Wyoming Dinosaur Center Scavenger Hunt
High School Edition
Name: ______
Hints:
1. If you follow the exhibits in order, it will be easier to find the answers. 2. MYA/mya = Millions of years ago. 3. In the questions themselves, you will find more hints as to which exhibits will help you. Ready --- Set --- Search!!!!! 1. Map Work: Many scientists believe that at the beginning of the Triassic Period, when dinosaurs were living there was only 1 giant ocean and 1 giant continent. What was the name of that giant continent? ______How did the giant continent turn into the smaller continents we see today? ______
2. What is a fossil? ______
Precambrian Era
3. Complete the chart to show why stromatolites were important in the Precambrian Era. Produced Bacteria + Algae ? Stramatolites
Cambrian Period 4. Trilobites were some of the first animals with hard body parts. What is the relation of modern horseshoe crabs and crayfish with the extinct Trilobites? ______
“Origin of Chordates” Case 5. What body part did the first vertebrates have that no other animal had developed yet? ______6. Did Dinosaurs have that body part? ______
Placoderms 7. Many fish developed during this time. These early fish of the Devonian Period developed some new body parts. What body part let these fish be better predators, allowing them to eat bigger fish? ______8. Name three types of fish. (hint: think “bones”) ______
“Not Conquering the Land” 9. The lobefish kept changing. Some developed into a whole new group of animals that were not even fish. What was the name of this new type of animal? ______10. This new group of animals could go somewhere no other animals had gone before. Where? ______11. Fill in the last box of the chart with the name of this important new group of animals that showed up in the Devonian Period.
Shark Primitive Vertebrates Fish
Lungfish Lobefish
12. Why was the development of amphibians important to the development of dinosaurs? (hint: Think about where dinosaurs lived) ______
Dimetrodon
13. What kind of animal was this? ______14. What time period did it live in? ______
Main Hall of Dinosaurs
15. Do you think dinosaurs are a type of reptile or a new different group of animals??? ______16. How can fossils tell us if an animal was a predator or a prey animal? ______
17. Find the Archaeopteryx. Is it a 1. Reptile 2. Bird 3. Dinosaur Study the Archaeopteryx fossil. What can you tell about this animal? Use just 1 or 2 words. Skull ______
Teeth ______
Feet/Claws ______
Body ______
18. Find the Velociraptor mongoliensis and study the skeleton. How is he different from the Archaeopteryx? (Write about the skull, teeth, feet, claws and body.) a. ______b. ______
19. Find the Camarasaurus and the Supersaurus. How are they different, and how are they alike? Look at orientation of limbs and length. a. ______b. ______
20. Not all animals that lived in the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous were dinosaurs. Find and name 2 or more animals in the main hall that were not dinosaurs. If you can, give a reason why each of these animals is not a dinosaur. a. ______b. ______
21. Find the Stenopterygius. Why is this marine reptile important? Look closely, do you think this marine reptile is a male or female? a. ______
What brought you to this conclusion? ______
22. Find two dinosaurs that have neck frills similar to Triceratops horridus and name them. a. ______b. ______
What do you think the neck frills were used for? ______
23. Find the Tyrannosaurus rex and the Allosaurus fragilis. Study their skeletons including the skulls and teeth. Now, describe and compare the Tyrannosaurus rex and the Allosaurus fragilis.
Tyrannosaurus rex Allosaurus fragilis Skull Teeth Feet/Claws Body
24. Name a small dinosaur that might have used speed as his main survival skill. a. ______
25. Name a dinosaur that might have used body armor to help him survive. a. ______
26. There are several theories as to why the dinosaurs died out. One of those is an asteroid impact. After the asteroid enters the atmosphere, it breaks up into smaller pieces of rock. Some of these smaller pieces land on earth. What are these types of rocks called? a. ______
27. There are three types of meteorites. Name them below: a. ______b. ______c. ______
28. When a meteorite enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it may produce a colored streak of light. What element is present if the streak of light is Blue-Green? a. ______
29. There are two types of saber tooth cats on display in the museum. Name the two separate species. a. ______b. ______
30. Find the Messel fossils in the museum. Where were these Messel fossils originally discovered? a. ______
What makes these fossils different from the mammal fossils found in Wyoming during the same time period? ______