Mini-Assignment 6: Prepare for the next excavation lab (caudal bones and trace fossils) To answer the questions below, read pages 226-231 about dinosaur trace fossils and see box 6.1 and page 341 for information about the skeletal regions you’ll seen in lab this week. 1.
What trace fossil could serve as evidence that main dinosaur you are excavating was predated upon? (1 pt) The trace fossil that could serve as evidence that the main dinosaur that I am excavating was predated upon is that here are feeding traces and bite marks left on the bones of the dinosaur. These bite marks and feeding traces indicate that the dinosaur was preyed on by another animal. 2.
What evidence could you use to support that a given coprolite was made by a dinosaur? What might give you uncertainty about what animal made the coprolite? (2 pts)
The evidence that you could use to support that a given coprolite was made by a dinosaur is because there is a presence of bone fragments and undigested plant material within the coprolite. The thing that might give me uncertainty about what animal made the coprolite is that fact that other animals can also produce coprolites that are similar looking. 3.
The ventral bones beneath the skeleton are called chevrons. What are the functions of chevrons? (1 pt)
The function of the chevrons includes providing protection and support for the tail, chevrons help in the stabilization of the tail during locomotion, and also potentially aid in balance. 4.
What are the two types of bones represented in the caudal region of the organism’s skeleton? (1pts)
The chevrons and the caudal vertebrae are the two types of bones represented in the caudal region of the organism’s skeleton. 5.
Examine the figures of these dinosaur tails. You may need to be logged in to the library using your NetID and password to view some images. Describe the differences you see among the taxa using at least 5 of the following terms
: centrum, neural arch, neural spine, transverse process, chevron, osteoderm, caudal, sacral (5 pts)
Ankylosaur:
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/figure/image?size=large&id=10.1371/j
ournal.pone.0006738.g001
