GEOL 104 Dinosaurs: A Natural History Final Review Review Tests 1 & 2, especially: Definition of Dinosauria (the concestor of Iguanodon and Megalosaurus and all of its descendants) Proper taxonomic grammar! What are the relationships between dinosaurs and other tetrapods? What are the relationships between and important adaptations of the major groups of dinosaurs? (Pay particular attention to those groups who were referred to again during the last third of the course!); Bird origins Evolution & Cladistics (be able to read a cladogram) Geologic time Dinosaur Paleoecology Ecology, Paleoecology, Autecology vs. Synecology [community ecology] Trophic relationships & trophic levels: producers, decomposers, consumers (1st order, 2nd order, 3rd order, etc.); apex predators Fauna, paleofauna, biogeography, paleobiogeography, cosmopolitan vs. provincial, Laurasia vs. Gondwana Food webs, energy pyramids How paleoecology is assessed: methods, evidence Patterns of dinosaurian history: Late Triassic (“when dinosaurs shared the Earth”); Early Jurassic (diversification); Middle & Late Jurassic (“Golden age”); Early Cretaceous (“rise of the low browsers”); mid-Cretaceous warm peak. Many worlds of the Late Cretaceous: provincialism (distinction between Asiamerica, Europe, Gondwana, etc.) Dinosaur Functional Anatomy & Behavior Significance of osteological correlates Methods of interpreting function & behavior: Analogies with living forms; Phylogenetic distribution of behaviors; Biomechanics; Geological Evidence (tracks, coprolites, bite marks, etc.) Striding locomotion in dinosaurs Difficulty in determining top speeds (even for living animals) Use (and difficulties) of footprints in studying dinosaur locomotion Cursoriality vs. Graviportality: osteological correlates of each Scaling issues, allometry: isometry, negative allometry, positive allometry Which groups of dinosaurs have the most cursorial adaptations? Which the most graviportal? Changes of locomotion in eumaniraptorans: knee-driven striding Other types of functional analysis: bite force, digestion, joint motion Dinosaur Senses and how we reconstruct them: brains, balance (equilibrium), hearing, smelling, vision Interspecific vs. Intraspecific Behavior Message of display: Defensive, Territorial, Sexual (courtship), Species Recognition Medium of display: Visual, Sound, etc. Examples of dinosaur behavior from the fossil record Why display? Gregarious behavior: evidence (direct and inferred); advantages to predators, to prey; disadvantages to living in groups; Kin Selection & Reciprocal Altruism Sexual strategies; sexual dimorphism Difficulties in determining sex of dinosaurs Dinosaur Eggs and Babies Altricial vs. Precocial Growth Dinosaur nests, clutches, and nesting patterns Evidence for parental care; Evidence for paternal (fatherly) care in maniraptoans Evidence for baby dinosaurs in groups Changes in dinosaur growth (esp. appearance of species-level features in sub-adults) Skeletochronology & use of Lines of Arrested Growth How dinosaur growth compares to non-avian reptiles? To mammals? Dinosaur lifespans Life-history strategies: K-selected vs. r-selectedEndothermy vs. Ectothermy “Warm-Blooded” “Cold-Blooded” Energy Source: Endothermy Ectothermy Metabolic Rate: Tachymetabolism Bradymetabolism Temperature over Time: Homeothermy Poikilothermy Resting vs. active metabolic rates; duration of sustained activity; recovery time Why evolve endothermy? Increased aerobic capacity, greater environmental tolerance, increased metabolic efficiency, help in parental care (pre- and post-natal) The Aerobic Equation (C6H12O6 + 6 O2 Æ 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + energy; or “glucose + oxygen yields carbon dioxide, water, and energy”). How to get extra glucose & oxygen? How to distribute extra glucose & oxygen to cells? How to get rid of extra carbon dioxide? Traditional Estimates of Dinosaur Physiology: Posture Latitudinal distribution Feeding adaptations (such as dental batteries) Relation to birds Predator-prey ratio Microscopic bone structure (Haversian canals, reworked bone) Insulation Non-traditional Physiologies: Gigantothermy Heterometabolism (Ontogenetic and Behavioral) Respiration in Mammals vs. Crocs vs. Birds vs. other tetrapods. Belly-breathing in basal archosaurs (and at least some dinosaurs?); One-way lungs in Archosauria; Air sac breathing in at least Saurischia. Other variations of respiration (in Ornithischia, in Pterosauria). Function of four-chambered hearts, and evidence for such in dinosaurs. Nasal Turbinates, and significance of enlarged nares in bigger/more derived dinosaurs. Evidence for enhanced metabolic rates in Crurotarsi (and reversal to ectothermy in crocodilians) Significance of higher oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, and higher plant productivity, in Mesozoic Other organisms of the Mesozoic Pterosauria: basic adaptations, especially for flight and for physiology “Rhamphorhynchoidea” vs. Pterodactyloidea. Terrestrial locomotion; feeding Mesozoic marine reptiles: why would an amniote return to the sea? What problems would they face; what sort of adaptations would they need? Know the basic adaptations (especially feeding, locomotion, and reproduction) and be able to identify: Mesosaurs; ichthyosaurs; placodonts; plesiosaurs (both plesiosauroid and pliosauroid); mosasaurs; marine crocodiles; sea turtles; hesperornithids Mesozoic mammals: Origins; diversity; major adaptations; major groups: monotremes, multituberculates, therians (eutherians (placentals and our ancestors) plus metatherians (marsupials plus their ancestors)) Mesozoic plants: Photosynthesis (6 CO2 + 6 H2O + sunlight Æ C6H12O6 + 6 O2). Basic adaptations. Difference between spore plant, gymnosperm, and angiosperm reproduction. Angiosperm origins in Cretaceous: what are the co-evolutionary partners and function of flowers and fruit? The K/Pg Extinction Be familiar with the following groups and their fate relative to the K/Pg Extinction: Marine life: Coccolithophorids; foraminiferans; ammonoids; belemnoids; rudists; inoceramids, the various marine reptiles Terrestrial life: Plants, insects, amphibians, turtles, tuataras, lizards (incl. snakes), crocodilians (incl. various non-aquatic types), champsosaurs, pterosaurs, the various mammals Definitions: Extinction Mass extinction Maastrichtian Campanian “Tertiary” Paleogene K/Pg extinction Hypotheses of extinction: What evidence exists for