EDWARD'S LECTURE NOTES:
More notes at http://tanguay.info/learntracker
C O U R S E
Dinosaur Paleobiology
Philip John Currie, University of Alberta
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C O U R S E L E C T U R E Saurischians: Sauropods, Theropods, and Prosauropods Notes taken on November 21, 2015 by Edward Tanguay |
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we can use features of skeletons to divide dinosaurs into smaller and smaller groups
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pelvis
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two main shapes of the pelvis
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Ornithischia ("bird hip dinosaur")
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Stegosaurus (155-150 Ma, Jurassic)
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Saurischia ("lizard hip dinosaur")
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1. Sauropods ("long neck dinosaurs")
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e.g. Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus, Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus
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largest land animals that ever lived
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long tails
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walked on four legs
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limb bones were thick and looked like columns
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vertebrae are complex and many have cavities inside for air sacks
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skulls small compared to the rest of their body
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teeth simple and peg-like
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2. Theropods
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highly diverse
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carnivores, some omnivores and herbivores
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some small species like the Dromaeosaurus (76-74 Ma, Cretaceous)
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e.g. Daspletosaurus (77-74 Ma, Cretaceous)
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one of the Tyrannosaurids
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had typical Saurischian hip arrangement
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designed to support the great weight of the Tyrannosaur
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all walked on hind legs
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teeth
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carnivores had sharply pointed teeth
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some lost their teeth and had toothless beaks
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fingers
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generally three-clawed
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some, like Tyrannosaurus Rex
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only two fingers
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Mononykus
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only one claw
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horns
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over eyes
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over nose
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also birds
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Neotheropoda
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Averostra
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Tetanurae
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Orionides
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Avetheropoda
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Tyrannoraptora
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Maniraptoriformes
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common sparrow
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3. Prosauropods
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an early group of plant-eating dinosaurs
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smaller than the sauropods
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but this is relative, some were over ten meters in length
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weighed over three tons
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many had grasping hands
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had the ability to stand and walk only on their back feet
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all dinosaurs have three bones that make up their pelvis
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1. ilium
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upper bone
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muscle attachments on front go to front of leg
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muscle attachments on back go to the back of the leg
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2. ischium
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smaller bone than ilium
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goes down and back
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useful in orientate muscle in particular directions
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3. pubis
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goes down and forward
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distinctive in Tyrannosaurs as it has a large boot on the bottom
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for muscle attachment
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support weight of animal when its squatting on the ground
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very different in Ornithischian dinosaurs
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the Ornithischian dinosaurs are not moving in the same kind of way
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the pubis is one of the easiest ways to tell an Ornithischian from a Saurischian dinosaur
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corrected:
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omnivors
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omnivores