AY Honors/Dinosaurs/Answer Key

1. What does the term dinosaur mean? Who used that term for the first time?

The word Dinosaur is a Latinized combination of the Greek roots “deinos” [terrible] and “sauros” [lizard] - so the word means Terrible Lizard. Sir Richard Owen, a British anatomist and taxonomist, coined the term in the early 1840s after determining that a set of fossil bones he studied, including those of Iguanodon and Megalosaurus, were not lizards, but something uniquely different.

2. Discuss how scientists figure out what live dinosaurs may have looked like, considering that they may have had only a small number of bones / evidence to base their reasoning on.

One of the first steps in dinosaur reconstruction is comparative anatomy. Because bones often have analogous features, functions and articulation, paleontologists can make a first set of assumptions about the size, shape and gait of the dinosaur, even with only a small number of bones. Close investigation of bones can reveal signs of muscle attachment, which can further give shape to the dinosaur. Paleontologists also use comparative anatomy to see basic forms of animals in similar environments, using clues from the rock and other fossils around the dinosaur bones to infer a particular ecosystem, and looking at modern animals that live in similar ecosystems for potential models. In some cases, impressions of skin and feathers can offer some clues as to the external appearance. Although there is no fossilization of color, paleontologists can draw some inferences from patterns and colors in modern animals that live in similar ecosystems or have similar lifestyles.