Saurischians

5 Questions | By Dbthomas | Last updated: Feb 14, 2019 | Total Attempts: 45

Questions and Answers

1.

There are two Orders recognised within Dinosauria - Saurischia and Ornithischia - the so-called ‘lizard-hipped’ and ‘bird-hipped’ dinosaurs, respectively. Your 199.212 lecturer's favourite dinosaur is the eumaniraptoran theropod Deinonychus antirrhopus (eumaniraptorans are the clade that includes living birds). Deinonychus is an ornithischian dinosaur.
- A.
  
  True
- B.
  
  False
2.

Argentinosaurus was a titanosaurian sauropod, a group that included the largest terrestrial vertebrates ever reported. Sauropods were so big that early reconstructions of their habitat placed them in aquatic environments (to support body weight). However, more recent reconstructions suggest that these animals walked about on land. Skeletal evidence for the absence of water supporting the body weight of sauropods includes
- A.
  
  Femora with greatly enlarged medullary cavities.
- B.
  
  Humeri with greatly enlarged medullary cavities.
- C.
  
  Relatively small vertebrae.
- D.
  
  The absence of a fourth trochanter.
- E.
  
  A large strengthening ligament that ran along the dorsal side of the vertebral column.
3.

Tyrannosaurus was not probably not a fast runner because
- A.
  
  It only ate plants.
- B.
  
  It had very small teeth.
- C.
  
  Bipedal animals cannot run very fast.
- D.
  
  The leg muscle mass would have been insufficient.
- E.
  
  It could only see animals if they were moving.
4.

Not all theropods were big. An example of smaller theropod is
- A.
  
  Allosaurus.
- B.
  
  Carcharodontosaurus.
- C.
  
  Cryolophosaurus.
- D.
  
  Daspletosaurus.
- E.
  
  Sinosauropteryx.
5.

When animals are really big, there is little difference in metabolism between ectotherms and endotherms, so it is somewhat meaningless to discuss if dinosaurs were warm- or cold-blooded. Large animals have stable temperatures because (choose two):
- A.
  
  The body size produces huge thermal inertia.
- B.
  
  Changing blood flow changes the ‘effective insulation thickness’.
- C.
  
  The body size produces low thermal inertia.
- D.
  
  Changing blood flow has no effect on ‘effective insulation thickness’.
- E.
  
  No dinosaurs were endotherms.