|
C O U R S E L E C T U R E Dinosaur Skeletons Notes taken on October 15, 2014 by Edward Tanguay |
most of what we know about dinosaurs comes from their skeletons
in order to understand dinosaurs, we need to understand how skeletons are put together
luckily we have a great learning resource: our own skeletons
dinosaurs and humans have basically the same skeletons
they have the same bones in the same places
the bones may be used for different purposes and therefore shaped in different ways but they are the same bones
because dinosaurs and humans belong to a group of animals called vertebrates and we all have a common ancestor
refers to the presence of vertebrae, i.e. a backbone
all vertebrates have backbones and skulls
counter examples are insects that have exoskeletons and jellyfish which have no skeletons at all
the basic form of the vertebrate skeleton evolved over 300 million years ago
looking at the various skull shapes of e.g. a wolf, a mountain lion, and a sea lion suggest different uses and purposes for these shapes
skulls are not one bone but many
other openings in the skull
coyotes have only one fenestrate behind the orbit and no fenestrate in front of the orbit
a tyrannosaurus skull has two holes behind the orbit, and one in front of the orbit
where the brain is housed
each vertebrae has a disc-like centrum
tails are composed entirely of vertebrae
dinosaurs had ribs all the way to their pelvis
adaptations and shapes of limbs
for walking, running, flying, jumping or swimming
looking at the shape of the limbs of dinosaurs will help you determine the probability that that dinosaur ran, walked, jump, flew or swam
sharp claws suggest being a predator
long legs suggest running fast
arm bones in both humans and dinosaurs
humans have fingernails
all basically the same in vertebrates
dinosaurs generally had five toes
all dinosaurs walked on their toes and the soles of their feet were elevated off the ground