1. Dinosaurs From Your Questions

2. Dinosaur Distribution  Where are they found?  United States, Argentina, Mongolia, China, Central Asia, Africa, Antarctica, etc.  Did dinosaurs live in NY? If so, which ones?  Footprints of Coelophysis

3. Dinosaur Distribution  What environments did they inhabit?  River Valleys, plains, coastal lowlands, etc.  Did they live in cool climates?  Probably, but still under investigation

4. Dinosaur Distribution  How abundant were they?  Probably at least as abundant as Mammals are now.  Some indications of large herds of hundreds of individuals  What were the relative abundances of terrestrial and aquatic forms?  Majority were terrestrial

5. Dinosaur Systematics & Biostratigraphy  What is the oldest dinosaur known?  Triassic  From what are they descended?  Early “stem” reptiles  To what are they related?  Reptiles and probably birds  How many species have been found?  Hundreds, and counting!  How long were they around?  Approximately 180 Ma!

6.  What caused their extinction?  Multiple hypotheses: Bolide impact Volcanism Climate change All of the above  Do they have any living descendents? Maybe!

7. Is There a Dinosaur in Your Backyard? Archaeopteryx Caudiopteryx Confusciornis Early Baby Bird 135 Ma

8. Solnhofen Lagerstatten  Jurassic Solnhofen Limestone  Soft tissues  Archaeopteryx  Hypersaline lagoon with very fine micrites

9. Paleobiology of Dinosaurs  Why were they so large?  Why not?  Were they warm or cold blooded?  Strong evidence favors warm- blooded: Trackways – speed Haversian canals in bones Skeletal morphology – active habits Affiliation with birds

10. Paleobiology of Dinosaurs  What do we know about their diet and how do we know it?  Herbivores and carnivores: Distinction made on dentition, skeletal structure, gastroliths Tooth morphology – clues to diet Coprolites – direct evidence  Morrison Formation – a dinosaur lagerstatte  What do we know about their internal systems?  Rare instances of preservation: Italian Alps specimen  Was Tyrannosaurus rex a predator or scavenger?

11. Paleobiology of Dinosaurs  Has any soft tissue been found?  Have any babies ever been found in eggs?

12. Paleobiology of Dinosaurs  Has any soft tissue been found?  Have any babies ever been found in eggs?

13. Miscellaneous and/or Unanswerable Questions  What was their average life span?  How intelligent were they?  Did they have night vision?  How did they interact with early mammals?  If they were around now, would they eat people?  Can they be cloned/grown (as in Jurassic Park)?

14. Reptiles and Mammals  Reptile Adaptive Radiation included:  Dinosaurs  Therapsids – mammal-like reptiles  Therapsids gave rise to mammals

15. What does it mean to be a mammal?  Characteristics of mammals?

16. Early Mammals  Small, rodent-like creatures  Possibly nocturnal  Some lines became extinct in Cretaceous  Late Cretaceous to Early Cenozoic Adaptive Radiation

17. Major Groups of Extant Mammals  Placentals  Marsupials  Monotremes  Edentates