Final

• Clade


  A grouping of organisms made on the basis of their hypothesized evolutionary history, consisting of a common ancestor and all of its descendants
• Cladogram


  Diagram that shows the relationships between organisms based on shared characteristics
• Dimetrodon


  • Commonly mistaken for a dinosaur
  • Had 1 hole in its skull behind eye socket
  • Synapsid
  • Closer related to mammals than dinosaurs

  
• Dinosaur


  • Diapsid
  • 2 holes behind their eye socket
  • Clade dinosauria

  
• Subclade


  Subdivision of a clade, share a common ancestor but have different traits that branched them apart
• Synapomorphy


  A shared, derived trait that helps define a group
• Empirical


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


  Something that can be proven wrong and the newest version becomes the "status quo"
• Hypothesis


  An educated guess, a proposed explanation for why things happen
• Law


  A generalization of why things happen, appears to be true all the time
• Normative


  The culture dictates how observations are interpreted and what questions are worth asking
• Oviraptor


  • A dinosaur whose image changed throughout time from new evidence
  • Newest image has wings with feathers and a feathered tail

  
• Progressive


  Science has the ability to change, its right until proven wrong (falsifiable), closest solid answer is a theory but can be, with enough evidence, disproven
• Theory


  An explanation as to why things happen, has been tested and confirmed
• Scientific journal


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


  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, critical part of theory building
• Biostratinomy


  Everything that happens to an organism from the time of death to burial, most body parts do not survive due to decomposing, decay, weathering, predation
• Body fossil


  Fossils of parts of organisms bodies, such as teeth, bones, eggs, wood, leaves

  
• Diagenesis


  Everything that happens from burial to discovery, organic matter is lost, bones are an open system
• Fossil


  Preserved remains of a prehistoric organism
• Hydroxyapatite


  Most abundant mineral in bones, calcium phosphate, higher concentrations = better preservation, reacts with other minerals in the earth
• Lagerstätte


  Fossils with exceptional preservation, anoxic environments can preserve soft tissue
• Bone bed


  Hundreds/thousands of dinosaur bones in 1 area

  
• Molecular fossil


  In exceptional cases molecules can be preserved, such as proteins, DNA, RNA, Lipids
• Trace fossil


  Fossilized traces of organisms, such as footprints, trails, burrows
• Deinonychus


  • Deino: terrible, nychus: claw, the discovery of deinonychus led to reconsideration of the idea that dinosaurs were just large reptiles

  
• Erosion


  The withering of rocks by wind and water, rocks from different geological ages are exposed in different parts of the world
• Geologic map


  Different ranges of which rocks are exposed are plotted on different maps
• Igneous rock


  Formed through cooling and solidification of magma and lava
• Mesozoic


  In the middle of the stratigraphic column, where we find dinosaurs

  
• Metamorphic rock


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


  Branch of science that deals with discovery, collection, and preservation of fossils, some specialize in dinosaurs

  
• Sedimentary rock


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


  The layering down of dirt and mud, eventually turning into rock, rocks from different geological ages are exposed in different parts of the world
• Stratigraphy


  Science of mapping the order of the rocks, allows us to date other fossils back and understand when certain creatures lived
• Absolute time


  The exact numerical age of geological events or formations, expressed in years
• Biostratigraphy


  Dating rocks back based on their fossils
• Cretaceous


  3rd period of Mesozoic era, "Age of dinosaurs"

  
• Geochronology


  Provides absolute dates for strata