceous PeriodHow do we know these ages?Radioactive isotopes in volcanic rocks formed at the time of the dinos decay into secondary materials at known ratesIf you compare original amount to final amount you can asses ageUranium 235 is best for dinosaur age sedimentsRock breaks down over timePure volcanic rock that been cooledCommonly found in lava layers and ash falloutClimateWorld was warmer during Age of DinosArid in equatorial regionsAt the poles, despite a lack of light for much of the year, it was wet and rainy – no polar ice capsPlate TectonicsContinents move driven by volcanic seafloor spreading (Harry Hess)Triassic continents were adjoined – called PangaeaBy the end of the Cretaceous period, they were close to their present positionsDinos distribution have helped to figure out where the continents were and explains their distributionsOne of the ways that we know where the continents were in the past is by finding the same species of dinos in different parts of the worldWith a warmer earth there was no ice in the polesThis meant oceans were higher and covered much of the continents and ironically dinosaurs had less land to live on than there is todaySeaways crossed the continents and influenced where dinosaurs could travelMountain
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