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
 |
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
•
vertebrate
•
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
•
skulls
•
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
•
orbits
•
openings for the eyes
•
nares
•
openings for the nose
•
fenestrae
•
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
•
brain case
•
where the brain is housed
•
openings for nerves
•
antorbital fenestra
•
behind the naris
•
backbone
•
each vertebrae has a disc-like centrum
•
tails are composed entirely of vertebrae
•
neck
•
cervical
•
back
•
dorsal
•
hip
•
sacral
•
dinosaurs had ribs all the way to their pelvis
•
tail
•
caudal
•
shoulder socket
•
scapula
•
hip socket
•
acetabulum
•
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
•
Humerus
•
Ulna / Radius
•
differences
•
dinosaur had claws
•
humans have fingernails
•
leg bones
•
all basically the same in vertebrates
•
Femur
•
Tibia/Fibula
•
dinosaurs generally had five toes
•
all dinosaurs walked on their toes and the soles of their feet were elevated off the ground