Inaccurate Portrayal of the Dinosaur Face
As time goes on, Paleontologists discover more and more fossil remains, and with that more and more information about dinosaurs. Yet even with the great deal of fossils that have been discovered in the past century, scientists are still forced to make educated guesses about certain dinosaur behaviors, traits, and appearance. Dr. Lawrence Witmer’s recent research addresses this issue. Dr. Witmer argues that the fleshy nostril of dinosaurs lies in a different place than has been assumed and portrayed for over the last one hundred years.
Dr. Witmer’s discovery was published in the August issue of Science magazine in 2001 and may change how we envision dinosaurs forever. Movies like “Jurassic Park” and the BBC’s “Walking with Dinosaurs” portray dinosaurs with fleshy nostrils which lie very high on their head. Not only in popular media is this true but in sculptures, kids’ books and scholarly journals.
How could so many scientists have been wrong for so long? Very easily. When a dinosaur fossil is discovered it has an extremely large nasal cavity in its skull, sometimes several feet in length. Since flesh does not preserve all too well over the course of millions of years, paleontologists have been forced to make an educated guess as to where the fleshy nostril lies within the larger nasal cavity.
Since the 1880’s scientists assumed that the nostril existed near the top of the head. The reason for this is that when sauropods (long necked dinosaurs) were discovered, it was thought that they must live under water in order to avoid crushing themselves under their own weight. This would explain their long necks. It would also follow that the fleshy nostril would be near the top of the head so the creatures could breathe easily while their bodies were under water.
Even after it was realized these dinosaurs did not live under the water, the idea that the fleshy nostril existed near the top of the head persisted. The idea was also spread to most other dinosaurs that were discovered thereafter. Perhaps you have noticed this in a drawing or movie, that Tyrannosaurus Rex’s large nostrils do not lie in the front of his face but instead halfway up his head.
Witmer believes his years of research with his “DinoNose” project prove that dinosaurs’ fleshy nostrils actually exist on the front end of the nasal cavity instead of the back end as was once believed.
Ceratopsians and Pachycephalosaurs are closely related in their characteristics. Ceratopsians processed a saddle-shaped boney frill that extended from the skull to the neck and typically had horns over the nose and eyes. The most popular was the triceratops, which could reach over 26 feet and weigh in excess of twelve metric tons. Their frills served as two major functions. It protected the vulnerable neck from being harmed. The second major function that the frill provided was due to the fact that the frill contained a network of blood vessels on its underside, which were used as a means to get rid of excess heat. The Pachycephalosaurs were considered to be bipedal. They were also found to have thick skulls, flattened bodies, and tail that were covered in an array of body rods. Pachycephalosaurs were thought to have been more than fifteen feet long and processed a skull that was surrounded by a rounded dome of solid bone. It was thought that they used their heads in combat or mating contests, but that was disproved fairly recently, which I will discuss later in the paper. Both Ceratopsians and Pachycephalosaurs were “bird-hipped” and both of these suborders contained a backwards pubic bone. Both were Marginocephilia, or “fringed heads”, which is one of three clads under the Orinthiscia order. They were also herbivore dinosaurs that inherited their fringe at the back of the skull from earlier ancestors.(2) Their classi...
These fossils are having a major impact on the scientific world’s view of human evolution and scientists may even have to rethink some present ideas about it. Because the skull of Toumai has characteristics that are very similar to those found in the Homo family, some scientists are beginning to question whether or not Australopithecus, an early member of the hominid family from about four to one million years ago and they are characterized by their fully upright posture and their small brain size, is even part of the evolution record of humans from apes. Bernard Wood, of George Washington University in Washington DC, argues that if Australopithecus has more ape-like features than the features found on an older
Paul, Gregory S. (2002). "Looking for the True Bird Ancestor". Dinosaurs of the Air: The Evolution and Loss of Flight in Dinosaurs and Birds. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 171–224. ISBN 0-8018-6763-0.
...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.
“66 Million–Year–Old Dino With A Heart.” Media Kit 17 April 2000. North Carolina University. 2000 <http://www.dinoheart.org/mediakit/index.html>.
Teye, Victor, Ercan Sirakaya, and Sevil F. Sönmez. "Residents' Attitudes toward Tourism Development." Annals of Tourism Research 29.3 (2002): 668-88. Science Direct. Web.
The American Civil War fought from 1861 to 1865 is described as “the bloodiest conflict in the history of North America” (Feature Causes Of The Civil War). The Civil war or war between the states was fought for many economic, political and moral reasons tracing back to the very start of America. The civil war fought between the Northern and Southern states is truly a significant event in the history of the United States because it involved American citizens fighting against each other. The American civil war was initiated through the controversy over slave labor, unfair actions toward Southern states and the vast division between the Northern and Southern states.
Evolutionists often come with the argument that fossil findings can serve as a proof of the evolutionary process; bones of such creatures as dinosaurs, or the remains of even more ancient beings found by archaeologists are much older than the age of our world according to the Bible. Therefore, claim the evolutionists, creationists are wrong. Creationists, however, came up with a strong counter argument. They say that all fossil findings are already fully formed, and appear to have not changed much over time; in other words, they remained in a so-called stasis condition (Geological Society of America). This means that there are no intermediate links between simpler and more complex life forms, which witnesses in favor of the claim that each species had been created.
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.
[1] This problem with the theory of evolution was addressed by Stephen Jay Gould and other evolutionists. They postulated the punctuated equilibrium theory of evolution, which does not predict the numerous fossils predicted by the orthodox theory of evolution.
“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.
Horrific! The American Civil War, also known as the War Between States and the War Of Secession, was an extremely gruesome and bloody war (World Book 614). The war, which started on April 12, 1861, when the southern troops fired on Fort Sumter, and ended 4 years later, took more American lives than any other war in history (614). This war was between a divided union in whish the southern states were trying to preserve slavery while the northern states were dedicated to a more modern way of life and were trying to end slavery (614). This war was fought in the minds of great men like Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee and the end of the war was the beginning of a slavery free nation. The American Civil War was a horrible event in the history of the world which started from three main causes: slavery, disputes over states' rights, and because of the division which existed between the South and the North.
...pdated 1995, accessed 3 Sept. 2000), Dino Buzz – What killed The Dinosaurs ? – Current Arguments,
Reptiles are vertebrate, or backboned animals constituting the class Reptilia and are characterized by a combination of features, none of which alone could separate all reptiles from all other animals.The characteristics of reptiles are numerous, therefore can not be explained in great detail in this report. In no special order, the characteristics of reptiles are: cold-bloodedness; the presence of lungs; direct development, without larval forms as in amphibians; a dry skin with scales but not feathers or hair; an amniote egg; internal fertilization; a three or four-chambered heart; two aortic arches (blood vessels) carrying blood from the heart to the body, unlike mammals and birds that only have one; a metanephric kidney; twelve pairs of cranial nerves; and skeletal features such as limbs with usually five clawed fingers or toes, at least two spinal bones associated with the pelvis, a single ball-and-socket connection at the head-neck joint instead of two, as in advanced amphibians and mammals, and an incomplete or complete partition along the roof of the mouth, separating the food and air passageways so that breathing can continue while food is being chewed. These and other traditional defining characteristics of reptiles have been subjected to considerable modification in recent times. The extinct flying reptiles, called pterosaurs or pterodactyls, are now thought to have been warm-blooded and covered with hair. Also, the dinosaurs are also now considered by many authorities to have been warm-blooded. The earliest known bird, archaeopteryx, is now regarded by many to have been a small dinosaur, despite its covering of feathers The extinct ancestors of the mammals, the therapsids, or mammallike reptiles, are also believed to have been warm-blooded and haired.
In conclusion, climate change will have a significant impact on global temperature, sea levels, human diseases, and wildlife. If climate change isn’t slowed down our future children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren could be living in a world of sultry heat, flooded cities and air that can cause deathly diseases.