Tuesday, October 30, 2012

GLY Study Guide

Dinosaurs & Disasters


Fossil Succession
·      Regional geologic mapping indicates that there are widespread groupings or assemblages of specific fossils (species) that are limited to their relative age.
·      Mapping of fossil succession at the surface & underground have been used to divide the rocks into a series of units, which were grouped into systems.
·      Eras mark major changes in fossil records
Cuvier
·      Scientist who made the theory of extinction (1796)
Extinction
·      Organism being killed off and never coming back again
·      Life has changed through time
·      The loss of at least a single species for all time
·      Occur on many scales from individual species to many species.  In short time spans to long time spans
Mass Extinction
·      Several very large extinctions affecting many different types of organisms, relatively rapidly.
Science
·      The observation, description, experimental design, and theoretical explanation of natural phenomena or the explanation of observations, etc. by natural processes.
Theory
·      Substantial conceptual idea or model that explains some aspect of the natural world based on observed data
Darwin
·      Theory of evolution- Envisioned gradual change of species through time
·      Natural Selection
Natural Selection (6 Parts)
·      Nature imposes a series of steams or selections on organisms through time.
·      1.  All organisms show variation
o   No two individuals exactly alike
·      2.  In nature, organisms produce more offspring than can survive
o   Offspring that are almost always more numerous than parents
o   Populations are capable of rapid growth
·      3.  There is a struggle for survival
o   If more young than parents, and not increasing population, there must be a struggle to survive
o   Competition within and between species for limited environmental resources
·      4.  Some individuals have a better chance of survival
·      5.  Those that survive are naturally selected
o   Survivors have favorable variations that allow them to compete and reproduce
o   Survivors have a chance to breed and pass on their favorable characteristics to their offspring.
o   Survival of the fittest
·      6.  Natural selection can cause new species
o   Gradual heredity changes lead to offspring that are different from original species
Genes
·      Unit of inheritance and are segments of DNA
Mutation
·      Caused by altered genes
o   Can be harmful, beneficial or benign

A theory called Continental Drift was the beginning of our current understanding of the earth’s crust and continental positions.

Earth is 4.6 to 4.5 billion years old
·      Precambrian is largest part
·      Stromatolites
Genetics
·      Biologists have identified 35 different body plans on this planet

Notes 2/9/09
What  are the oldest fossil vertebrates?
·      Fish
When are they from?
·      Cambrian Period
Sharks-what fossils do they live behind?
·      Preserves hard and soft parts
·      Only their teeth and in some forms their spine near the dorsal fins are preserved as fossils
What can we tell from shark teeth?
·      We can compare different shapes of shark teeth to their diets and then compare the shape (and size) of the modern teeth to fossil shark teeth to better interpret ancient sharks
·      It lets us visualize the ancient food chain and ecology of ancient seas
Arthrodires
·      Oldest fossil jawed fish from the Silurian
·      Oldest jaws have no teeth
·      4 feet high to 20 feet in length
·      Like sharks-many parts of body aren’t commonly fossilized.  They also have a rare soft-body. 
What can we tell about their bite force?
·      Twice bite force of great white shark

Vertebrates
·      Segmented vertebral column, which may grown over or replace notochord.  It can be made from bone or cartilage
·      Head encases the brain
·      Paired sensory organs (eyes, ears, etc.)
·      Hard skeletal parts formed from phosphates
·      Oldest vertebrates are fish and oldest fossil from Cambrian period
o   Early forms of fish had spines instead of fins


Oldest land plants in Silurian Period
·      Cooksonia
o   Oldest fossil vascular plant
Vascular tissue
·      Allow plants to transfer water and nutrients vertically through their structure.
Rhynie chert/preservation of early land plants and animals
·      Lower Devonian silica deposit from Ireland.  Fossils found in chert (silica) formed by a geyser field.  Soft part preservation.
How are land plants important to modern environment
·      Photosynthesis exchanges carbon dioxide and oxygen
What were the 1st land animals?
·      Millipedes and scorpions from Late Silurian period
·      1st land vertebrates are amphibians (tetrapods)
Preadaption
·      Having a body part that does well where you live, but also does well someplace else
Lobefin lungfish
·      Specific lobefin fish with gills and also lungs with which they can breath air.  Lungfish can breath on land, and can use their lobe fins to walk on land
·      Bony fish that have muscular front fins
Major body changes from lungfish to tetrapod
·      Gills to lungs
·      Fins to feet
Tetrapod
·      Four legged animal


End-Ordovician mass extinction
·      Marine extinction, not enough land families to determine impact on land
·      Sudden occurrence of glacial deposits throughout S. America and Africa at end of Ordovician
·      Fossils fauna from tropical paleolatitudes seems to have been hit hardest
Continental glaciation
What could trigger glaciation?
Sea level change during ice ageà extinctions
End-Devonian mass extinction
Continental glaciation
Global climate change
Carbon cycle
Changes to carbon cycle in Devonianàextinctions
Adaptive radiation
·      After following extinction events, we get diversification from certain species
·      Very fast evolution

What  are the oldest fossil vertebrates?
Fish
When are they from?
Cambrian Period
Sharks-what fossils do they live behind?
Only their teeth and in some forms their spine near the dorsal fins are preserved as fossils
What can we tell from shark teeth?
It lets us visualize the ancient food chain and ecology of ancient seas
Arthrodires
Oldest fossil jawed fish from the Silurian
What can we tell about their bite force?
Twice bite force of great white shark
Oldest land plants in Silurian Period
Cooksonia- Oldest fossil vascular plant
Vascular tissue
Allows plants to transfer water and nutrients vertically through their structure.
Rhynie chert/preservation of early land plants and animals
Lower Devonian silica deposit from Ireland.  Fossils found in chert (silica) formed by a geyser field.  Soft part preservation.
How are land plants important to modern environment
Photosynthesis exchanges carbon dioxide and oxygen
What were the 1st land animals?
Millipedes and scorpions from Late Silurian period. 1st land vertebrates are amphibians (tetrapods)
Preadaption
Having a body part that does well where you live, but also does well someplace else
Lobefin lungfish
Specific lobefin fish with gills and also lungs with which they can breath air.  Lungfish can breath on land, and can use their lobe fins to walk on land.  Lobefin Lungfish are bony fish that have muscular front fins



REPTILES
Anapsids
         No holes behind eye orbits in skull
Synapsids
         One hole behind eye orbits in skull
Diapsids
         Two holes behind eye orbits in skull

Pelycasaurs
         Tall bony spines spiking out of backbones.  Good for protection

End-Permian mass extinction
         Largest Mass extinction
         Glacial sediments in both N & S poles
Vulcanism
         Flood Basalts
·      Lava leaks toward surface but doesn’t make it and      it cools and hardens.  Forms when hot magma rises to crust
         How can volcanoes cause mass extinction?   
Supercontinent formation
        
Carbon cycle and Increased carbon
Isotope
·      Elements in organic material controlled by orgin and temperature
Methane hydrates
         Methane trapped in water
Climate change
·      Decrease in CO2 amount for the end Dovonian would equal a change in 10-12 degrees C


After Permian extinction:
Adaptive radiation
How does this fit in with concept of natural selection
Synapsids and diapsids/before and after the extinction

Archosaur
·      Diapsid represented by a modern bird. Single opening on each side of skull
Thecodont (ancestor of dinosaur)
         Extra hole in skull
         Crocodile-like gait/stance

End-triassic mass extinction or competion
         Goodbye mammel-like reptiles
         Goodbye thecodont
         Goodbye phytosaurs and several other archosaur groups
         Goodbye conodonts (sea)
         Increasing evidence of mass extinction, which effected many groups.
        
Plate techtonics and vulcanism
Who goes extinct (animal types)?
Who benefits?

Allosaurus- Theropod
Brachiosaurus- Sauropod
Diplodocus- Sauropod
Ornitholestes- Theropod
Stegosaurus- Thyreophore

Theropods
·      Meat eating dino that eats poison
Dilophosaurus
         Jurassic Park movie vs actual
·      How does size compare
o   Can we tell if something spat poison?
Allosaurus (lion of Jurassic)
·      Largest carnivore of the Jurassic
·      Top of the food chain
·      Bone studies (histology) to determine injuries
o   Big Al’s many injuries-hard life based on bones
·      What does bone growth after break vs break in fossil bone with no growth tell us?
o   After bones break they fix themselves but not entirely
Inchnofossils
·      Tracks- trace fossil
·      Marking or imprint left behind organism
Dino tracks tell us:
·      Type of dinos
·      Gait/stance
·      Tail position
o   Always upright
·      Speed
·      Herding and other behaviors
o   Can track if they r walking in heard or not
Coprolites
·      Fossil dung.  They can provide data on what animals eat

Pee on tree is answer to a question

What is oldest fossil bird
·      Birds evolve from reptiles
o   When
§  1861 in southern germany
o   Archeopteryx
o   What is a bird?
o   Dino/ reptile vs bird features
o   Which hips
Feathered dinosaurs from China
·      Feathers but not flight
·      What kind of dinos ( which – pods) have feathers?
·      What good are feathers


Typed 2 pages
3 or more (non encyclodeia) ref in paper and a reference cited section
What is a pterosaur? Describe what the bones of these animals are like
·      When did they live
·      What were some of the diff shapes
·      What is known about diets
·      How big are they
·       
WHAT WERE SOME OF THE MARINE REPTILES THAT LIVED DURING THE TIME OF THE DINOSAUR? DESCRIBE SHAPES AND INFO OF EACH
·      Ichthyosaur carbonization preserves fin shapes
·      Plesiosaur
·      Mososaur
·      Atchelon

Cretaceous Period
3rd period in Mesozoic era.  Supercontinent began to split apart, which led to increase in dino evolution on different continents
o   Oldest angiosperms
§  Before flowering plants.  Oldest was an aquatic plant.  Oldest to date is an Archaefructus
o   Bugs in amber (cretaceous and younger)
§  Bee from Myanmar found last year-cretaceous age
o   Different dinos on different continents
o   Dino Metabolism
§  Ectotherm
ú  Regulate body temp by exchanging heat wit it surroundings (sail dino)
§  Endotherm
ú  Upright posture
ú  Light bone structure
ú  Living in polar regions
ú  Social structures like herding
ú  Bone structures sometimes have large blood flow and sometimes have growth rings that indicate rapid growth
ú  Obvious relationships of at least theropods with birds
§  Histology
o   Kinds of evidence that suggests some dinos were warm blooded
o   Liopleurodon largest mammel!!
Cretaceous Meat-eating dinosaurs

·      Tyrannosaurs (N. America-China)
o   T-Rex (N America)
§  What do the bones tell us about this animal
§  How can scientists determine aspects of sight smell hearing and fossil bones?
o   “Sue” a very expensive T-Rex

Giant Allosaur descendents
Giganotosaurus (South America)
Spinosaurs (spiny reptiles)
·      Many types.  All have crocodile-like jaws and tall vertebrate spines
o   Similar to Nile Crocodile
o   Sail on back to warm body temperature

Ouranosaurus
·      Duckbilled hardrosaur from Cretaceous of Africa and also had a sail
Carnotaurus
·      One from Disney movie-Dinosaur
Charcarodonotosaurus
·      Shark-Toothed
·      End cretaceous (KT) extinction
o   Short (KT) for Cretaceous because c was already used in Cambrian)
·      Extinct= Dinosaurs, pterosaurs, giant marine reptiles
·      Deccan traps. India
o   Extensive lava flows more than 2400 m (7200 ft) thick, which accumulated at the end od the Cretaceous
Volcanic theory -know 4 finals
·      Increased CO2, Greenhouse effect, Acid rain, Acid oceans
Meteor Impact theory- know for final
·      Alvarez- iridum, tsunami
o   Iridum
§  Alvarez experimental find of high concentration element - iridium
o   Shocked quartz?
§  Extremely hard mineral
§  Shock quartz only found on meteors
ú  Evidence rock was circular
·      Tektites
o   Who are they, where r they found
§  Glass like beads of molten rock found around Gulf Coast
§  This means that there was a meteor impact
·      Chain of events that lead to extinction
o   Explosion
§  Blast wave
o   Molten material cause global fires
o   Dust from explosion are fires block out sun
o   Climate change comes
o   Plants die from burning, lack of sun, and climatic factors
o   Big plant eaters dies
o   Big meat eaters die
o   Only small things that
§  (1) don’t need much food.
§  (2) scavenge or can eat anything.
§  (3) have numerous offspring

·      Adaptive radiation
o   What 2 things are favored in survivors?
o   How do adaptive radiations occur
§  New characteristics develop
§  New Behaviors develop
§  Occupation of new niche
§  Older characteristics allowed to spread to new niche
o   Know 4 parts!
§  Rapid evolution
§  Stabilization of evolutionary rates
§  High rates of extinction
§  Relative stability
·      Mesonyx (Paleocene)
o   Hoofed Carnivore (think of with sharp teeth)
·      Andrewsarchus (Eocene)
o   Placental carnivorous mammal
o   Giagantic
o   Sharp cutting teeth in front large-flat crushing teeth

Indricotherium
o   Largest land mammal of all time

Whale evolution
·      Ambulocetus (land to sea)
o   Walking whale
What kind of bone evidence indicates that ancient animals are whale ancestors or that whales were once land animals?
·      Horse evolution
o   What r the body and bone changes from ancestors to present?
§  Horses have hoofs. 
§  Oldest ancestor = Hyracotherium
o   Tooth changes?
o   Not a straight line ancestry
·      Elephant evolution
o   Small to large size
o   Tusk changes
o   What is the bone evidence for a trunk?
·      Most modern mammal families weren’t around in the Cretaceous.
·      Pakicetus
o   Not just changes in limbs to fins needed to change teeth, hearing, lungs, and of course ultimitly size
o   Eocene of India
o   Skull of a possible whale ancestor w/ legs
·      When does north and south America connect
·      Glyptodont?
·      Why are Australian mammals dominated by marsupial mammals when the rest of the world isn’t?

Human evolution
·      Hominid
o   Hominoids are members of the family hominidae (great apes) which includes chimps
·      Australopithecus oldest hominid
o   Ape like face w/ protruding jaw and heavy brow
o   Large black teeth
o   Bony skull ridge
o   Africa
o   A bipedal ape (evidence?)
·      Homo erectus
o   Africa at Olduvai Gorge
o   Fossils had been found in Indonesia and China so called Java-man” in 1920-1930
o   First widespread humans
o   Out of Africa, tools, fire
·      Homo sapiens-sapiens (Neanderthal)
o   Heavy brow ridges, barrel chest impression of brute, but beautiful cave painting, and tools show that it had a culture with complex social structure
o   Had brain size of 1,300 cm3 (similar to ours)
·      5 traits that appear to have followed humanoid evolution
o   Significant brain enlargement in a relatively short period of time = encephalization (partially due to being meat eaters)
o   Bipedalism and more upright posture
·      Pleistocene Ice age mammals and 6th mass extinction
·      Sabre-tooth tiger (smilodon)
·      La Brea Tar Pits, California


                                                                                            

No comments:

Post a Comment