GEOLOGY 105 FINAL (COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON)
By the end of the cretaceous were there many types of mammals? - Answers :No,
because dinosaurs dominated the previous period and when they went extinct, only few
types of mammals were left.
Describe a typical mesozoic mammal. - Answers :- Synapsid skull
- Different tooth pattern
- Improved thermal regulation
- Hair
What were the possible functions of the "sail/fin" on the backs of some pelycosaurs,
such as Dimetrodon? - Answers :
Describe the earliest known mammal, Morganucodon. When did it live? What was the
size, morphology, and ecology of Morganucodont? - Answers :- very small (4 in long)
- large brain / great senes
- Late triassic
- laid eggs
- hair
- teeth like mammals
- jaw of a reptile
Is Dimetrodon a dinosaur? why/why not? - Answers :No, because dimetrodons have a
synapsid skull where dinosaurs have a diapsid skill.
Discuss the steps in the transition from therapsid reptiles to mammals.
What were the major innovations during the transitions?
Be sure to include changes to the jaws/ears from reptiles to mammals. - Answers :-
more upright stance, where the belly would be under the body. Canines, molars, and
incisors showed different tooth pattern. Improved thermal regulation. Hair in small
therapsids.
From what reptile group did mammals evolve? What are the differences between reptile
and mammals? - Answers :- Cynodont is the transitional animal between mammal and
reptiles.
- Reptiles lower jaw has 4 bones and jaw hinges, mammals have 1 bone.
- Mammals nurse there young, warm blooded, and have hair versus scales.
How are monotremes, marsupials, and placentals different with respect to the birth of
their offsprings? - Answers :-Monotremes are mammals that lay eggs; babies grow
inside egg until fully developed; the only living form is the platypus
, -Marsupials give birth to live young; young are carried in a pouch on the front of the
mothers body; stay inside pouch until fully developed
-Placentals give birth to live young; fetus is nourished during gestation; carried in
mother until fully developed
What is the relationship between Cynodonts and early mammals? Explain and cite
evidence. - Answers :- Cynodonts have the same teeth as mammals-- humans got their
tooth pattern from mammals.
What characteristics do you share with Theriodonts? - Answers :- Mammal- like reptiles
that lived from Mid Permian to late cretaceous.
- Theriodont jaws that made chewing a lot easier, back teeth were larger to chew meat;
- Synapsid skull
What is a mammal? - Answers :- Warm blooded animals have body hair, 3 middle ear
bones, special teeth structure and nourish young with milk.
What is special about the duck-billed platypus? By examining the duck-billed platypus
what can we learn about early mammals? - Answers :- Australia is the only continent
with living Platypus
- The platypus swims in muddy water with its eyes, ears, and nostrils slightly shut
searching for crustacean prey w/ electoral sensors in its beak.
Summarize the evidence for a meteorite impact causing the mass extinction at the ned
of the mesozoic era? - Answers :- iridium found in sediment.
- There was a crater from a meteorite.
- Ash layer from fires
- shocked quartz and tektites
Why are extinctions important? - Answers :- resets evolutionary clock
- many open niches
- opportunity for diversity
- new species
Describe the effects of the meteorite impact on Earth's systems and how these effects
would have led to the mass extinction. - Answers :- Smoke from meteorite caused a
nuclear winter
- months of global refrigeration, the sunlight was blocked.
- delayed greenhouse warming
- acid rain and wild fires.
- no photosynthesis, so plants die = ecosystems die.
What are shocked quartz and tektites and how were they formed? - Answers :- shocked
quartz form when a microscopic structure becomes deformed along plane inside crystal
de to intense pressure and temperature of meteorite impact.
By the end of the cretaceous were there many types of mammals? - Answers :No,
because dinosaurs dominated the previous period and when they went extinct, only few
types of mammals were left.
Describe a typical mesozoic mammal. - Answers :- Synapsid skull
- Different tooth pattern
- Improved thermal regulation
- Hair
What were the possible functions of the "sail/fin" on the backs of some pelycosaurs,
such as Dimetrodon? - Answers :
Describe the earliest known mammal, Morganucodon. When did it live? What was the
size, morphology, and ecology of Morganucodont? - Answers :- very small (4 in long)
- large brain / great senes
- Late triassic
- laid eggs
- hair
- teeth like mammals
- jaw of a reptile
Is Dimetrodon a dinosaur? why/why not? - Answers :No, because dimetrodons have a
synapsid skull where dinosaurs have a diapsid skill.
Discuss the steps in the transition from therapsid reptiles to mammals.
What were the major innovations during the transitions?
Be sure to include changes to the jaws/ears from reptiles to mammals. - Answers :-
more upright stance, where the belly would be under the body. Canines, molars, and
incisors showed different tooth pattern. Improved thermal regulation. Hair in small
therapsids.
From what reptile group did mammals evolve? What are the differences between reptile
and mammals? - Answers :- Cynodont is the transitional animal between mammal and
reptiles.
- Reptiles lower jaw has 4 bones and jaw hinges, mammals have 1 bone.
- Mammals nurse there young, warm blooded, and have hair versus scales.
How are monotremes, marsupials, and placentals different with respect to the birth of
their offsprings? - Answers :-Monotremes are mammals that lay eggs; babies grow
inside egg until fully developed; the only living form is the platypus
, -Marsupials give birth to live young; young are carried in a pouch on the front of the
mothers body; stay inside pouch until fully developed
-Placentals give birth to live young; fetus is nourished during gestation; carried in
mother until fully developed
What is the relationship between Cynodonts and early mammals? Explain and cite
evidence. - Answers :- Cynodonts have the same teeth as mammals-- humans got their
tooth pattern from mammals.
What characteristics do you share with Theriodonts? - Answers :- Mammal- like reptiles
that lived from Mid Permian to late cretaceous.
- Theriodont jaws that made chewing a lot easier, back teeth were larger to chew meat;
- Synapsid skull
What is a mammal? - Answers :- Warm blooded animals have body hair, 3 middle ear
bones, special teeth structure and nourish young with milk.
What is special about the duck-billed platypus? By examining the duck-billed platypus
what can we learn about early mammals? - Answers :- Australia is the only continent
with living Platypus
- The platypus swims in muddy water with its eyes, ears, and nostrils slightly shut
searching for crustacean prey w/ electoral sensors in its beak.
Summarize the evidence for a meteorite impact causing the mass extinction at the ned
of the mesozoic era? - Answers :- iridium found in sediment.
- There was a crater from a meteorite.
- Ash layer from fires
- shocked quartz and tektites
Why are extinctions important? - Answers :- resets evolutionary clock
- many open niches
- opportunity for diversity
- new species
Describe the effects of the meteorite impact on Earth's systems and how these effects
would have led to the mass extinction. - Answers :- Smoke from meteorite caused a
nuclear winter
- months of global refrigeration, the sunlight was blocked.
- delayed greenhouse warming
- acid rain and wild fires.
- no photosynthesis, so plants die = ecosystems die.
What are shocked quartz and tektites and how were they formed? - Answers :- shocked
quartz form when a microscopic structure becomes deformed along plane inside crystal
de to intense pressure and temperature of meteorite impact.
