“...99.9 per cent of all [species] that have ever existed are now extinct.” (Benton 1) After one hundred and sixty million years of domination, the reign of the dinosaurs ended in fire and ice. Sixty five million years ago, the largest volcanoes in the history of the Earth erupted across what is now India, effectively annihilating the dinosaurs by spewing out noxious gas and ash, that effectively blocked out the sun killing off most vegetation and breaking the food chain, leaving the dinosaurs to starve. Compared to other groups of animals the dinosaurs were the most vulnerable to such a climatic event and the result was the end of the dinosaurs’ glorious evolutionary history.
What is a Dinosaur?
The main group of animals that went extinct during this time, leaving smaller reptiles, birds, and mammals, were the dinosaurs. Dinosaurs dominated the land and ranged from being smaller than a rooster, to being greater than the size of fifteen adult elephants. There were herbivores, carnivores, insectivores, omnivores, and detritivores. Herbivores would often live in herds, like deer or cows. Large carnivores, like the tyrannosaurs were usually solitary hunters and smaller carnivores, like the raptors --Creatures around the size of a person, with razor sharp teeth, slashing claws, and large brains, Would hunt in sophisticated packs. One of the dinosaurs defining characteristics was that they took time to take care of their young, protecting them from predators and making sure they got enough food to eat; this differs from most reptiles (Digging into Dinosaurs 4-5). For example today’s largest lizard, the komodo dragon, will eat its own young if the young do not get away, so they have to hide up in the trees. Dinosaurs were not even buil...
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Of course it was the movie Jurassic Park who seemed to coin the phrase “Dino DNA.” This movie gave the public the thought that, a) it is possible to find dinosaur DNA and b) we can clone dinosaurs from this DNA. This essay is not going to pick apart Jurassic Park’s scientific value, however it will share the current knowledge and information on dinosaur DNA. The discovery of DNA is important because it may uncover different bits of information. The idea of cloning dinosaurs, especially at this point is out of the question. It is really hard to clone living animals today, with full DNA and genome strands, we can’t even think about recreating animals millions of years ago.
He explores the theories that a rise in temperature could have made the reptiles of old infertile, or that the dinosaurs ate flowering plants that acted as drugs, causing the beasts to overdose. He goes on to examine a third theory, that of an asteroid hitting the earth and causing a cloud of smoke and dust to cover the sun, dropping temperatures and killing not only the dinosaurs, but much of the life that was present on the Earth at the time. Gould himself leans toward the last theory, citing evidence and research to back his point. All of this, he delivers with an air of humor, saying things such as “How can we possibly decide whether the hypothesis of testicular frying is right or wrong?” (par 21). While the theory of infertility of dinosaurs comes from the idea of rising heat, Gould’s wording here brings to mind a funny image rather than a worldwide epidemic. Using humor again, Gould says “If you talk just about asteroids, dust, and darkness, you simply tell stories no better and no more entertaining than fried testicles or terminal trips” (par 26). Not only does he cast aside the first two theories as useless frivolities, he sets the stage for proving why the asteroid theory is better, using humorous language to do so. A humorous essay such as Gould’s is fun to read, while keeping a basis in
ix[9] Highfield, Roger. Dinosaur Extinction Theory ‘A Myth.’ The Telegraph – UK. March 1, 2004. Internet: http://www.rense.com/general49/tho.htm
“Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs” is written by Stephen Jay Gould, professor of geology and zoology at Harvard. This essay is one of more than a hundred articles on evolution, zoology, and paleontology published by Gould in national magazines and journals. It tells about scientific proposals for the extinction of dinosaurs – a confusing but an exciting problem that humanity tries to solve. By analyzing and describing each of the claims for the reptiles’ demise – sex, drugs, and disasters – Gould differentiates bad science from good science and explains what makes some theories silly speculations, while the other, a testable hypothesis.
Toys, movies, clothing is a clear indication that our fascination with dinosaurs is much more than what the word represents, but also a genuine interests in the actual creatures scientists have uncovered. Dinosaur toys allow children to use their imagination to transport back to a time when dinosaurs walked the earth, became extinct, and eventually became fossils. Any kind of toy figure encourages imagination, dinosaur figures gives children an opportunity to learn about the science behind dinosaurs and fossils. Dinosaur toys, movies, clothing and advertisements also encourage children to ask questions, which becomes an opportunity to visit the library. “Judging from their frequent appearances in the movies and on television, dinosaurs have a firm hold in the popular imagination, one realm in which they show no danger of becoming extinct” (History.com, 2009). They are fierce, strong and because of anthropomorphism, dinosaurs are our
...actly when the impact of the asteroid occurred, how much damage it truly did, and how long the period of atmospheric darkness lasted, I believe that there is enough positive data to persuade even the most skeptical audience. This recent discovery of the flourishing fungi during a period when larger plants died is just another stepping stone in solving the mystery of what truly happened to the dinosaurs for good. I believe this research is, overall, very credible and establishes a reliable theory of what exactly happened to the dinosaurs and what life was like during the period following their demise.
“Scientists seek new clues to dinosaur demise.” Geographical v.73 i3, (2001): 10. In InfoTrac Onefile Plus [database online]. Cited 3 April 2004. Available from Ithaca College Libraries.
What the article seems to find most striking is the locale of where the dinosaur’s fossils was found. The fossils of the plant-eater date back to 170 million years ago. The scientists think that the mountain was probably a riverbed or a soft mound. It was not even close to the 13,000 feet that shoots up from the surface of earth almost touching the sky today. On the other hand the meat-eater who was found a rocky island was thought to be killed by rising seas. This dinosaur’s bones date back to about 70 million years ago. This discovery is so important to the scientific community because the plant-eating dinosaur dates back to 170 million years ago. This is when the dinosaurs first started to rule that animal kingdom. These fossils might prove to be useful in learning more about where and what the dinosaurs came from. They could figure out who they evolved from. The other dinosaur comes from around a mass extinction caused by an unknown object form space. By researching these fossils it might help us to see what happened and how the environment changed to completely wipe out the entire race of dinosaurs.
seems like it happened so sudden, as geologic time goes, that almost all the dinosaurs
There are many different theories of how the dinosaurs went extinct, but the most popular theory is an asteroid hit earth. For about 150 million years, dinosaurs were the most dominant form of animal life on
In the early nineteen hundreds, dinosaur fossils were discovered and recognized around the globe. Greedy scientists and civilians, searching for their own prize skeleton, rushed to rip bones out of the ground, destroying the fossils as they went. It was not until later in the century that scientists and paleontologists began pondering how such widespread creatures disappeared. Currently, paleontologists debate the two main hypotheses of how the classic dinosaurs died: from volcanic activity or an asteroid impact. Although they result in the same outcome, the volcanic and asteroid hypotheses differ in key elements: the actual event, the environment's stress, and the impact on life.
Finding dinosaurs’ fossils is not as easy as people may think. The only well-proven information from the fossil record is that dinosaurs clearly did not live in water environments. Paleontologist may spend years to find a single skeleton or bone. They ...
Sixty-five million years ago, some phenomenon triggered mass extinctions on the lands and in the oceans so profound that they define the geological boundary between the older Mesozoic Era, often called the "Age of Reptiles," and the modern Cenozoic Era, the "Age of Mammals."
What were dinosaurs like? How did they survive? How did they become extinct? These are some of the many questions to which answers are being sought. Dinosaurs were one of the largest creatures to ever walk the earth and one of the mysterious creatures too, how they survived and how they became extinct in a flash has been a mystery. One of the many theories associated with dinosaur extinction is an asteroid collision with earth.
Since the first dinosaur fossils were found in the early 19th century, mounted fossil dinosaur skeletons have been major attractions in museums and dinosaurs turned into an lasting part of world. The sizes of some groups, as well as their seemingly horrible and incredible nature, have enhanced dinosaurs' regular appearance. Persistent public interest for the animals has resulted in major support for dinosaur science. Dinosaurs can be generally described as archosaurs with limbs held erect beneath the body.