Welcome to Dino 101.

An online course where you will learn about one of the most fascinating and successful animal groups to ever inhabit this planet, dinosaurs. Together we're going to explore the many facets of the lives and behaviors of these incredible animals. We'll learn about their anatomy, family trees, eating habits, predatory and defensive adaptations, and much more. In addition, we'll put dinosaurs in context with the geological history of the planet. We'll find out where they came from, and what ultimately led to their demise. You'll also have the opportunity to explore a set of your very own virtual fossils through our unique 3D fossil viewer. In addition, you'll interact with dinosaur bones and filogenetic trees using an interactive module built just for your use in this course. I can't think of a better way to learn about dinosaurs, and I hope you'll agree. We're in for a real adventure. So let's get ready to go. Let's start with the people who study dinosaurs. I'm lucky to be one of them. We are scientists called Paleontologists. Although scientists have been intrigued with ancient life for centuries, Paleontology really came into its own in the nineteenth century. The first paleontologists learned about dinosaurs by studying the fossilized bones they left behind. The word fossil literally means dug up, but more broadly, the word refers to any evidence of ancient life. Today we explore the lives and behaviors of dinosaurs, using many other techniques, including comparative biology and genetic analysis. Paleontology is a dynamic and vibrant science that utilizes all sorts of tools. From hammers and chisels, to CT scanners and synchotrons. But our best resources are the fantastic scientists who have worked their entire lives to expand our knowledge of the

greatest creatures to ever walk the earth. I'd like to introduce you to one of these paleontologists. Here's Dr. Phil Currie from the University of Alberta. He's at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology in Drumheller, Alberta. Let's listen in and hear what he has to say. >> It's an incredible experience to walk around museums like the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology. And wonder at the incredible skeletons of these dinosaurs. In this module we will learn the basics of what a dinosaur is. And I emphasize is rather than was because we still have thousands of species of dinosaurs living with us today. We just call them birds. But let's talk about dinosaurs in a classical sense. They lived during a period of time called the Mesozoic Era, which started about 250 million years ago, and ended about 65 million years ago. Dinosaurs were the largest animals to ever walk the earth. Magnificent animals by anybody's definition. Here are some questions that immediately jump to mind about them. Were they the largest animals that ever lived? Were they all big? What makes a dinosaur a dinosaur anyway? And how can studying fossils tell us about the diversity of their body forms, their diets, their physiology and even how they interacted or behaved? You will learn the answers to these and many more questions as we work through this course together. >> So let's test your knowledge of what a dinosaur is? Which of these animals are dinosaurs? There might be more than one correct answer, so check all you think apply. A, Dimetrodon. B, A Sauropod. C, Tiktaalik. Or D, a Mammoth. There is only one dinosaur here, and that is a Sauropod. So B is the correct answer. All of these other animals are not dinosaurs, even though they are extinct.

Here once again is Doctor Phil Currie. He's going to explain what the word dinosaur means. >> Thanks Betsy. The word dinosaur literally mean terrible lizard. But to different people dinosaur means different things. So for example, many people have the misconception that any extinct large reptile is a dinosaur. Others will even include any large extinct animal. Including mammals like mammoths and mastodons. However to a paleontologist, the word dinosaur has a very precise definition. And this is based on very finickity, precise, little anatomical details in the skeleton. So if we look at this Gorgosaurus behind me, we can see for example in the skull when you look in front of the eyes in the middle of the skull, there's a very large opening in the side of the face. And that's an air sinus. And that's one of many characters we look for when we look at extinct animals to see if they're dinosaurs or not. Another major category of differences in dinosaurs is in the hind limbs. Basically, the earliest dinosaurs pulled their legs underneath their body and by doing that, they reorientated everything in their legs, in their hips, in their feet And, as a paleontologist, all we have to do is look at the ankle of this animal. And we can tell that it's a dinosaur, because no other animal share those characters except of course their descendents, the birds. As we work our way through this module, we're going to learn about the bones of the skeleton. What some of the important characteristics of dinosaur skeletons are and how we can use skeletons to tell different types of dinosaurs apart. Almost everything we know about dinosaurs comes back to the fossilized bones. Bones are made of minerals and because they do not rot away as quickly as muscle fiber, hair,

or feathers. Bones are more likely to fossilize than other body structures. In order to understand dinosaurs, you need to understand how skeletons are put together. And that's coming shortly. We look at the skeletons of dinosaurs in order to understand how many species there were, the adaptations in each species, and how eco-systems have changed through time. In this lesson, we'll talk a lot about different kinds of dinosaurs and their various adaptations. Adaptations are features or traits that serve particular functions and are the result of evolution. For example, let's look at the skeleton of a bird of prey. >> Here's the skeleton of an eagle. Which of these three features do you think are adaptations? Wings, large eyes, or sharp talons? Check the box of every answer you think is correct. In fact, all of these are adaptations, and are the results of evolution. Wings enable an excellent form of movement: flight. Large eyes enable keen eyesight for spotting prey. And sharp talons allow for the catching of elusive prey.