Gel 12

• Dinosaur


  Given its name by Richard Owen to classify unusual reptile fossils, a group of animals that share a unique common ancestor

  
• Clade


  Hypothesized similarities and traits among common ancestors were grouped under this name
• Subclade


  A sub category that grouped members more closely related to each other
• Synapomorphy


  This particular shared, derived trait supports how to define a group (key word: derived). As an example, the number of holes in a skull distinguishes different clades
• Dimetrodon


  Commonly misidentified as a dinosaur, obtained traits that differentiated it from dinosaurs

  
• Cladogram


  An evolutionary tree (phylogeny) made from cladistic analyses
• Oviraptor


  A small theropod (meat-eating dinosaur) best known for their behavior of stealing other eggs for consumption
• Empirical


  Things that can be recognized by the senses (sight, touch, etc.)
• Law


  A generalization about some aspect of the natural world that appears to be true in all cases
• Hypothesis


  A proposed explanation for a set of observations about the natural world, often thought of as an "educated guess"
• Theory


  An explanation about some aspect of the natural world that has been repeatedly tested and confirmed, the most reliable form of scientific knowledge
• Falsifiable


  The act that we can test ideas and discard incorrect ideas
• Progressive


  Changes over time, never stays the same. There are constantly new discoveries and explanations to already discovered ideas.
• Normative


  The culture dictates how observations are interpreted and what questions are worth asking; such as what data we collect, what counts as "scientifically significant" and the norms for scientific research
• Scientific journal


  A specialized publication for evaluating and sharing scientific research between scientists
• Peer review


  A process used in scientific journals where multiple scientists (usually anonymously) argue for the publication or rejection of an article
• Corroboration


  When multiple studies / techniques support the same hypothesis, a critical part of theory building
• Fossil


  The preserved remains of a prehistoric organism
• Body fossil


  Physical remains of an organism that are typically fragmented or damaged
• Trace fossil


  Remains of an organism but not the organism itself that provide evidence of prehistoric organism's behavior; ex: bite marks, fossil poop

  
• Molecular fossil


  Examples of these fossils include ancient DNA, proteins, and lipids (fats)
• Biostratinomy


  Everything that happens to an organism between death and burial, impacts what gets preserved
• Hydroxyapatite


  The main mineral in bones in vertebrates
• Diagenesis


  Everything that happens to an organism between burial and discovery, it typically involves the loss of any remaining organic matter. Also impacts what gets preserved
• Lagerstätte


  A fossil deposit with exceptional preservation
• Bone bed


  Exceptional deposits of hundreds/thousands of bones preserved in one site, sometime all members of the same species and sometimes a mixture

  
• Erosion


  The loss of sediment by the weathering of rock by wind or water. Helps reveal the order that rock layers were deposited
• Sedimentation


  The accumulation of sediment, most occurs along coastal regions. The laying down of dirt and mud, eventually turning into layers of rock
• Paleontology


  The branch of science that deals with the discovery, collection, and preservation of fossils
• Stratigraphy


  The science of mapping the order of rocks
• Mesozoic


  The middle of the stratigraphic column, dinosaurs are usually found here

  
• Igneous rock


  Formed through the cooling and solidification of magma and lava
• Sedimentary rock


  Formed by the accumulation and cementation of sediment at the Earth's surface
• Metamorphic


  Formed by the transformation of other rocks through extensive heat and pressure
• Geologic map


  Ranges where patterns of sedimentation and erosion rocks from different geologic ages are exposed in different parts of the world
• Deinonychus


  Before the discovery of this dinosaur, dinosaurs were seen as big reptiles and evolutionary losers
• Lithostratigraphy


  Dating rocks based on their order and mineral composition
• Law of superposition


  In undeformed stratigraphic sequences, the oldest strata lie at the bottom while the youngest strata are at the top; the deeper you go (towards the bottom) the farther you go back in time
• Biostratigraphy


  Dating rocks based on their fossils
• Geochronology


  Provides absolute dates for strata