Exam 1 Study Guide PDF

Exam 1 Study Guide You should be able to identify, define, explain, and/or compare and contrast the following terms: **Hypothesis: A** tentative explanation for natural phenomena (an educated guess) **Law**: A statement describing the relationship between two or more phenomena **Clades:** Evolut...

Exam 1 Study Guide You should be able to identify, define, explain, and/or compare and contrast the following terms: **Hypothesis: A** tentative explanation for natural phenomena (an educated guess) **Law**: A statement describing the relationship between two or more phenomena **Clades:** Evolutionary groupings that include an ancestor and all its descendants. **Crurotarsal ankle joint**: Flexible ankle joint found in crocodilian ancestors. **Mesotarsal ankle joint:** More rigid ankle joint found in dinosaurs. Topics Related to the readings in the text - **Ilium**: The uppermost and largest pelvic bone, connecting to the vertebral column. - **Ischium**: The lower, rear part of the pelvis. - **Pubis**: The lower, front part of the pelvis. - Earth's rotation causes moving air to curve rather than travel in a straight line. - In the Northern Hemisphere, winds deflect **right**, and in the Southern Hemisphere, they deflect **left**. - This effect creates **trade winds**, **westerlies**, and **polar easterlies**, shaping global climate patterns. - Occurs when moist air is forced over a mountain range. - As the air rises, it cools and drops moisture as precipitation. - On the leeward (downwind) side, the air is dry, creating **arid or semi-arid conditions**. - Example: The **Rocky Mountains** cause a rain shadow, leading to dry Great Plains. - **Megamonsoons**: Extreme versions that existed in the **Triassic and Jurassic** due to the vast size of **Pangea**, causing **massive seasonal storms** across the supercontinent. - A specialized **breathing system** seen in birds and some dinosaurs (especially theropods). - Air moves through the **lungs in one direction**, aided by **air sacs**, allowing for continuous oxygen intake even during exhalation. - This adaptation made respiration **more efficient**, supporting **high activity levels** and possibly helping dinosaurs **survive low-oxygen environments**. - **Scaling laws** show that as an animal increases in size, its **volume** (mass) increases **faster** than its **surface area**. - Large dinosaurs needed **stronger bones** and efficient metabolism to support their weight. - Some of the largest dinosaurs (e.g., **Argentinosaurus**) reached lengths of **100+ feet** and weighed **50-100 tons**. - Scaling also influenced **heat regulation**: - **Small dinosaurs** lost heat quickly and likely had **higher metabolisms**. - **Large dinosaurs** retained heat longer, possibly acting like "gigantotherms" (warm-blooded by sheer size). You should be able to: - **Falsifiability**: - A scientific hypothesis must be **testable** and able to be **proven false**. - Example: \"All swans are white\" can be falsified by finding a single black swan. - **Uniformitarianism**: - The principle that **geological and biological processes happening today also occurred in the past** at similar rates. - Example: Modern erosion and sedimentation explain rock formations and fossils. - **Proof vs. Truth Without Certainty**: - **Science does not \"prove\" things in an absolute sense**; instead, it builds strong, **well-supported theories**. - **Truth Without Certainty**: Scientific knowledge is always open to revision with new evidence. - Example: Newtonian physics was considered \"true\" until **relativity and quantum mechanics refined it**. - A **paradigm shift** occurs when a dominant scientific theory is replaced by a new framework. - Example: - **Geocentric Model (Earth-centered universe) → Heliocentric Model (Sun-centered universe)** - **Ptolemy (Ancient Model) → Copernicus & Galileo (Modern Astronomy)** - This shift **redefined astronomy** and led to modern physics. - Electrons behave as **waves**, and only certain wavelengths fit into **allowed orbitals**. - **Bohr Model**: Electron orbitals correspond to **quantized energy levels**. - **Quantum Mechanics**: - Electron wavelengths must form **standing waves** in orbitals. - The **principal quantum number (nnn)** determines the energy level. 1. **Saurischia (\"Lizard-hipped\")** - **Theropoda** (e.g., T. rex, Velociraptor) - **Sauropodomorpha** (e.g., Brachiosaurus, Argentinosaurus) 2. **Ornithischia (\"Bird-hipped\")** - **Ornithopoda** (e.g., Iguanodon, Parasaurolophus) - **Thyreophora** (e.g., Stegosaurus, Ankylosaurus) - **Marginocephalia** (e.g., Triceratops, Pachycephalosaurus)