Fossils can be divided into two categories, body fossils and trace fossils. Body fossils encompass preserved remains of an organism, such as bones, claws, teeth, skin, embryos, muscles, tendons, organs, and blood vessels (Col). Trace fossils are the indirect signs of life that give evidence of the organism’s presence, such as track ways, teeth marks, gizzard rocks, coprolites, burrows, and nests, which leave an impression behind after moving over a surface of soft sediment (Col). These fossil categories can then be broken down into the type of fossil found in the context of fossilization processes. Dinosaur body fossils can be broken down into replacement, permineralization, molds and casts, and chemical fossils. Replacement fossils take place …show more content…
When this process does not happen slowly, the original hard parts often lose all trace of their original structure, leaving the original shape, but no detail (Virtual). Permineralization is the most common form of fossilization of dinosaur skeletons. It occurs when the ground water carrying dissolved minerals permeates the pores and cavities in bone, wood, or shell (K). The minerals then produce stony fossils that still contain most of their original solid material. Bones, teeth, and marine organisms are preserved this way. Not only does this type of fossilization occur in hard tissues but also in soft tissues, which allows the internal structures of an organism to be known. Molds and casts are types of fossilization where the physical characteristics of organisms are impressed onto rocks, especially sandstones (K). The fossilization process begins when an organism lies in the sediment until the surrounding sediment becomes firm. These organisms usually have body parts that are composed of substances, which are carbonated water soluble, which leads to entrapment in coarse and porous rock, such as …show more content…
Chemical fossils are organically derived compounds formed by living creatures that occur in rocks. Usually there are no traces of the organism left behind. Large organic molecules do not survive long after an organism’s death, but those molecules may break down into smaller stable molecules, which can survive over long geological time (Virtual). Chemical fossils are probably most significant in there use as early evidence of life. Bone fossils can tell us a great deal about the external and internal anatomy of a dinosaur. For instance, where muscle attaches to the bone leaves marks that can indicate size, shape, and functions of various organs (K). In addition, the cavities and skulls can give us an idea about their intelligence, behavior, and principle features. Certain fossils can also tell us about growth, injury, disease, form, function, activities, and instincts (K). Along with bone fossils, trace fossils can tell us information about the dinosaurs. We can learn the speed and strength of strides, whether they walked on two or four legs, and the bone structure of the foot (Col). In addition, we can learn stalking behavior, and the existence of dinosaur herds and
How are deserts, dinosaurs, and rocks similar? These are all things that a paleontologist can work with. This is a job that should be for people who want to because then they will work harder, and it can help them with doing other jobs by always doing their absolute best to complete that task and complete it well. Every job also has it’s pros and cons, and everyone has their own opinion on why it is a good job. To help their decision there are facts that can help them choose if it is a good job for them.
...ts were labelled with the upper case letters which represented the material types and a numeric letter. The artifacts were placed in different boxes. The artifact analysis was then conducted and the characteristics such as tool type and material type of each artifact were recorded on the artifact catalog forms. The material samples of lithic tools, faunal remains, and ceramics remains were compare with existing artifacts to identify their material type. The Vernier scale was used for the measurements of each lithic tools.
“This is my lab and what we do is study bones,” states Kari Bruwelheide in her video entitled “30,000 Skeletons”. Of the three resources that we were provided, “Puzzles of the Chesapeake” by Sally Walker, “Forensic Anthropology” by an unknown author, and “30,000 Skeletons” by Smithsonian Education presented by Kari Bruwelheide, the resource “30,000 Skeletons” is by far the best at explaining the role of an anthropologist. It is unbeatable because it is a video rather than just written words, and Kari Bruwelheide has personal experience in being a forensic anthropologist. A forensic anthropologist is a scientist that studies human remains, or in another word, skeletons, to try to find out information about the past.
...ories of why dinosaurs went extinct abound, and as there is no theory yet to be truly confirmed as the “right one”, my theory of dinosaur cannibalism is also purely anecdotal. The discovery of the cannibalistic Majungatholus atopus in Madagascar is an important scientific find because it confirms a long-standing theory of cannibalism among certain carnivorous dinosaurs. Behavioral patterns of extinct animals are difficult to establish; however, these bones give authentication to previous unfounded beliefs about the ancient feeding practices of some dinosaurs.
Dinosaurs are often compared to and resemble modern day reptiles. Scientists will study how these modern day reptiles behave, look, act, and move to draw conclusions on how the dinosaurs would behave, look, act, and move. They also look at the intern make-up of the modern reptiles to predict how the dinosaurs internal make up would be. However, a recent discovery in South Dakota is stirring up some controversy (Hesman). While Mike Hammer was walking around a ranch in South Dakota he stumbled across a “big-eyed” dinosaur that he now refers to as Willo. The thing that caught his eye was the chest cavity of the dinosaur, upon further investigation he found a rock that was preserved in the curve of the dinosaur’s ribs, he was convinced that this rock was once a heart. Hammer then went on to take the dinosaur fossil in for a medical X-ray scan, this X-ray showed evidence that could change how we think about dinosaurs.
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.
We use dinosaurs to represent the changes in nature that have occurred throughout time. Studies found that although the “oldest rock did not show evidence of life, the progression of plant and animal life that changed in recognizable intervals, from ancient life, age of reptiles to the age of mammals” (Dino Nature Metaphor, slide 6), measured the age of the earth. When we think of dinosaurs in relation to nature, we think of that very powerful force that controls the cycle of life. Nature was able to yield such magnificent ferocious creatures that walked the earth and then take them back when they served nature’s purpose. Dinosaurs fit perfectly in nature’s constant
are found world wide which makes some of them serve as excellent index fossils, and it is
The debate of whether dinosaurs were cold blooded or warm blooded has been ongoing since the beginning of the century. At the turn of the century scientists believed that dinosaurs had long limbs and were fairly slim, supporting the idea of a cold blooded reptile. Recently, however, the bone structure, number or predators to prey, and limb position have suggested a warm blooded species. In addition, the recent discovery of a fossilized dinosaur heart has supported the idea that dinosaurs were a warm blooded species. In this essay, I am going to give supporting evidence of dinosaurs being both warm and cold blooded. I will provide background information on the dinosaur that was discovered and what information it provides scientists.
...nder, C., Tsai, C., Wu, P., Speer, B. R., Rieboldt, S., & Smith, D. (1998/1999/2002). The permian period. Informally published manuscript, Biology 1B project for Section 115, University of California Museum of Paleontology, CA, Retrieved from http://www.ucmp.berkely.edu/permian/permian.php
The Burgess Shale Fauna is a fauna that was constructed based on a group of fossils that were initially found, in the Burgess Shale area in the Canadian Rockies (Gould, 1989). They are a very important group of fossils as “modern multicellular animals make their first unprotected appearance in the fossil record some 570 million years ago” through this group (Gould, 1989, pp. 24). Moreover the Burgess Shales are known to have preserved the soft parts of animals enabling us to get a better understanding of life at the time.
Millions and millions of years ago the continents lay together as one super-continent known as Pangea. As time went on and the plates underneath the Earth began to separate, the continents land moved towards the poles where glaciation occurred. Glaciation is the process in which glaciers were formed during the ice age. Glaciation causes a drop in temperature which in turn causes water to freeze and form many layers of ice (http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Permian/intro.html, 1). Due to this layering of ice that has occurred at both poles it has not been easy to discover new dinosaur fossils. However, in a press release of the National Science Foundation researchers, working in two distinct sites of Antarctica found what seem to be fossil remains of two different dinosaurs that had previously never been introduced to the world of science (http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/newsroom/pr.cfm?ni=52, 1).
Biological anthropology is broken into six branches, paleoanthropology, human osteology, human biology, anthropological genetics, forensic anthropology, and primatology. Primatology is the scientific study of primates, both living and extinct. Since we ourselves are primates it is natural that we should understand how they communicate and interact with their young. It could help us gain insight into why we act the way we do with our off spring. Our bones can tell us a lot about ourselves; even a simple measurement can be essential for identifying stature and growth patterns. These studies of osteology can help us better determine the health of the bone structure in infants. Something as simple and easy as measuring a forearm and help prevent a life threatening illness from causing a young one’s death before any symptoms become apparent.
...pdated 1995, accessed 3 Sept. 2000), Dino Buzz – What killed The Dinosaurs ? – Current Arguments,
Dinosaurs are creatures that seem to fascinate humans, since all we have left are their fossils. Although, through art, their bodies can be put back together and we have a better sense of what they looked like. The problem with art is that pictures can sometimes be disproportionate, unrealistic, or even made up. Young children who learn about dinosaurs may think that they are actually different colors and can talk for example. This is why it is important to make dinosaur art as realistic as possible and more informative.