302D The Age of Dinosaurs Sample Exam Questions

Sample Exam Questions

Note: These are examples of various kinds of questions asked on old exams, over the course of an entire semester. The questions are presented in no particular order. Most exams will also include diagrams to interpret and label, such as naming the bones on a skeleton, identifying geographic locations on a map, and so forth.

Reminder: In Fall 2002, all exams will be 80 minutes long and given during normal lecture times. Arrive no later than 8:00 - late-comers will not be seated.

Multiple Choice

Which group of dinosaurs evolved to the largest size?
a) Ornithopods
b) Ceratopsians
c) Sauropodomorphs
d) Theropods
e) Stegosaurs
f) Archaeopteryx

Imagine that you had just received a grant to hunt for the early dinosaurs. Where in the world would you go to have at least a reasonable chance of finding some of the most primitive and oldest dinosaurs?
a) North America
b) Europe
c) China
d) Southern Africa
e) South America
f) all of the above
g) none of the above

What kind of rocks would you prospect to find the earliest dinosaur?
a) Marine sediments of Triassic age
b) Marine sediments of Jurassic age
c) Marine sediments of Cretaceous age
d) Fluvial sediments of Triassic age
e) Fluvial sediments of Jurassic age
f) Fluvial sediments of Cretaceous age

In looking for the earliest dinosaur, what size fossils would you most likely be seeking?
a) huge skeletons of the largest animals ever known
b) very large skeletons, about the size of modern elephants
c) large skeletons, about the size of a modern rhino
d) skeletons about the size of a human
e) skeletons that were very tiny, about the size of a modern mouse

Imagine that you discover a skeleton weathering out of a hillside. You can only see part of it. There are blunt teeth scattered about, a femur with an in-turned femoral head, several broken rib fragments, fragments of ossified tendons, and several isolated phalanges. What have you discovered?
a) the ancestral dinosaur
b) an ornithischian, but can't tell which
c) a saurischian, but can't tell which
d) an ornithopod
e) a sauropodomorph
f) a theropod, but can't tell which

Just over the hill, you discover a second skeleton. Like the first, it is incomplete and you can only see a few bones. There are sharp, recurved, serrated teeth scattered around the locality. You can also see a broken femur that has an in-turned femoral head and is hollow, with thin walls. What have you found?
a) the ancestral dinosaur
b) an ornithischian, but can't tell which
c) a saurischian, but can't tell which
d) an ornithopod
e) a sauropodomorph
f) a theropod, but can't tell which

Froude numbers help us to calculate
a) the true brainsize of dinosaurs
b) the relative brainsize of dinosaurs
c) the physiology of extinct dinosaurs
d) the speed of dinosaur locomotion
e) the geological age of dinosaurs
f) the age of individual dinosaurs at the time of their death

Cursorial animals
a) regulate their body temperatures at high levels
b) tend to walk on their toes and can run at high speeds
c) can conserve water and are better able to survive in desert climates
d) are able to subsist solely on a diet of plants
e) use foul language when communicating
f) none of the above

Some dinosaurs are built for power while others are built for speed. What characterizes those built more for speed than power?
a) short femur, long tibia, long metatarsals
b) fused clavicles and ossified, bony sternum
c) long femur, short tibia, with short, stubby phalanges
d) long hindlimbs and short forelimbs
e) at least five sacral vertebrae

Snakes and lizards are members of which group?
a) Lepidosauria
b) Sauria
c) Reptilia
d) Amniota
e) Tetrapoda
f) all of the above
g) none of the above

One group of fish-like vertebrates was long thought to have become extinct at the end of the Cretaceous, only to be rediscovered in the 1930's still living in the deep oceanic trenches off the east coast of southern Africa. Which is it?
a) Cyclostomata
b) Chondrichthyes
c) Actinopterygii
d) Actinistia
e) Dipnoi
f) Tetrapoda
g) none of the above

Volcanic activity has played an important role in:
a) evolution of the oceans (hydrosphere)
b) evolution of the atmosphere
c) evolution of the continents
d) evolution of the ocean basins
e) none of the above
f) all of the above

As you have seen in Lab, the fossil record has preserved information about the skin of dinosaurs, in addition to dinosaur bones. Which mode of preservation is responsible?
a) permineralization/replacement
b) preservation in amber
c) carbonization
d) freezing
e) preservation in tar
f) natural molds and/or casts
g) none of the above

What kind of rocks would you look for to prospect for dinosaurs?
a) igneous
b) sedimentary
c) metamorphic
d) volcanic
e) all of the above

Synapomorphies of Life include:
a) a cell membrane, reproduction via DNA, metabolism
b) feeding, sex, and locomotion
c) branchial arches, skull, vertebral column
d) large heart, nervous system
e) jaws, paired appendages
f) all of the above

Which features appeared for the first time in evolutionary history in the ancestral vertebrate?
a) vertebral column, gills, ribs, paired appendages
b) large heart and extensive circulatory system, enlarged brain, excellent sensory system

c) skull, jaws, paired appendages
d) bony ribs, lungs, circular mouth
e) skeleton made of cartilage, fins supported by bone rays
f) all of the above

Each of us has bony ribs, lungs, and a bony pectoral girdle. To which ancestor do we owe these features?
a) the ancestral osteichthyan
b) the ancestral vertebrate
c) the ancestral gnathostome
d) the ancestral cyclostome
e) the ancestral chondrichthyan
f) the ancestral tetrapod
g) none of the above

The map pictured below shows the Earth at which time in the geological past?
a) Cambrian
b) Triassic
c) Cretaceous
d) Early Tertiary
e) Late Tertiary
f) the present
g) none of the above

To which group does your pet goldfish belong?
a) Cyclostomata
b) Chondrichthyes
c) Actinopterygii
d) Actinistia
e) Dipnoi
f) Tetrapoda
g) none of the above

Which group is most closely related to Cyclostomata?
a) Chondrichthyes
b) Vertebrata
c) Gnathostomata
d) Actinopterygii
e) Osteichthyes
f) none of the above

To which do you belong?
a) Vertebrata
b) Gnathostomata
c) Osteichthyes
d) Sarcopterygii
e) Choanata
f) Tetrapoda
g) all of the above
h) none of the above

True False

Actinistians are popular game fish in Texas and elsewhere in North America.
The largest dinosaurs probably weighed somewhere between about 50 and 100 metric tons.
In many running animals, stride length and speed is effectively increased by flexion/extension of the vertebral column.
All dinosaurs are reptiles, but not all reptiles are dinosaurs.
Birds and crocodilians are each other's closest living relatives.
Adult dipnoans incubate their eggs and exhibit parental care of the young.
Some "fish" can burrow into the mud as their ponds are drying up and survive droughts lasting more than a year.
Ceratopsians probably used their horns to kill prey.
Crocodilians can vocalize and communicate even before they hatch from the egg.

Stegosaurus had a brain in its tail.
The ancestral vertebrate was probably a predator.
Sharks have highly developed sensors that can perceive even very weak electrical signals.
Radar, magnetometry, Gamma rays, and acoustic tomography have all been employed by paleontologists to find dinosaurs.
All gnathostomes are members of Osteichthyes, but not all osteichthyans are members of Gnathostomata.
Jaws evolved through an evolutionary transformation of one of the branchial arches.

Short Answer

Which fossilization process is responsible for the preservation of most dinosaur bones?
Roughly, how old are the oldest known rocks?
The term taphonomy refers to the scientific study of what?
Where in North America would you look to have the best chance of finding dinosaur bones? Defend your choice.
In their proper order, beginning with the oldest, list the three periods of the Mesozoic era.
Define monophyletic group.
Why was Lord Kelvin wrong when he used his theory of thermodynamics to dispute Darwin's estimate of the age of the Earth?
What are the two most important geological phenomena that were discovered in the 1960s and which led to the development of plate tectonic theory?
Define phylogeny.
What is the basic proposition of the Principle of Superposition?
What is the basic proposition of the Theory of Evolution?
What sort of tectonic event formed the Himalayas mountains? Which continents were involved?
What are the 3 basic patterns explained by the theory of evolution?
Why are earthquakes frequent in California and rare in New York?
List the special senses (of the nervous system) that are synapomorphies of the ancestral vertebrate.
List two synapomorphies of Tetrapoda. Describe the functional and/or physiological significance of these features.
Which dinosaurs were obligate bipeds, and what skeletal characters provide evidence of this.
Define monophyletic group.
Name a group of dinosaurs in which sexual selection was a probably driving evolutionary force, and name one skeletal feature that provides evidence of this.
Why is becoming a herbivore so difficult, from an evolutionary perspective?
How do we know that at least some dinosaurs lived in herds?
How do we know about the brain sizes and relative intelligence of the various dinosaurs?
Name one of the major theories about Nature developed by Isaac Newton.
What major theory did Charles Darwin contribute to Natural History?
Our solar system lies in which galaxy?
In proper order, list the three time periods of the Mesozoic Era.
Radiometric dating of rocks is made possible by what spontaneous, naturally occurring process of isotopes?
What tectonic phenomenon occurs along the mid-Atlantic Ridge?
Where in North America would you go to find a subduction Zone?
Which of the United States lies on a tectonic 'Hot Spot'?
What tectonic event formed the Himalayas mountains?
Of the three major types of rocks commonly found on Earth's crust, which type most commonly preserves fossils?
The fossil record is strongly biased against organisms that live in what sort of environment?
The oldest known fossils date back to about 3.4GA, yet the presence of a peculiar type of sedimentary formation suggests that Life originated even earlier, about 3.8GA. Name that sedimentary formation.
What thermal conditions must have existed on the surface of the earth before Life could arise?
Name two properties that virtually all cells share and which we believe to have been present in the first Life forms.
Name a feature of cells that only Eucaryotes have.
Define a monophyletic group.
What is ontogeny?
What is phylogeny?
List two synapomorphies of Vertebrata.
What are the two major groups of vertebrates?
Which vertebrate group is characterized by the possession of jaws?
Name the group in which lungs first arose.
How do lungfish (Dipnoi) escape death during long periods of drought?
In which group did the femur and humerus originate?
Goldfish, tuna, and trout all belong to which group (following the classification system we are using in this course)?
Competition in Science can lead to rapid advances in any field. One such competition occurred between two of the earliest and most famous American dinosaur hunters, and it brought out the worst in both of them. What were their names?
The 'Big Bang' theory describes what natural phenomenon?
Name the two groups of living archosaurs.
Name 2 synapomorphies of Archosauria.
Imagine that you were prospecting for fossils and found a skeleton weathering out of the hillside. The ground is littered with ossified tendons, a few rather blunt teeth, and a broken jaw with that has a predentary bone at its end. What do you think you have found? Be as specific as possible.
In which vertebrate group did modification of the reproductive system and development of an egg with a shell originate?
Which group of ornithischians has the highest encephalization quotient?
List one character (synapomorphy) that distinguishes Chelonia from other tetrapods.
During what geological time period did Dinosauria originate?
Describe the distribution of continents at the time dinosaurs originated.
As you know, while dinosaurs walked, their vertebral column moved in a parasagittal plane. What is the single most significant implication of this type of locomotion?
Using the classification of gaits described in this course (e.g. biped vs. quadruped, obligate vs. facultative, etc.), what sort of gait did the ancestral dinosaur have?
List two modifications of the pelvis that appeared in the ancestral dinosaur.
As you have seen, several modifications in the pattern of skull fenestrae have evolved during tetrapod history. What is the functional significance of these fenestrae?
Name the two kinds of animals that are included in the group Lepidosauria.
At what point in reptile history did long, slender limbs and feet, for fast running, appear?
To which specific group on our cladogram do humans belong?
Name one synapomorphy of that lineage that includes humans.
magine that you wanted to hunt for the oldest ornithischian. In rocks of what age would you look?
Hadrosaurs had bizarre cranial structures that probably served what function?
Pachycephalosaurs also have strange modifications of their skulls. Name the modification and describe its probable function.
What are endocasts?
According to Bakker's article "Mesozoic Arms Race" what was the most likely function of the characteristic skull modifications of ceratopsians?
At present, ceratopsian dinosaurs are only found in North America and Asia. Would you predict that they will eventually be found in Africa? Why or why not.
By now you have learned the various skeletal synapomorphies that distinguish ornithischians from other dinosaurs. With what specific function are these structures associated?
Roughly how much did the ancestral dinosaur weigh?
In tetrapod history, what type of locomotion is associated with the evolution of an increased metabolic scope?

Who/When?

Match both the person and the time with the theory/discovery listed below. Write the appropriate letter (person) and number (time) on your answer sheet.

Discovery of organismic extinction
Discovery of radioactivity
Theory of evolution
'Theory of the Earth'
Discovery of heliocentric planetary motion
Theory of 'continental drift'

Person                         Time

a) Becquerel             1) first half of 16th century

b) Copernicus            2) second half of 16th century

c) Curie                    3) first half of 17th century

d) Cuvier                 4) second half of 17th century

e) Einstein                5) first half of 18th century

f) Hutton                  6) second half of 18th century

g) Newton                7) first half of 19th century

h) Steno                  8) second half of 19th century

i) Wegener                9) first half of 20th century

j) none of above        10) second half of 20th century